Board 8 > Does any show have a worst cast than Ozark? Spoilers

(+) Yeah! (+)

In no particular order, because so many of them are equally abominable:

Wendy Byrde
They wasted no time making her unbearable. She cheated on her husband then slapped him when he called her out on it? By the time season four came along she went full rogue mode and did whatever she wanted whenever, all while making no logical sense and acting as though she was smarter than everyone else.

Jonah Byrde
This little punk acts as though hes a victim in every situation. A real wannabe know-it-all. He continually makes terrible decisions all the while acting as though he knows whats in everyone elses best interest.

Uncle Ben
This guy was terrible. When he wasnt crying or yelling he was playing victim once again. Everyone in this show loves to play victim. Even after he died he still reappeared in the show. Hated it.

I can go on but I dont have it on me. I do like Marty and Charlotte though.

Quit at the end of season one because the dialogue was sooooo bad

I have only seen season 4 of this show, but I'm curious if you mean this as in despicable people or bad casting.

Because these people are all shit, but the actors are doing a damn good job.

Maybe they were worse in the beginning?

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I have only seen season 4 of this show, but I'm curious if you mean this as in despicable people or bad casting.

Because these people are all shit, but the actors are doing a damn good job.

Maybe they were worse in the beginning?

Wait, how do you just jump into season 4 of a narrative based show?

this is baffling to me

I wasn't the active viewer, I was just in the room.

Wait until you hear that the only Dexter I've seen is that new bonus season, and the only Breaking Bad I've seen is the current airing season of Better Caul Saul!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I wasn't the active viewer, I was just in the room.

Wait until you hear that the only Dexter I've seen is that new bonus season, and the only Breaking Bad I've seen is the current airing season of Better Caul Saul!

no judgment but fyi this is the same thing as saying that you've only seen the last 15 minutes of a film and felt good enough about your thoughts to comment on a topic about the film >_>

Well yeah I would never comment about the shows plots or their overall quality in a million years.

But I can say that I thought the actors were doing a good job! Commenting on raw acting talent doesn't require a full viewing of the material. Now if I made a statement about the characters themselves that's a different story, but the phrase bad casting to me implies something like Keanu Reeves in Dracula.

They did all seem to be assholes. Especially Wendy. Maybe not Ruth. But yeah no prior context to say definitively.

Also if I did have anything to say about the actual plot or character arcs then the "no judgment" was unnecessary because you should absolutely judge me in that situation.

They're shitty people, yes

i mean it's kind of a show about terrible people, yeah. u do agree the characters can be so unbearable it borders on unwatchable at (many) times. though wendy's particular brand of grossness is spectacularly acted.

I think it's a well done show but there's so much churn that I have to take long breaks in between seasons. Also, yeah, the characters are bad people so there are times when I'm like "so what if everything falls apart and the cops get them or they die".

Disclaimer- I stopped watching sometime during season 2. Maybe even like the first episode. And warning... 14 year old Breaking Bad spoilers

All of the adult protagonists are bad people but good entertainment. The reason I stopped was because the actual events that occurred made little sense. The writers clearly start by thinking of where they want to get, and then invent events to justify getting there. I prefer plotting closer to the opposite- "what would realistically happen, and what scenarios naturally emerge from that?" They would have been caught five times over. Their methods of murder, figuring out passwords, and generally doing anything don't make any sense. You kind of have to turn your brain off to appreciate everything except the characters

That being said- I feel like it takes serious blind spots to think Marty is a good person

Does Wendy get a lot worse as the show continues? I didn't think S1 Wendy was notably worse than other characters. I was very appreciative of the relationship they chose for Marty and her. She started out on board the "let's do illegal crap for money" train instead of having the show be mired in the "hUsBaNd, aRe yOu dOiNg iLlEgaL tHiNgS?" drama of early breaking bad. She's also constantly working for the same objectives Marty is.

The only other difference is that they moved the cheating to pre-show instead of in the middle (in response to Hal's obvious and complete disconnection, sketchiness and dishonesty). In that way, I always felt the premise of Ozark was "Breaking Bad, but starting in season 4"

Jonah starts out the show pre-pubescent, I think he gets a pass

honestly my biggest issue with the show is just how boring it is to watch - there are long, long shots, and the lighting is relentlessly grim. the show also really likes to relish its actors' (calculon voice) acting ability, resulting in these artsy up-close shots and drawn-out reactions/monologues where not a lot of plot happens.

they also kept darlene snell around for an inexplicably long time.

Darlene was terrible and the whole plot of her dating that boy who was 40 years her junior was ridiculous. Oh, and also her killing her husband.

Yeah overall I'm not really sure how to feel about Ozark. The message that bad people use their power to avoid consequence while poor people get screwed over and can't escape their situation is beaten over your head for 4 seasons and gets a little old.

I don't necessarily need to see bad guys get punished to have a satisfying ending but there was absolutely no catharsis in the final season. Marty barely existed in the final season and it's very obvious they ran out of ideas for most of the other side characters. Would have loved to actually see some character growth from Marty or even 1 scene where he pushes back against Wendy.

Wendy is a good character but good lord is she insufferable to actually watch most of the time. It's like yeah you can make an interesting character who happens to be insufferable but that still means that we're spending most of our time being annoyed by this character. She moved past "love to hate" into "get off the screen" in Season 3 I think.

Too many wasted characters and overall plot stagnation means that I'm not sure I would actually recommend Ozark to someone.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Because these people are all shit, but the actors are doing a damn good job.

This. Wendy is supposed to be loathsome. That's what makes her compelling.

SeabassDebeste posted...

honestly my biggest issue with the show is just how boring it is to watch - there are long, long shots, and the lighting is relentlessly grim.

To each his own. I thought the show was fast-paced compared to most of the slow burns on TV nowadays.

And I loved the bluish lighting. Conveys the sense of misery and confinement these people are locked into.