The Byrde family wants out of the money laundering business once and for all. Viewers of Netflix’s “Ozark” have heard this before, as it’s an oft-repeated refrain that’s carried cutthroat married couple Wendy (Laura Linney) and Marty (Jason Bateman) and their two kids through all four seasons of the popular crime series. In the show’s final seven episodes, though, their sometimes-hollow words start to ring true.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ S4 Review: In Its Endgame, The Final Season Pulls Out All The Stops at The Playlist.

Emmys snubs! Peak TV has never seen snubs like this. And the Outstanding Drama Series is going to have a ton of them. Of course, whoever makes the cut will be battling last year’s winner, “Succession,” and Netflix’s global phenomenon “Squid Game” which will make history as the first non-English language Drama Series nominee.

READ MORE: “Succession” dominates the 2021 DGA Awards nominations

“Succession” took a hotly contested PGA Award, the SAG Ensemble Award, and dominated the DGA awards, but “Squid Game” shocked many by taking three SAG Award statues.

Continue reading Drama Series Emmys 2022 Predictions & Contenders at The Playlist.

Hey, you can say it. Netflix’s “Ozark” seemed pretty familiar at first, a “Breaking Bad” style thriller mixing family and crime and a regular guy turned crime kingpin who appeared to be able to wriggle out of any situation. But look, four seasons later and the critically-acclaimed and Emmy-winning “Ozark” is arguably just as good, leaning much harder into the idea of crime and family merging—given the whole family’s involved, husband, wife, and teenagers all slowly losing their souls and sense of morality in the process—and really becoming a story about ordinary people desperate to survive the circumstances they themselves created in order to get out of an even bigger mess.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ Final Season Trailer: The Byrde Family Is Sick Of Having Blood On Their Hands at The Playlist.

‘Ozark” has been a big hit for Netflix but all good things come to an end as the fourth and final season of the crime thriller was split into two parts. Sort of a gritty family version of “Breaking Bad” the show gathered quite a large following thanks to Netflix’s massive global subscriber base that supported it over the years. We now know when the last chunk of seven episodes will be released into the wild.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ Teaser Trailer: The Final Batch Of Episodes Arrives In April On Netflix at The Playlist.

At the end of “Ozark” Season 3, Marty and Wendy Byrde were splattered and soaked in blood and brains; just the cost of doing business with a ruthless drug cartel. As the psychically traumatized married couple picked the bones and brain tissue out of their hair—that of their rival Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer), the attorney that represented the Navarro drug cartel—the pair silently considered the long road of (semi) good intentions that got them to this hellish place.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ Season 4 Review: The Byrde Family’s Deal With The Devil Has No Point Of Return at The Playlist.

“Ozark” is a great show. “Ozark” is one of the best Netflix Originals of all time. Blah blah blah blah. We’ve heard it all before, right? But the truth is, “Ozark” is pretty fucking awesome. And the series is actually coming to an end beginning with the first half of the final season this month. 

As seen in the trailer for “Ozark” Season 4 (Part 1), things are starting to heat up in the dark, dreary world of family drama and crime.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ Season 4 Trailer: The Final Season Of The Acclaimed Netflix Series Begins This Month at The Playlist.

In terms of television, the new year already looks to be off to a strong start. From shows such as the much-talked-about “Yellowjackets” readying itself for its final two episodes of Season 1 to the long-awaited return of HBO’s “Euphoria,” there’s a little something for everyone being released in January. What may have in the past been a wasteland of a month for new releases, the shear amount of content this year means buzzier shows are getting the release in dead of winter.

Continue reading 8 TV Shows To Watch In January: ‘Euphoria,’ Peacemaker,’ ‘Ozark’ & More at The Playlist.

At the risk of repeating ourselves, though we do encourage you to read our intro and list of the Best TV Shows & Mini-Series of 2021, there is a lot of television out there and it’s only growing. And growing immensely. With the advent of the streaming age and then the super-charged streaming age of the last two/three years. In trying to catch up to Netflix, Disney+ launched November 2019, AppleTV+ and HBO Max weren’t far behind and now pretty much every company in movies and television has its own streaming network.

Continue reading The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2022 at The Playlist.

Since its debut in Summer 2017, “Ozark” has become one of Netflix‘s most popular series. While the show’s first two seasons generally had favorable reviews, critics also noted its similarity to “Breaking Bad” and a humorless approach to its story. Both critics and audiences loved Season Three, however, and its shocking conclusion set up what’s sure to be a tension-filled finale to the series.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ Season 4 Teaser: The Hit Netflix Drama’s Final Season Begins On January 22 at The Playlist.

Mixing family and crime and getting in two deep with both, Netflix’s “Ozark” series could have easily been just another “Breaking Bad” knock-off. In fact, that’s about as generous as critics were with the show at first, which was admittedly similar to the family dynamics of AMC’s hit series. But “Ozark,” created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, quickly found its own footing and became another evolution in the idea of how the immorality of crime can sink an entire family into a morass, even if they’re desperately trying to get out of it.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ Announces A Part 1, Season 4 Return On January 21, 2022 at The Playlist.

Netflix’s big global event, TUDUM, has launched today, giving us fresh looks at their upcoming streaming goodies. Jason Bateman and showrunner Chris Mundy have created one of Netflix’s most dependable hits with the drama “Ozark.” The series has engrossed fans and critics alike thus far. Also, the show’s third season dominated pandemic viewership.

READ MORE: Tom Pelphrey Talks ‘Ozark’ Season 3, Working With David Fincher On ‘Mank’ & More [Interview]

With that said, the streamer has announced that the hit series will be ending with the following season.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ Season 4 First Look Clip: Netflix’s Family Crime Drama Wraps Up In 2022 at The Playlist.

It’s already been a good year for TV fans, with critics raving about “Mare of Easttown,” “The Underground Railroad,” and “The White Lotus” (among others on lists like this one). As anyone knows, the most robust time for television is from when kids go back to school in the fall through Christmas. After an incredibly weird autumn last year thanks to pandemic delays, streaming services and networks are hoping that this season is more traditional, and they are all bringing out their big guns, including new dramas, returning shows, and long-awaited mini-series.

Continue reading Fall 2021 TV Preview: 38 Series To Watch at The Playlist.

With the advent of Peak TV and the silver era of the Streaming Age, it’s really crazy to consider just how much television has essentially closed and ended the gap between itself and the perceived quality of “cinema.” One format used to be decidedly elevated, and now, thanks to the Streaming Wars—and even the way the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the problems for the theatrical experience—TV and film are basically on par, more or less.

READ MORE: The 65 Most
Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2021

The “oh, it’s just television” stigma is long gone.

Continue reading Summer TV Preview: Over 40 Series To Watch at The Playlist.

Much has been written about how the Prestige TV era often discards the episodic format of old to present seasons that play more like long movies with credit breaks every hour or so. Creator Neil Cross (“Luther”) clearly had this in mind while conceiving his take on “The Mosquito Coast.” Unfolding more like a 7-hour movie than a traditional season of television, this riff on the Paul Theroux novel, memorably adapted once in 1986 by Peter Weir (starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix), is a taut, gripping story of a family on the run that owes more to modern dramas like “Breaking Bad” and particularly “Ozark” than it does to its origins.

Continue reading ‘Mosquito Coast’: A Gripping Family-On-The-Run Story Is A Prologue Akin To ‘Ozark’ & ‘Breaking Bad’ [Review] at The Playlist.

This year’s television nominations for the 2021 Directors Guild Awards were full of expected nominees (“Ozark,” “Better Call Saul,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), but also some noteworthy surprises. Not only did “Ted Lasso” earn two nominations (Zach Braff and MJ Delaney), but “WandaVision” cracked the Limited Series category and Jon Favreau earned nods for “The Mandalorian” and his reality program “The Chef Show.” WandaVision,” “Ted Lasso,” “The Flight Attendant” and “Bridgerton” earned their first nominations.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision,’ ‘Flight Attendant’ & ‘Bridgerton’ Earn DGA Awards TV Noms at The Playlist.

If you were to name the most popular streaming series that aren’t released by Netflix, you’d probably start with Disney+’s “The Mandalorian,” right? Maybe Amazon’s “The Boys” would be in there. Perhaps even Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” if you want to go deeper. All three of those shows have strong viewership (so says the streaming platforms that release them) and they’re also critically-acclaimed.

Continue reading Netflix Dominates Streaming Viewership In 2020 With ‘Ozark,’ ‘Lucifer’ & More Beating ‘The Mandalorian’ at The Playlist.

Another year comes to a close, another overlong, ahem, thorough most anticipated list from your friends at The Playlist. This time, we’re talking television and yes, there’s a lot of TV to deal with. Frankly, however, with the explosion of streaming, the second age of PeakTV, now known as the Streaming Age, we’re somewhat surprised this list isn’t over 100 picks long. Disney+ and Apple TV+ may have launched in late 2019, but 2020 really brought us the full breadth of both those streaming services wares.

Continue reading The 65 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2021 at The Playlist.

What a year, right? With people stuck at home more than ever before, television felt even more essential, and the best creators rose to the challenge. While there was concern that pandemic shutdowns would destroy the landscape, there was no dearth of titles to choose from when it was time to pick the best 25 programs of 2020. Great shows missed the cut. And the diversity of genres and networks felt broader than ever.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

Dramas, comedies, docuseries, mini-series, and genre-benders defined the year.

Continue reading The 25 Best TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2020 at The Playlist.

In an unprecedented year for the television industry, due to the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we definitely are expecting a unique telecast for the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards. This year’s show is hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, returning for his third time, which may very well be the only recognizable part of the evening’s festivities as the event goes digital.

READ MORE: Emmy 2020 Predictions: ‘Succession,’ ‘Watchmen’ & Few Surprises

So, will “Watchmen” continue to collect trophies?

Continue reading 2020 Emmys: ‘Succession’ Rules Drama, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Sweeps Comedy [Full Winners] at The Playlist.

For the most part, the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t have the same impact on the television landscape that it did with film. Yes, a few seasons were truncated (“Billions,” “The Good Fight”) and a few others had to reschedule wholesale (“Fargo”), but most of the TV output for the first half of 2020 was set long before anyone knew about the latest coronavirus. The truth is that this ridiculous year has arguably made people more reliant on television than ever, needing an escape from reality and having more time to invest in shows that they might have otherwise missed.

Continue reading The Best TV Of 2020… So Far at The Playlist.

We have some good news and bad news for “Ozark” fans. First, the bad news (because ripping the bandaid off is always the best way to move ahead)— the Emmy-winning series is ending after its upcoming fourth season. But the good news is that the fourth season is actually getting a larger number of episodes and being split into two parts. So even though the end is near, it’s not as close as you might be worried about.

Continue reading ‘Ozark’ To End With A “Super-Sized” Season 4 Split Into 2 Parts at The Playlist.

Janet McTeer is the sort of interview subject that when you get them on the phone they are more interested in talking to you than the preassigned subject. That’s not to say McTeer isn’t proud of her work on “Ozark,” but she had a reputation as an ego-less interview for decades. And in a pandemic where many stars have let their hair or guard down for one reason or another, she’s the same charming Janet McTeer who won over awards season nine years ago when on the campaign trail for “Albert Nobbs.”

READ MORE: Jason Bateman hints that the end of “Ozark” is near

A two-time Oscar nominee for her roles in “Nobbs” and “Tumbleweeds,” McTeer has turned heads once again with her performance as Helen Pierce in the third season of the Netflix drama series.

Continue reading Janet McTeer Thoughts On Whether ‘Ozark’s’ Helen Had Any Sort Of Real Redemption [Interview] at The Playlist.

As we remarked while focusing on the Emmy race for Outstanding Comedy series last week, thousands of Television Academy members spent months at home in front of their screen due to the coronavirus pandemic. All streaming services were up in regards to viewership across the board. And with very few members “at work” (we see you scribes) the question for the Emmys overall is whether enough voters checked out series they normally wouldn’t have time for.

Continue reading Emmys 2020: Will Drama Series Voters Remember ‘Pose,’ ‘Stranger Things’ & ‘Handmaid’s Tale’? at The Playlist.

The third season of Netflix’s “Ozark” introduces viewers to a new branch of the Byrde family tree in the form of the wildly unpredictable Ben Davis, brother to Wendy Byrde. Soap opera veteran Tom Pelphrey plays Ben, who becomes a romantic interest for Ruth (Julia Garner) and a support structure for the Byrdes in an increasingly violent dynamic. Sadly, Ben’s Bipolar Disorder becomes a liability for a growing criminal empire, and his tragic arc becomes essential to the success of the season.

Continue reading Tom Pelphrey Talks ‘Ozark’ Season 3, Working With David Fincher On ‘Mank’ & More [Interview] at The Playlist.

A little under a year ago, Michael Mann teased the release of his upcoming novel that will serve as a prequel to the acclaimed crime thriller, “Heat.” Without even knowing anything about the plot, fans of the film were ecstatic at the idea of Mann returning to the world of “Heat” one more time. Well, won’t those fans be excited to know that Mann also has dreams of making a film based on that novel, as well as a potential sequel.

Continue reading ‘Heat’: Michael Mann Wants To Make His Prequel Novel Into A Film, As Well As Make A Sequel at The Playlist.