Tonight We Improvise

**Tonight We Improvise** is the fourth episode of the first season of *Ozark*. It aired on July 21, 2017.

## Synopsis

Marty hires Ruth to pull off a heist. Agent Petty forges a relationship with a member of the Langmore family. Jonah exhibits disturbing behavior.

## Plot

Marty gathers information on Lickety Splitz, a money-losing strip club; turned away by the owner previously, he still intends to control it so he can use it for money laundering.

Jonah finds the carcass of a coyote and cuts it open, giving his parents cause for concern. They have a presumed-private discussion about it on the boat, near shore, but Charlotte overhears the entire conversation. They're concerned that Jonah's animal mutilation might escalate, even to the point of shooting up a school. They meet with Jonah to discuss the situation and are relieved to find that he did not kill the coyote and was only studying it because of his interest in the vultures that came to feed.

Working undercover, Roy watches Marty at the Blue Cat, and develops an interest in Russ Langmore, Wyatt's father and Ruth's uncle. He contracts Russ to take him fly fishing. During the outing, Roy's story-telling reveals that he's gay. Immediately, Russ becomes unfriendly.

Marty hires Ruth to break into the Lickety Splitz safe. Ruth meets with Bobby Dean, ostensibly applying for a job as a stripper. After some verbal interviewing, she gets on her knees for the next phase. While Bobby leans back to enjoy, she sees the target safe behind him and decides to smash his genitals, then leave. Later, Ruth demands $2,000 cash from Marty to enact her plan. Marty asks what the money is for, but she says that he's better off not knowing. She splits the cash amongst a group of young men to to spend at the club. While they're inside, she calls in "shots fired" to the police, who storm the place and amongst other fallout, arrest Bobby Dean for various illegalities. She then calls Marty to tell him that she can't crack the safe. He ends up wrapping a tow chain around it and yanking it through the rear wall with his minivan. They crack the safe open under the cover of a remote farm building. Eventually, Marty finds what he sought in the safe: the ownership deed for the club, with no specific owner named. Marty visits Bobby in jail, offering to buy the club for $200,000. Bobby rejects the offer until Marty explains in detail his understanding of Bobby's money laundering scheme in Panama and discloses that he now holds the ownership deed. His new offer is $175,000 and bail, which Bobby accepts.

Bobby visits Jacob and Darlene Snell at their house, revealing that it's their money he's laundering. After some pleasant discussions and conjecture about how the scheme was discovered, they kill Bobby as punishment and to keep their business secret.

With the whole family gathered at breakfast, Charlotte demands that her parents stop lying to them, having overheard their conversation from the previous night.

Jonah interrupts Marty using a money counter and putting the cash through the clothes washer. Seeing no reason to lie, he decides to explain the whole business to him, including how to make new cash used in drug transactions look old so it can be mixed with cash from legitimate business before being deposited at the bank.

## Production

### Credits

* Starring
* Guest Starring
* Co-Starring
### Starring

* Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde
* Sofia Hublitz as Charlotte Byrde
* Skylar Gaertner as Jonah Byrde
* Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore
* Jason Butler Harner as Roy Petty
* Esai Morales as Camino Del Rio
* Peter Mullan as Jacob Snell
* Lisa Emery as Darlene Snell

### Guest Starring

* Marc Menchaca as Russ Langmore
* Christopher James Baker as Boyd Langmore
* Adam Boyer as Bobby Dean
* Quinn Cooke as Raven

### Co-Starring

* KJ Smith as Stripper
* Ricky Muse as Island Charlie
* Michael Tourek as Ash
* Ryan Walden as Three Friend #1
* Bryson Truman as Three Friend #3
* Jantzen McDonald as Three Friend #4
* Adam Cronan as Creepy Guy
* Kayte Giralt as Stripper #2

## Deaths

* Bobby Dean
* 1 of Jonah's Friends
* 1 wolf