Omar Navarro

Omar Navarro is the overall main antagonist of the Netflix series, *Ozark* serving as the unseen overarching antagonist in Seasons 1 and 2 and the main antagonist of Season 3/4. He is the head of the Navarro cartel.

## Background

Omar Navarro is the leader of the Navarro cartel. He is also technically Marty's boss. He asks Marty and Wendy to help him launder his money through their casino.

Omar is very short, very calculating, and heartless. He doesn't seem to care much for the people around him as long as they do his bidding. Wendy and Marty continuously try to seek his approval.

Wendy has an idea to help Navarro protect himself and his children, if the war between his cartel and the Lagunas Cartel goes south. Helen likes the idea and shares it with her client. Omar Navarro is introduced and wants to meet Wendy on this idea. Meeting in Navarros' personal plane, they discuss business. Helen explains the plan to Omar, but Omar wants to hear it from Wendy. Wendy explains to Omar the circumstances in an honest way, explaining that they can make legitimate cash from this. Omar had enough and tells them to leave, leaving him interested.

At the end of Season 3, after the Byrdes helped him end the gang war by involving the FBI, he decided his allegiance was with them instead of Helen Pierce. He had her killed and hugged the Byrdes.

In Season 4, Omar wants his freedom. He agrees to give over some information to the FBI in exchange for the promise of his freedom. He tells Marty and Wendy that his freedom is theirs- and there is no alternative. He plans to backstab his nephew, Javi, by giving him over to the FBI. He successfully makes a deal with the FBI, agreeing to continue operations for five years while maintaining communication with them. However, Maya goes against the deal and has him arrested.

In jail, Wendy goes to see Omar and tells him that she has a plan to get him out. After Javi is killed, their hopes of doing a transfer for Javi are ruined but Wendy creates a new plan for Omar. The plan is to get him off the SDN list and extradite him to Mexico. In Mexico, they can pay for his escape. Omar finally agrees to the plan but tells them his cartel needs to know who is in charge- Marty volunteers to represent Omar and go down to Mexico for him.

Omar is murdered as part of a deal struck by Camila Navarro with the FBI to have Omar "transferred" (murdered) so she can assume the role of the head of the cartel, fulfilling the deal with the FBI earlier made by Omar to provide intel.

## Personality

Omar Navarro has the traits that are commonly associated with a criminal kingpin. He is ruthless, cunning, and utterly devoid of mercy and empathy. He is shown to be a foil to Del, while Del was calm, calculating, and preferred a more subtle approach in threatening people, Navarro is mercurial and short-tempered, with the war with the rival cartel exacerbating these tendencies. The war has made him more paranoid and jumpy, which causes Marty and Wendy to become more desperate to please him.

One of his defining traits is his impatience. He doesn't have much interest in small talk or deals that he thinks will waste his time, with Helen noting to Wendy that she was impressed that he waited long enough to hear her out. This tendency also jeopardized his initial deal with the FBI, considering that he was unwilling to give them what they desired in order for a deal to be made.

Another defining trait of his is his callousness. He views his subordinates as little more than disposable pawns that he can use for his desires, which he makes clear to Wendy when she unwisely chides him over him neglecting to tell her that his rival owned a horse at the horse farm that he bought. He also showcases this nature when he coldly tells Wendy that he won't act like he appreciates her for her sacrifice of her younger brother, saying that it was merely what needed to be done.

Despite his impatience and mercurial nature, Navarro is quite intelligent and can be duplicitous. This is exemplified by when he told Wendy to buy a horse farm for him, while neglecting to tell her that he also was intending to hurt his rival by gelding his prized horse, thus making it less valuable. He also showcases this when he uses his potential deal with the FBI to sabotage his nephew Javi's gun shipments and advance his own interests.

Navarro seems to value honesty, as he forces Marty to tell him what he *truly* wants when he kidnapped and tortured him, and seemed to genuinely appreciate Marty's response when he says that he's terrified of Navarro and that he hopes that the other cartel kills him. With that said, he is shown to hate liars, which is showcased by his rage from when the FBI reneged on his deal and decided to use him for 5 years as their puppet, instead of letting him walk as he desired to. He also said he was disappointed in Marty and Wendy's lack of trust in him.

He also is shown to respect strength, particularly from Marty and Wendy. He goes as far as to say that he sees a lot of himself in Marty and Wendy in the way that they want to win, just like him.

Despite his many negative traits, Navarro showcases a softer side to himself. He genuinely loves his sons and wants a better life for them, which motivated his decision to find legitimate business ventures that he could put his money in for his sons to have in case he is killed and eventually his desire to make a deal with the FBI in order to leave the criminal lifestyle. He also showcases his love for his sons when he freaks out when his newborn son's baptism celebration is hijacked by rival cartel members. He also showcased a great reluctance to kill his nephew Javier, despite how much of a wild card he is and how much irritation that he causes him, which is ironic considering his cold response to Wendy saying that she had her brother Ben killed for his sake. He also states to Marty and Wendy that he doesn't kill children, and shared his disappointment in their lack of trust in him.

He also demonstrates that he is spiritual and superstitious to a fault, often going to confession in order to try and absolve himself of his sins as well as discussing with Wendy about his belief in bad omens, much to the chagrin of Marty.