THE INSIDE STORY ON...

OZARK MONEY-LAUNDERING DRAMA

The question of who makes it out alive drives the final seven episodes of Ozark. Over four mesmerising series, Netflix’s intense drama about a financial adviser who flees from Chicago to the murky backwaters of the Missouri lakes with his family to launder money for a drugs cartel has delivered darkness, doublecrossing and death in spades.

A large part of the drama’s deliciously violent edge has been the way in which beloved characters have been bumped off. Even more shocking was finding out that some of our favourites were the assassins.

When Ozark’s final seven episodes were released last month (the first seven of the final series arrived earlier this year), viewers were finally able to discover what happened to Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), his monstrous wife Wendy (Laura Linney) and their kids after a shocking flash-forward car crash in the series opener back in January. Equally important to fans was the fate of Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner), the junior money launderer who became both friend and enemy to the Byrdes at times.

While millions are fans of the series, many aspects from behind the scenes may surprise them. For starters, while the setting is in the

eerie Ozark Mountains, the series was actually filmed hundreds of miles away in Georgia because of its tax breaks. Scenes were filmed with a blue filter and in the half-light to reflect the darkness of the world the Byrdes operate in. And look out for the creepy title cards: the giant letter O with four small pictures in the middle. The pictures foreshadow what’s to come in the episode and change with each instalment.

Jason Bateman’s financial whizz