‘Ozark’ director Amanda Marsalis on shooting that shocking death scene in Episode 8: The entire episode is ‘a build-up’ to it [Exclusive Video Interview]
[WARNING: The above interview contains spoilers about Season 4 of “Ozark.” Watch at your own risk.]
Before the fourth and final season of “Ozark,” Amanda Marsalis had directed only two episodes of the Netflix series, the Season 2 closer (“The Gold Coast”) and fifth episode of Season 3 (“It Came From Michoacán”). So, you can imagine that learning she would helm four episodes of the drama’s 14-episode farewell installment — whose two parts debuted on January 21 and April 29, respectively — elicited quite the response from the director. “Shock, gratitude, excitement and nausea,” she enumerates while describing her initial reaction to the news in a new exclusive video interview with Gold Derby (watch above).
Of the show’s last season, Marsalis directed Episodes 8 (“The Cousin of Death”), 9 (“”Pick a God and Pray”), 12 (“Trouble the Water”) and 13 (“Mud”). Out of these, Episode 8 particularly stands out as it not only is the opener of Part 2 but also breaks with the show’s usual style and structure. It chronicles the aftermath of Darlene’s (Lisa Emery) and Wyatt’s (Charlie Tahan) tragic deaths and follows a grief-stricken, vengeful Ruth (Julia Garner) as she travels to Chicago to hunt down and eventually murders their killer, Javier “Javi” Elizonndro (Alfonso Herrera). “We always knew it was a very unique episode,” reveals the director in reference to herself and showrunner, executive producer and writer of this episode Chris Mundy. “I was nervous, excited and honored that I was the one that was going to be able to bring this episode [to life].”
SEE our interview with ‘Ozark’ editor Cindy Mollo
The episode reaches its climax when Wendy (Laura Linney) lures Javi to Shaw Medical Solutions with the promise of signing an agreement for the stock options and Ruth shoots him dead once he enters the office of CEO Clare Shaw (Katrina Lenk). Even though Javi’s death caught viewers off guard due its early occurrence in Part 2, Marsalis notes that “the entire episode is a build-up to killing him.” When asked why she chose to film the death scene through the glass office front, she explains that the location lent itself to that angle, adding, “I was a photographer before I was a director, so I’m very visual. And it just spoke to me — we’re just going to come in and this is just going to all play out right here.” She also praises Herrera for being an “extraordinary” stuntman, underlining that the shot wouldn’t have worked had the actor not believably pretended like he was “being shot and hitting the ground.”
In our chat, Marsalis also discusses a hair-raising scene from Episode 12, in which Wendy slams her head into a car window as hard as she can and just lets the blood run down her forehead. This comes after her children, Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner), are given permission by a family court judge to decide with whom to reside and they opt for Wendy’s estranged father, Nathan Davis (Richard Thomas). In regard to this scene, the director points out that it mirrors Wendy’s brother Ben Davis (Tom Pelphrey) hitting his head against a car window in a flashback in the season’s 10th episode, “You’re the Boss.” “There’s this connection, this bridge between them there,” she says about the siblings in these two scenes.
SEE over 250 video interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders
Finally, the director also shares her reaction to the show’s eventful finale, which was directed by series star Jason Bateman. The episode sees Ruth bite the dust and the Byrdes (presumptively) get away with yet another murder. “I thought it was the best ending ‘Ozark’ could have,” states Marsalis. Bearing in mind the respective circumstances of the rich and poor in the United States and “who gets away with what and who gets the short end of the stick,” she concludes, “Of course the Byrdes are going to get away with everything, and of course Ruth is going to pay.”
PREDICT the 2022 Emmy nominees by July 12
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions