Ozark Season 3 Release Date, Trailer, Cast, Plot And More - Digital Spy

Ozark season 3 is coming! Ozark's is officially returning to Netflix for a 10-episode third season. The news was confirmed by star Jason Bateman via a tweet: "I'm happy for me, but concerned for Marty – it's official Ozark 3 is on its way."

It's safe to say we're somewhat troubled about just how dark the next chapter will be, and also concerned for Marty (as well as being extremely happy about the renewal).

It's fitting that the announcement came from Bateman himself – he's not just the main attraction, he's also directed episodes and serves as an executive producer on the show.

And by the sounds of it, he keeps a close eye on every single aspect of the series.

"With this type of project, you can't be over-reliant on one particular element," he told Time. "It's a world and a storyline that lends itself to many different departments that a director can utilise – it's not something that is going to win if there are a bunch of jokes in it or win if there are a bunch of cool effects. It can succeed only if every department is doing a tasteful and subtle job."

Speaking about the project when the series was first announced, he said: "It's a drama. It's kind of a dark, dangerous show about a money launderer for a drug cartel."

He added: "I'm going to [direct] the first two and probably the last two out of the ten. Just scheduling-wise there is no way to act in all of them and prep all of them, but that was the original intent – to basically direct a 600-page movie.

"Since I'll be the executive producer as well, it's kind of a producer's medium, I'll still be able to check all those boxes."

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Here's everything you need to know about Ozark season three.

Ozark season 3 release date: When will it air?

Ozark season three will arrive on Friday, March 27 (announced by the very snazzy tweet below).

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And there's this intriguing video too:

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We're expecting big things from the show's third season given how well it performed at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards.

Julia Garner beat four actresses from Game of Thrones to win Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and Bateman also received the award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series thanks to his work on season two episode, 'Reparations'.

We're hoping for lots more of the same.

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As if that isn't impressive enough, Bateman's reaction to hearing his name called out was probably more memorable than the awards ceremony itself and will forever live on in meme form.

Ozark season 3 trailer: When can we watch it?

Right now!

Season three looks darker and more brutal than ever before.

Watch it below.

Ozark season 3 plot: What will Ozark season 3 be about?

Marty Byrde and his family fell deeper into a life of crime in season two, with a tense final episode opening up new possibilities for depravity and a longer journey toward redemption, if that's ever going to happen.

The finale saw the launch of Marty's giant casino boat, which is going to be used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars for the Mexican drug cartel. Expect a lot of the next season to take place on that boat.

At the 2019 Emmys, Bateman revealed to reporters that Ozark season three will kick off six months after the season-two finale: "The casino is up and running and that provides us with more opportunities both positive and negative, some that are tempting and some that are calming. That affects the family in interesting ways, and certainly the relationship that Marty has with Wendy."

A lot can happen in six months, but how this time jump specifically affects the family remains to be seen.

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This is the official synopsis: "It's six months later, the casino is up and running, but Marty and Wendy are fighting for control of the family's destiny. Marty preaches keeping the status quo. Aided by an alliance with Helen and drug cartel leader Omar Navarro, Wendy plots for expansion. But when Wendy's brother Ben comes into town, everyone's lives are thrown into chaos."

Chatting about what to expect at a screening and reception (via IndieWire), writer, creator and executive producer Chris Mundy said: "The third season to us is [about] what keeps you safe and whether or not hiding keeps you safe or attacking keeps you safe.

"In other seasons – between season one and season two, certainly – we sort of left with a whole lot of plot we needed to answer, and we intentionally didn't leave ourselves with a whole lot of plot to answer for in season three.

"So it's more emotional within; we write everything through the marriage. So for us, it's all about that marriage."

Oh, and we've still got to solve Cade Langmore's murder plot, with a whole host of possible suspects, including his daughter Ruth, his nephew Wyatt, and Marty. Seeing as Cade had just murdered policeman Roy Petty, the law will be all over the Ozarks next season – that could make things complicated for Marty.

Expect female empowerment in general in the third season too, especially as Laura Linney's Wendy looks set to go all Walter White (Wendy White?) with a shift towards taking real pleasure from her new life of crime by the end of season two.

Chatting to Collider about Wendy's role in all of this, Linney said: "She's certainly involved [in the action]. She allows it. She's not totally innocent, but it's completely justified.

"You're dealing with ethics on a very interesting level. It's ethics in America and ethics in dealing with money. What do you put aside ethically, in order to survive?

"In a country where everything is based on money or success, your only reward is if you have money or you're making money. Money is success in this country. What does that do to you? What does that do to the small decisions you make throughout the day?"

Add in Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) taking on a more significant role in Byrde Enterprises as manager of its new casino boat and it's looking like the future is female.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in August, writer Chris Mundy revealed more about Ruth's future on the show, saying: "Ruth is more and more self-confident, but she's grateful to Marty for being the first person to believe in her and give her responsibilities.

"Going into season three, we see her very much wanting to be a member of the Byrde family. However, as she gets deeper and deeper into the enterprise, she starts to wonder if being a Byrde is the best thing to be."

Ruth's not the only one affected. According to Mundy, "Marty is on a slippery slope, but he's not all the way down yet" – which suggests that even the writers haven't then decided whether to go full Breaking Bad and throw the Whites down past the point of no return (yes we know Walter redeemed himself, but but but), or keep them teetering forever on the brink of turning it around and bringing the syndicate down around them.

With all the main baddies now dead, we'd expect a new antagonist to enter the frame. Could that be Linney?

Mundy previously revealed at the show's Beverly Hills panel (via The Hollywood Reporter) what fans can expect from the upcoming season, which includes Marty and Wendy "dealing with outside forces". There's also the arrival of Wendy's brother, "who we've hinted at the first couple years as having some mental illness in the past, so [her] big brother is going to be a very destabilising factor".

Mundy also said that while he doesn't know how the series will end, the team are "building little things in, if we keep on track for the emotional ending we're guessing we'll have".

"The third season to us is [about] what keeps you safe and whether or not hiding keeps you safe or attacking keeps you safe," Mundy said (via IndieWire). "In other seasons – between season one and season two, certainly – we sort of left with a whole lot of plot we needed to answer, and we intentionally didn’t leave ourselves with a whole lot of plot to answer for in season three. So it's more emotional within; we write everything through the marriage. So for us, it's all about that marriage."

Bateman confirmed: "It's not all sunshine and roses in a marriage – except mine," nodding towards his 18-year partnership with Amanda Anka.

So, as we previously speculated, it really does sound like Laura Linney's Wendy will have more to do next season. Her character has seen significant growth over the first two seasons, transforming into a Breaking Bad style bad-ass – and season three could see the biggest change of all.

"Everything stems from survival. [In season two], she goes to a very primal place in which to do that," Linney said.

"She sees places that are not being filled and realises she's gotta fill it and she's gotta do it fast. But she's impatient.

"She's a very instinctive person. She's shrewd and she's smart, but she's not the most emotionally assured human being."

Linney added: "She's surprising in that way because she's effective, but she's not always mature."

On the behind-the-camera side of the production, we've also had confirmation that Bateman will only be back to direct the first two episodes. In the first season, Bateman directed four of the 10 episodes, while the large workload of producing, starring and directing forced him to take only two episodes in season two.

Ozark season 3 cast: Who's returning?

Jason Bateman will return as the Byrde family patriarch, Marty.

Speaking to Time about the similarities between his character and one of TV's most beloved anti-heroes Walter White, Bateman said: "I do [feel sympathy for him], yeah. Anybody who overestimates their intelligence and overplays their hand of ambition deserves sympathy and empathy as long as they're trying to mend those mistakes. He is.

"There's some regret and some shame and some moments of contrition that he and his wife go through. They tried to cut a corner when they got into this big mess. Now they’re trying to get out of it and get back to the boring life."

He was also asked about the way in which the show handles themes such as class divisions and economic inequality, to which he said: "A family – the Byrdes – comes down to the centre of the country and thinks they can dominate and manipulate. They underestimate the savviness of the locals, and they're still kind of paying that bill.

"The rude awakening they find themselves in is something that would be familiar to a lot of what our country realised a couple of years ago."

And Wendy will, of course, again be played by Laura Linney.

"The thing that I love about our show is that there is a core in identity – about who we are, what we believe, how we behave, about our worldview," said Linney at Deadline's The Contenders Emmys awards-season event.

"For Wendy, they had a marriage that was solid and functioned well," she said. "But they didn't really know each other."

Bateman added: "Crisis reveals a lot about people – we are living that.

"He's reached his limit his ability to cope with things."

The couple's kids Charlotte and Jonah will be back, played by Sofia Hublitz and Skylar Gaertner respectively.

Julia Garner will also be reprising her role as Ruth Langmore, while Lisa Emery will return as Darlene Snell, and Charlie Tahan will feature as Wyatt Langmore.

NCIS: New Orleans star Madison Thompson has joined Ozark's third season in the role of Erin, Helen's (Janet McTeer) teenage daughter. Reports suggest that some mother-daughter bonding between the two will get out of hand when the show returns.

Now that all of the Marvel Netflix TV shows have been axed, there are plenty of actors out there searching for new roles and two of them have now found work as series regulars in the upcoming season.

After Ward Meachum found redemption of sorts in the second and final season of Iron Fist, star Tom Pelphrey will next appear on Ozark as Wendy's brother Ben.

He'll be joined by Jessica Frances Dukes, who played Trish Walker's chat-show partner Grace in the last season of Jessica Jones.

A casting call was also issued across the metro Atlanta area back in May 2019 for the following characters: upscale shoppers, young mothers and their babies, teen actors, guard roles, attractive women for a wife role, families of four, attractive women playing craps, piano players, older slot players, blackjack players, blackjack dealers, casino security guards, pit boss (recurring role) and poker players.

So it's fair to assume there'll be a lot of casino activity. Who would have guessed it?

What is an Ozark anyway?

From the UK and new to all this? Confused by unfamiliar words that sound like a comedy alien language? You're not alone.

The Ozarks are a mountain range (actually a pair of them: the Boston Mountains and the St Francois Mountains) that cover territory in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

They cover 47,000 square miles and make up the "most extensive highland region between the Appalachians and the Rockies".

The name probably derives from the French "Aux arcs" (at the [river] bends) or "Aux Ark[ansas]".

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