'Ozark' Is Not the Greatest Show Since 'Breaking Bad'

Read almost any review of Netflix’s hit drama Ozark, and you will very likely read that it is the greatest show since Breaking Bad or is the next incarnation of it. This could be due to a simplified understanding of the subject matter or just lazy writing but the fact is that whatever the case it is simply not true; Ozark is not the best thing since Breaking Bad. Narcos is.

A sensible place to start with this discussion is with a look at why so many people have made this inaccurate claim. It is undeniable that there are similarities between the two shows in that both feature your relatively average family man getting caught up in narcotrafficking in separate ways and having their lives turned upside down as a result.

Take a deeper look, though, and you will see that there are actually more differences than there are similarities.

Firstly, Walt is a man who is pushed to a life of crime in order to provide for his family in the wake of his impending death. His devolution into a hardened killer is gradual and steeped in emotion and struggles. From the very beginning, he is met with failure and the harsh realities that come along with such an ambitious life of crime. It is this gripping character journey that caused the show to grab such an adoring audience, they genuinely cared what happened to Walt and his companions next. This is not the case in Ozark.

Marty just doesn’t connect with audiences in the same way and neither does his waif of a sidekick. The blame can be placed on both the writing and acting in this somewhat dreary drama. By setting Marty up as a man who knows everything he needs to in order to succeed and who has the confidence to commit such boldfaced deceptions and criminal acts, the writers have effectively removed the vulnerability from him. Without that all-important characteristic, he is just an unrelatable figure who doesn’t invoke viewers’ sympathy. That is not helped by Jason Bateman’s lacking performance in the role. He is a proven talent in the world of acting but he just doesn’t have the chops to pull off this particular role. He comes across as too smarmy and smug to generate compassion in an audience, there is no likability, and without that it is impossible to invest in the story being told.

The supporting cast do not help Ozark as, for the most part, they are poorly written and largely irritating. You can be forgiven for finding yourself siding with the supposed villains as they are the only ones who come across as being interesting and worth your time in the entire show. This was not a problem for Breaking Bad as the entire cast was outstanding with even the more irritating people, Skylar, serving a worthy purpose and adding immeasurably the tension and drama.

So that, in a nutshell, is why Ozark is most certainly not anywhere near as good as Breaking Bad. Now, it’s time to discuss what makes Narcos so good.

Narcos’ real strength can best be explained by saying that, despite being based on true events and so being predictable, it is one of the most edge of your seat, pulse raising thrill rides on television. Each character is rich and layered, aided no doubt by the fact that they are all based on real people. Despite the fact that Pablo Escobar was a murdered, Narcoterrorist, and a peddler of cocaine, you still find yourself routing for him despite knowing that this is not a good man. That is perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to the writing team and the actor Wagner Moura. The cities of Bogota and Cali feel like living, breathing places. That may seem like an odd statement, but what it means is that it feels as though there is a world existing around these people that is separate to them and it helps greatly with immersion. The settings are beautiful, and watching this show is a visual experience, unlike the experience of watching Ozark’s grey colour palette.

Something that is remarkable about this show is that, in its third season, it was able to completely flip the script and succeed despite the main antagonist and most compelling character in the show, Escobar, no longer being a part of it. They switched the focus onto the vastly different Cali Cartel, and they didn’t stumble even once. That is truly remarkable, and it means that the same can be done again in future seasons, likely meaning audiences will see the hunt for El Chapo sooner rather than later.

Hopefully, through these somewhat brief explorations of each show, you can see that Narcos is the real greatest thing since Breaking Bad. Its claim to that title comes through more than the drug based subject matter, it comes through the deep, textured, and real characters who grip you from beginning to end. The fact that non-Spanish speakers cannot understand what’s happening without the subtitles does absolutely nothing to detract from this gem.