The Ozark Safety Detail That Bothers Fans

No matter how innocuous, any hit TV show is open to complaints from concerned members of the public. If there was a show on how to pet puppies, an angry coalition just might appear to inform the masses that Labradors guard the gates of Hell. It stands to reason, then, that Ozark — a show about a family's descent into the gritty world of an international drug cartel — would raise some flags with a few people. In this case, though, it's not for the reason you probably think. While there's no doubt that message boards for concerned moms are lighting up every time a character encounters a controlled substance, there's another detail from Ozark raising eyebrows.

There is plenty of driving in the Ozarks. The town where the Byrdes reside doesn't appear to have a reliable public transit system — unless you count a drunk pair of overalls offering you a ride in his faded red truck as reliable. The location calls for lots of backroad journeys to meet up with shady drug lords and corrupt union officials. Whenever a car is involved, it's usually after Marty gives a speech about how he has to fix things as he climbs in and speeds off to face the music. The tension surrounding everything may have distracted you from a small safety detail involved with the usual daily commute.

There are plenty of instances of the Byrdes jumping into a vehicle and buckling up before they sit and stare sadly into the distance, but not when they have some driving to do. According to fans over at /r/Ozark on Reddit, season 3 was riddled with instances in which characters take off without putting on their seatbelts. It's one of those tiny details that distracts you once it's pointed out, like how most cars in the world of TV apparently don't have headrests. Luckily, there are realists among us. Several people pointed out that seatbelts can disrupt any microphones attached to the actors. Now that is a very good point — we wouldn't want to distort any audio from those sultry, drunk Warner Mart parking lot crying sessions. 

The nitpicking is an example of some fans not properly stepping into the reality that has been presented to them — hopefully it's just a lack of imagination and not a loss of empathy. There's no arguing that Ozark works to earn the emotions that run through every pulsating moment. The Byrdes and their friends involved are dealing with some pretty rough customers — even their sweet old therapist vanishes into the woods when she finds out too much. Seems pointless to worry about buckling up when an emotionless henchman could step up and put a bullet through your skull at any moment. 

The dangerous situations that the Byrdes are flirting with make such a mundane safety feature an afterthought. Also, it's unlikely that the sheriff who has been in cahoots with heroin dealers has seat belt patrols. So calm down, mistake-hunters. Remember, they aren't going down the street to reload on Doritos for another TV binge session, they're driving deep into the woods to stare into the eyes of a mass murderer. We might hope we get t-boned by a pickup truck en route too.