Wendy Byrde Can’t Stop, She’s Hot

At first glance, it’s hard not to compare Ozark to Breaking Bad: A white, middle-class man gets involved in a drug cartel to make money to support his family. But it’s not just the gloomy setting in Lake of the Ozarks that sets this series apart. While the women of Breaking Bad are often sidelined or in the way, the women of Ozark are often the ones making decisions that the overly-cautious Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) is afraid to make. These women certainly aren’t role models, but they challenge the tired roles usually offered to women in the drug drama genre. 

TV shows about drug cartels are often centered around men, with women relegated to the roles of scared wives or mules. (The few exceptions that come to mind are Queen of the South and the character of Isabella Bautista in Narcos: Mexico.) Ozark sets itself apart not only because it focuses on money laundering and the way drug money makes its way to seemingly legal business, but also because it features multiple women at the center of making these operations run. 

I was worried at the start of the series that Laura Linney would be wasted on a character whose only traits are that she’s against her husband’s nefarious deeds and cheats on him because she’s dissatisfied with her life. To my delight, Wendy Byrde turns out to be one of the most calculating, manipulative characters in the series, using her experience in politics to maneuver relationships and deals that Marty could never have managed on his own. 

Marty might be a genius when it comes to cooking the books and moving money around, and he can usually talk himself out of life-or-death situations, but it’s Wendy who takes them from barely meeting the cartel’s demands to owning multiple businesses and offering the cartel new sources of revenue. As the series progresses and Marty becomes more afraid for his family’s safety, Wendy’s ambition grows, stoked by each success, and we begin to see what she’s capable of. 

One of the driving factors in Wendy’s progression is her friendship with Helen (Janet McTeer), the cartel lawyer who is usually sent to ensure Marty is holding up his end of the deal. It would have been easy for Helen’s character to remain flat, just an enforcer to be feared, but we also get to see her motivations, namely protecting her own family from the cartel. When Marty is too caught up in his own fears to listen to Wendy’s proposals, it’s Helen who encourages her and helps her make them a reality, sometimes entirely sidestepping Marty. 

And once Wendy gets going, there’s no stopping her. Beneath her kindly face and warm smile lies a stone-cold politician who wraps up her threats in compliments and false empathy. Her best moments are when she drops all pretenses and shows her true self -- ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes to get her way. 

It’s easy to assume that a woman like Wendy (middle class, well-educated, gave up a career in politics to raise a family) comes from a privileged background, but as we learn more about her backstory, we find out that she grew up poor in a community not too different from Lake of the Ozarks. This makes her more similar than you might think to Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner), who the Byrdes take under their wing.

Ruth is part of a family that the community looks down on for being nothing more than petty criminals. Her complicated relationship with her father, who belittles her and uses her, often makes her feel like she can’t rise above her circumstances. Despite being put down by almost everyone in her life, she takes the opportunities afforded by the arrival of the Byrdes and goes from being the smartest person in a family of thieves to managing a casino and masterminding schemes to take down the competition. 

Although Marty isn’t exactly reliable, he’s the first person who gives Ruth responsibility and treats her like someone who can be trusted to run a business. He’s the closest thing to a father figure in her life, teaching her how the books work and making sometimes flawed attempts to protect her. But as Marty is wont to do, he tends to brush off Ruth’s ideas, which is why it’s so satisfying when Wendy, Ruth, and Helen band together to solve problems when all Marty does is get in the way. Ruth might not be as refined as Wendy, but she’s equally sharp and effective. Having her ideas appreciated and validated by Wendy gives Ruth the support she needs to tell Marty to go fuck himself when he deserves it. 

In this month’s episode on Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, we talk about the figure of the anti-heroine, a rare female character who is unlikeable, self-interested, flawed, and compelling. Ozark gives us many anti-heroines, and while Wendy and Ruth’s actions are often reprehensible, it’s refreshing to see complex women in a genre that usually only gives anti-hero status to men.