{"id":10214,"date":"2022-01-21T11:59:01","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T10:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1550927"},"modified":"2022-01-21T12:21:09","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T11:21:09","slug":"ozark-season-4-part-1-disproves-major-fan-theory","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/ozark-season-4-part-1-disproves-major-fan-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Ozark season 4, part 1 disproves major fan theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Abby Robinson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 21 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Contains spoilers from the season 4, part 1 finale.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There were a number of new faces introduced in Ozark season 4, part 1, from Omar Navarro\u2019s nephew Javi Elizonndro (Alfonso Herrera) to Clare Shaw (Katrina Lenk), the CEO of pharmaceutical company Shaw Medical Solutions. But there was one person absent from the latest chapter of the Netflix crime drama: Wendy\u2019s brother Ben Davis (Tom Pelphrey).<\/p>\n

When he arrived in the Ozarks back in season 3, the siblings hadn\u2019t seen one another in quite some time. During that period apart, Wendy\u2019s life had drastically changed direction \u2013 she\u2019s now working for a drug lord alongside Marty (Jason Bateman), and one wrong move results in her immediate death.<\/p>\n

That new development coupled with Ben\u2019s erratic behaviour \u2013 which was fuelled by his bipolar disorder and the ever-growing web of lies stemming from Marty and Wendy\u2019s criminal dealings \u2013 made Ben a serious liability.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a f**king liar,\u201d he yelled at Wendy (Laura Linney) after security ousted him from the grand unveiling of the Byrde foundation for assaulting Marty. He then informed the daughter of Navarro\u2019s ex lawyer Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer) about who her mother was really working for. Big mistake. Big. Huge.<\/p>

Helen, concerned about Ben\u2019s impact on her boss\u2019s operation and in turn, her own survival, ordered Navarro\u2019s henchman Nelson (Nelson Bonilla) to \u201cneutralise\u201d him. Wendy initially resisted that by heading out on the open road with Ben in search of a place for him to lay low. But following further troubling behaviour from her brother, she felt that her options had run out. If Ben continued to disrupt their situation, it would mean death for Wendy, Marty and their children.<\/p>\n

During a pitstop at a diner, Wendy excused herself from the table, promising Ben she\u2019d be \u201cright back\u201d. But she didn\u2019t return and not long after, Nelson arrived to do the unthinkable.<\/p>\n

He delivered Ben\u2019s body to Marty and together, they ensured that the evidence was incinerated.<\/p>\n

\""Tom\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Tom Pelphrey plays Ben Davis in Ozark<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

But a number of Ozark fans refused to believe that Ben had been terminated given that the body we saw was wrapped up, with no face visible. Without physical proof, there was a chance that Ben had somehow managed to wriggle out of his predicament, with Pelphrey\u2019s character set to return.<\/p>\n

Redditor Codan04<\/a> highlighted the fact that Ozark \u2018thrives on showing us the demise of the characters we love\u2019. They referenced Ruth\u2019s previous visit to the morgue, where the body bag containing her uncle Russ (Marc Menchaca) was unzipped so she could give him one final kiss.<\/p>\n

Referring to Ben, they questioned why the writers \u2018wouldn\u2019t have done the same here\u2019. Did they have a grand reveal up their sleeves?<\/p>\n

The speculation was so loud that showrunner Chris Mundy himself addressed the speculation at the show\u2019s virtual PaleyFest panel (via TVLine<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the fact that people love [Ben] enough to come up with that theory,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish it were true. But it ain\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n

He could have been bluffing, as we saw with Sex and the City writer, director and executive producer Michael Patrick King, who told The New York Times<\/a> that Mr Big was \u201cnot dead\u201d<\/a> in And Just Like That, prior to its release.<\/p>\n

But in the latest chapter, it\u2019s confirmed that Ben is pushing daisies and his death becomes the subject of a power play between Wendy and Darlene (Lisa Emery). According to Wendy, Ben is missing and she uses a fabricated story about him being a drug addict as PR spin for the Byrde foundation. Darlene knows that isn\u2019t true and decides to provoke Wendy by plastering the town with posters of Ben\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

Marty, too, is agitated by the lie his wife is parroting and makes a point of saying that they both know her brother \u201cwon\u2019t be coming back\u201d.<\/p>\n

\""Ozark"\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Laura Linney plays Wendy in Ozark<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

But despite his absence, Ben\u2019s spectre hangs over season 4, with Ruth (Julia Garner) permanently weighed down by her grief, while Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) is unable to forgive his mum for the role she played in his death. Wendy, too, has been irreversibly altered by the events surrounding her brother. She\u2019s highly emotive and quick to anger throughout the latest season, and appears more willing than ever to do what\u2019s required of her \u2013 which is unsettling but more vital than ever as the Byrdes\u2019 house of cards is in danger of total collapse.<\/p>\n

Navarro (Felix Solis) is now behind bars, but he expects to be released in 48 hours or less. That can only happen once the FBI has arrested Javi. But with Ruth on the warpath after Navarro\u2019s nephew murdered her cousin Wyatt, there\u2019s a chance that she might reach Javi first and put a bullet in him. If that happens, the Byrdes are toast.<\/p>\n

With Ozark season 4, part 2 still to come, there\u2019s plenty more life left in this tale yet.<\/p>\n