In Netflix’s Ozark, one of the most shocking moments came in Season 3 when Wendy (Laura Linney) turned on her brother, Ben (Tom Pelphrey). After he ran afoul of Helen, the lawyer for the Mexican cartel the Byrdes were working for, Wendy tried to go on the lam with him to get him away from reprisal. Sadly, it culminated in her, fed-up and frustrated, allowing Helen’s hitman, Nelson, to come murder Ben. However, upon dissecting the family’s plight, it wasn’t her fault at all — it’s all on Ben.
Now, Ben had mental health issues, which is why Marty was skeptical about his presence there. Admittedly, Wendy should have sent him off when he first came, but she loved her brother so this allowed them to bond again, especially as the laundering business was taking a toll on the Byrdes. Charlotte and Jonah liked their uncle, and even Marty came around when he realized his aide, Ruth, and Ben were striking up a romance.
But the problem is that Ben never listened to them when he found out the truth. Instead, his emotions got the better of him and he began making mistakes that could have exposed the business. He had public meltdowns, including at the casino opening with the Navarro cartel; insisted on trying to dictate the pace for Ruth as she worked for Marty; got Jonah tangled up by using his drone to film a bloodbath; and last but not least, he told Helen’s daughter about the criminal empire.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, making it clear that he was a liability. It got even worse when Wendy secreted him away from their lake house. While she tried to reconnect to their past and appeal to reason on their road trip, Ben kept making mistakes.
He didn’t listen to her and bought phones, even after she told him calling Ruth or Helen to apologize was a massive error as they’d be tracked. This proved to Helen that she couldn’t trust Wendy as she lied about Ben’s whereabouts to protect him.
So, Wendy was left with no choice but to call in and let her accomplices silence Ben, all because she knew he’d slip up again and make her family targets. Wendy had to choose which loved ones to protect and it killed her to know Ben was a danger to the mission now.
As a result, accepting that he wouldn’t listen to her, or even Ruth, Wendy left him at a diner in a heartbreaking scene for Nelson. It was crushing seeing Ben going from happily naïve to scared, but sadly, he dug himself this grave.
Executive produced by Chris Mundy and Jason Bateman, Ozark stars Bateman along with Laura Linney, Sofia Hublitz, Skylar Gaertner, Julia Garner, Jordana Spiro and Charlie Tahan. All three seasons are currently available on Netflix.
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