Ozark Finale ...

 (Updated)

... the final episodes dropped on Netflix today!

IMO, one of the best TV shows ever done - maybe even THE best TV show ever done.

Can't wait to watch tonight!

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PS -  after watching episodes 8-10 (the first three in the second installment of episodes of the last season).

So one of the reasons I thought this show was one of the best in history was you were never 100% sure of where it was going to go, you couldn't always predict.

IMO - being a film buff and retired "aspiring" screenwriter since childhood, a show or film has to have certain key elements, i.e.,  great writing/slow burn of a story, with enough twists to keep it interesting, but they have to make sense - it's a balance between not being too predictable and not twisting so much that either it doesn't make sense or you don't even care anymore lol.

Also - no loopholes in the story or loose ends - those drive me crazy lol.  There's red herrings and there's loose ends - big difference.  It's okay to wait a while to tie up those loose ends, but they should all be tied up, or at least addressed, by the end, and if they aren't,  they don't make any sense, can ruin an otherwise good story, and frustrate me to no end/drive me personally batty lol. 

Also, great dialog, great character development/evolution of complex characters, great acting, great directing, great cinematography,  creating an atmosphere that almost becomes it's own character, ability to sustain suspension of disbelief without going OTT.  

Also great editing and great sound.  You wouldn't think these make a difference, but if you've ever watched a low-budget movie with terrible editing or sound, you know what I'm talking about. The scene is edited to the next scene too quickly, sometimes even mid-dialog, to the point it doesn't even make any sense. 

Editing should be a smooth transition, like fade-out to end it or a build-up to begin it - not just cutting somebody off nearly mid-sentence into the next scene or starting with a monster coming out of nowhere, without the set-up scene build.  When done poorly, you'll know, because it usually either makes you say "WTF?" or even laugh - either of which makes you step outside the story and think about the filmmaking process instead, which is a huge no-no, right? 

As for the results of poor sound, the dialog is muffled, hard to hear or  even delayed, particularly the sound effects are delayed - and  that can actually ruin an otherwise good movie.  Same effect - when it's bad sound, you'll know, because you find yourself laughing at it - taking you out of the story and your thoughts are more to the filmmaking itself.

Along with sound, inappropriate music/soundtrack.  Think 80s movies, when bad 80s music was run through a scene that didn't match the mood or actually just distracted you from what was going on rather than enhancing it?  

See?  This is why Oscars are for editing and sound - because bad editing or bad sound can actually ruin an otherwise great film, or sometimes even help make a mediocre one into a memorable one.

Most importantly, truly great directors/filmmakers will often give you visual "foreshadowing" hints of what's going to happen or "whodunnit," without smacking you in the face with it or making these super obvious for stupid or ADD people lol.  

Sometimes it's stuff that you later go, "Oh, that's why they showed that," but with the best directors, they're very subtle, very sly about it - you won't even notice too much, but you'll either think back and go "Oh, now that happening earlier makes more sense, I didn't even think of that, at the time." 

They may even actually show you a "memory montage" of the thoughts of a character who's just pieced things together, right? 

Now, with Squid Game - which I also think is a masterpiece (and so does Spielberg, so I'm in good company) - I figured it out, but not until several episodes in, and knowing that didn't completely ruin it for me, by that point - not because I'm a genius, but because I'm a lifelong film buff and can figure these foreshadowings out. 

With Ozark, I haven't usually been able to figure out where everything was going to go - until now:/

In fact, if I can figure out "whodunnit" or what's going to happen in the first 10 minutes of a film or show, though it still could be an otherwise good film, it kinda ruins it for me - and I think this is the first time I was able to do that :/

However, like I said, it can still be a good piece of work - it's just knowing "whodunnit" or what's going to happen makes it predictable.

For example, with Squid Game, I knew, but I didn't care - I still wanted more.  That's the exception to the rule, though.

*Slight Spoiler Alert*

So without giving away too much of a spoiler, this is the first time I'm 99% sure of "whodunnit" and what's going to happen -  meaning I'm 99% sure of who ordered the  (attempted) hit on  Navarro before the characters have - and that person is staring Marty right in the face.

Marty's too smart not to know and to be taken in by this person, it seems very obvious to me.

Of course, I could be wrong, but if so, that kind of ruins it for me ;/

Then again, like Squid Game, even if I'm right, that won't necessarily ruin it for me - Ozark can still keep me interested with something coming out of left field as far as the end result.  We shall see :)

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PPS -  Yup, I was right - but still watching :)

Oh, and they're too smart to be making the stupid, impulsive mistakes  they're making, all over the place - they're losing control and they're cracking.

Episode 12 ... 

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FINALE

Okay, so am I the only one disappointed?

Not going to give away any spoilers but - yeah.  Not only in how it ended but in quality :/

I will say that they're clearly leaving it open for later possibilities because there are still too many loose ends that needed tying up - and as I said above, loose ends drive me cuckoo! lol.