Ozark: Worst Decisions Made By The Byrde Family

Ozark is a show about people doing some of the worst things to either themselves or to other people in order to survive. When people become greedy, they become desperate. Sometimes one's judgment is even clouded, leading to them making very poor decisions — and Ozark is all about showing that side of human nature.

Marty Byrde, his wife Wendy, and his two children Charlotte and Jonah, have done some smart and clever things to protect themselves. However, it is safe to say that some of the decisions they have made throughout the show have led them into deeper holes, which they later had to crawl their way out of. There will be spoilers for every season of Ozark.

9 Laundering Money

The most obvious out of all the bad decisions in Ozark is the money laundering. Money laundering is not only illegal, but extremely dangerous. Most of the time, the people who own the money that is being laundered are not shy when it comes to torture, violence, and murder. Marty made that mistake before the show even began.

The Byrde patriarch undergoes a lot of stress when he launders for various businesses from the law firm with his friend Bruce, to the Lickety Splitz strip club, and eventually to Missouri Belle riverboat casino. Money laundering is overall not a good thing for anyone involved.

8 Stealing From Marty

In the first episode of season one, Marty is tasked with gathering nearly $8 million in cash within 48 hours. During the process, Wendy, without Marty's knowledge, empties their savings and checking accounts.

This is because she was having an affair with another man and was planning on running away with him. Marty and, more unfortunately, Del, the man to whom Marty owes the money, find out. Obviously, this was a terrible decision on Wendy's part. Not only did the man with whom she had an affair wind up dead, but she and Marty were almost killed as well.

7 Telling The Kids About "The Family Business"

Even with the sudden upheaval of their lives and moving from Chicago to the Ozarks, the Byrde children had no idea why they were moving or what their father truly did. When the family was moving into their new house at Osage Beach, Charlotte asked Wendy why they were there. Wendy paused for a moment and then told them the truth that Marty launders money for the Navarro cartel.

While being honest with her children may have seemed like the right thing to do, it was a bad decision in the long run. Their knowing the truth puts them in even more danger.

6 The Deal Between Del And The Snells

At the end of the first season, Marty develops an idea to build a casino that would serve as the revenue stream for his money-laundering operation. He brokers a deal with Del and the Snells which sees the Snells giving up a small portion of their land in exchange for a riverboat casino to be built, which would be the solution for the money laundering operation.

While the deal itself was a good decision, the people involved, Del and the Snells, made the decision bad. Del makes a comment about the Snell family being "rednecks," which leads to Darlene killing him. This only causes more turmoil for Marty and his family.

5 Hanging With The Langmores

When the Byrdes moved to the Ozarks, the first people that Charlotte and Jonah met were Wyatt and Three Langmore. Charlotte became friendlier with Wyatt throughout the first and second seasons of Ozark.

After Ruth killed Wyatt's father Russ, and his uncle Boyd, at the Blue Cat Lodge, Wyatt confided in Charlotte by smoking weed and throwing rocks into the river. Unfortunately for Charlotte, she slipped up and mentioned that she and her family were at the Blue Cat Lodge on the night that his dad and uncle died. This caused Wyatt to ask questions about the Byrde family, creating another problem for them in season two.

4 Getting Involved With Rachel Again

Rachel Garrison is the former owner of the Blue Cat Lodge. Marty meets her when he arrives in the Ozarks and is trying to find a stream of revenue through which he can launder money.

After Rachel discovers the truth about Marty, she leaves town and becomes a drug addict. She returns in season two when FBI Agent Roy Petty tries to use her as a spy against Marty. During season two, Marty gets involved with Rachel again, and she, along with Agent Petty, creates a bunch of problems for Marty. All these problems could have been avoided if he didn't associate with her when she came back to Osage Beach.

3 Giving Zeke To Darlene

In season one, Pastor Mason Young and his wife, Grace, have a child named Ezekiel, nicknamed Zeke. Darlene killed Grace during childbirth, and Marty killed Mason by shooting him in the neck. While they briefly took care of Zeke, the Byrdes were looking for a suitable guardian for the baby. They settled on Darlene, who was suffering from baby fever after never having a child of her own, in an attempt for a truce.

That decision ultimately backfired because Darlene remained in opposition to the Byrdes. When they tried to get Zeke back from her, she became even more hostile towards them.

2 Talking To Navarro Behind Marty's Back

Throughout the second and third seasons of Ozark, Wendy Byrde slowly became more involved with the operations of the Navarro cartel, specifically Omar Navarro. She began communicating with Omar personally when it came to certain plans and decisions to be made. It is important to note that these conversations were made without Marty's knowledge.

This led to quarrels between Marty and Wendy, and also to Wendy becoming too overconfident when talking to Navarro. At times, he would grow furious with Wendy when she stepped out of line.

1 Acting Like Teenagers

While being a teenager and rebelling against one's parents are normal parts of growing up, they are very dangerous things to be in the world of Ozark. In the first two seasons of the show, Charlotte Byrde acts like a typical teenager — which proved to be a nuisance for the family. Charlotte was always skipping work and, at one point, tried to get emancipated from her family.

In the fourth season, Jonah Byrde has been taking his turn acting like a teenager. However, with Jonah, he is acting like a teenager while laundering money for Ruth and Darlene. This creates divides within the Byrde family as well as strengthening the hostility between Marty, Wendy, Ruth, and Darlene.

MORE: Ozark: Questions Season 4 Part 2 Needs To Answer