Marty Byrde

**Martin "Marty" Byrde** is the villainious protagonist of the Netflix series, *Ozark*. He is the husband of Wendy Byrde, father of both Charlotte and Jonah Byrde, and a financial advisor turned money launderer.

## About

### Season 1

In Season 1, Marty moves from Chicago to Missouri Ozarks in order to launder money for the drug cartel that would have otherwise had him dead. He considers Missouri to be a safer and less competitive place. So, he purchases a strip club to help him achieve this goal. Unfortunately, his presence gets him in trouble with the family that runs crime in the area - the Langmores.

Marty ends up hiring the ambitious 19-year-old Ruth Langmore to help him with running the strip club. Since Ruth is on his side, the Langmores refrain from killing him.

Later on, Marty proposes a working relationship between the cartel and the Snells. As part of the deal, the cartel will be distributing heroin for the Snells. When things go south and Darlene shoots Del, Marty later has to answer to the cartel. He convinces them that he can launder $500 million for them if they spare his life.

### Season 2

In the second season, Marty has to launder $500 million. He realizes that a strip club and a funeral home in a rural area can't manage to clean that amount of money so Marty has the idea to open a riverboat casino.

As season two draws to a close, Marty and Wendy work as a team to get the riverboat idea off the ground in spite of resistance from the Kansas City Mafia and political red tape. the season finale, the casino is finally launched.

### Season 3

Marty and Wendy continue to struggle in their marriage and go to couple's therapy. Marty tries to bribe the therapist, Sue, to help her side with him more often. As Wendy tries to take control of their moves with the cartel, Marty asks her to be cautious now that the FBI is involved.

New agent, Maya Miller, approaches Marty about making a deal - 18 months prison and the promise to help the FBI catch other money launderers in exchange for his eventual freedom. Marty initially accepts the deal before being kidnapped by the cartel. He sits in a cell for several days while Omar Navarro decides his worth. Eventually, Omar lets him go back to the Ozarks.

He denies Maya her deal and tries to secure his family's well-being by continuing to launder more money. Eventually, he and Wendy win Omar's trust over Helen's and Omar chooses to continue working with the Byrdes and to eliminate his relationship with Helen by killing her.

### Season 4

In Season 4, Marty and Wendy now don't only have to deal with Omar- they have to deal with his erratic nephew, Javi. Omar is also demanding that the Byrdes get him his freedom, threatening theirs if they can't deliver. Marty calls Maya constantly but she avoids his calls until he shows up at her house. He asks for the possibility of negotiating with Omar. She says he will have to give up a lot for that to happen. Marty tries to make it work with Navarro.

Marty and Wendy's marriage continues to have pain points- mainly on how to handle Jonah, who has gone to work for Ruth. They disagree on a lot of parenting decisions.

Marty finally comes to an agreement with the FBI and Omar Navarro, and Marty and Wendy are meant to have their freedom. Until Maya changes the plan and arrests Omar. Javi thinks Marty and Wendy were behind it and threatens to kill him until Marty promises to negotiate a new plan - protecting Javi.

The plan to protect Javi is in play until he decides to take care of the "Darlene problem" and shoot both her and Wyatt. This sets off Ruth, who goes to get revenge and ultimately tracks down and kills Javi. Marty and Wendy have to move fast to make a new plan- get Omar out of jail by getting him extradited to Mexico. Marty has to temporarily take charge in Mexico in Omar's place. When someone in jail tries to kill Omar, Marty tries to find out who it was and kills his prime suspect. He regrets this when he later realizes that Omar's sister, Camila, was really the one who took out the hit.

Marty and Wendy, at Wendy's insistence, start to work with Camila. They eventually let her into their FBI plan, asking her if she wants to work with them instead of Omar. She agrees and consents to the plan to kill Omar in Navarro so she can step in. The FBI agrees and Marty and Wendy have their new path to freedom.

At the end of the series, Camila confronts Marty, Clare, and Wendy about who killed her son. Marty and Wendy don't give Ruth up, but Clare does, which ultimately leads to Ruth's murder. Marty desperately tried to think of a way to save Ruth but commented that it would be "suicide" for them, so they let it happen. In the last scene, the private detective, Mel Sattem, confronts Marty and Wendy about Ben's death because he found his ashes in their house. Jonah shoots Mel to save the family.

## Personality

Marty is typically a calm, smart, and collected individual. He can come off as cold to some because of his general calmness, but in reality he has an innate ability to compartmentalize his emotions, which causes him to maintain a cool head while under pressure. Rachel even mentions his tendency to bury his emotions in high pressure situations. This tendency also leads him to be a mediator in high pressure situations, though with how mercurial and unpredictable criminals can be, this proves to be a difficult task for Marty.

Despite being a criminal, Marty is not a cold or heartless man and doesn't want anyone to die as long as he can help it. This is exemplified by his attempts to save people that he's loyal to, such as Ruth and Rachel. He also felt intense grief and remorse when he killed Mason, even though he did it in defense of Wendy. He also showcases his loyalty to his family time and time again, as he shows that he will do anything in his power to prevent them from being killed by the cartel. He has even stated that he wished that he had never entered business with the cartel in the first place to Ben.

Marty can be manipulative and never takes a risk without calculating the odds of taking it. This leads to him being able to talk his way out of a problem. This is proven by several actions, such as when he just barely manages to convince Del to spare his life, forcing Petty to back off by exploiting his mother's drug addiction, and attempting to sway Maya to work with him, though that didn't work, it got the results that he had expected. Marty is more cautious than Wendy is, which is what leads to the tensions in their marriage. Marty (rightly) believes that Wendy's ambition and hunger for power is going to get them in trouble with the cartel or worse.

He has a few hobbies outside of his work, predominately that he's a fan of baseball, particularly the Chicago Cubs, and that he enjoyed gardening in Chicago.

Marty has been compared to other TV anti-heroes like Walter White and Tony Soprano, though he has proven to be quite different than the two of them. Unlike Walter, Marty isn't particularly ambitious or prideful, nor is he forceful and dominant like Soprano. He's more or less a normal man who got caught up in a whirlwind of violence and mayhem, and he's constantly trying to find a way to get out.

## Murders Committed

Throughout the series, Marty Byrde has committed **1** murder:

* Mason Young - Shot in the throat to protect his wife.

## Quotes

> Money is, at its essence, that measure of a man's choices.
>
>

Marty: "You see, the hard reality is how much money we accumulate in life is not a function of who's president or the economy or bubbles bursting or bad breaks or bosses. It's about the American work ethic. The one that made us the greatest country on Earth. It's about bucking the media's opinion as to what constitutes a good parent. Deciding to miss the ball game, Del play, the concert, because you've resolved to work and invest in your family's future. And taking responsibility for the consequences of those actions. Patience. Frugality. Sacrifice. When you boil it down, what do those three things have in common?"- Sugarwood

Marty: "I mean why does he have to feel bad just so you can feel good? Plus when you disrespect him, you disrespect this whole place. And you might be able to get away with that crap at the dive bars your used to going to but not here. I won't tolerate it."

Big Redneck: "You won't tolerate it?"

Marty: "That's right. I won't tolerate it."- Blue Cat

Marty: "Yeah I don't think you're aware, but a few weeks ago I was in your club, and I was talking to a few people you employ, and I found out you like to vacation in Panama. I thought why Panama? Why not Mexico or Belize? Unless it had something to do with the fact Panama is a hub for money laundering."

Bobby Dean: "Want my fucking lawyer"

Marty: "You want the Panamanian lawyer? The one that sets up the shell companies for you to launder your money through your club. I mean what are the odds that we both done considerable time in Panama? That's like..What is it? Three to one at least. What are the odds that we both recognise the value of the legal community in that country? That's five to one I'll bet ya. But what are the odds that we would both be drawn to the work of the contracts lawyers at the law firm of Machado Filippo? Those odds are very long. Yeah?"

Bobby Dean: "I ain't fucking talking to you."

Marty: "It's okay, you can just listen.'Cause I'm just thinking out loud about how shell companies work. Y'know the, the miracle really that makes it possible to move money around without countries being able to track it. I'm just, I'm fascinated by it. What has me thoroughly taken is how a man can own and operate a company without ever putting his name on it, so that every move, every transaction is perfect undetectable. Think about that. How is that possible? How if you never put your name on a company do you ever even own the company? I don't get it, I mean it's something to ponder isn't it? I mean that guy would have to be in possession, physical possession, of that company's bearer shares. Yeah? The piece of paper, the deed to his empire. It would all come down to that wouldn't it? And if he was in possession of that piece of paper, where do you think he'd keep it? You think he'd put it in the safe? In a manila envelope...in the false bottom of that safe? Now I don't go to church and I don't consider myself a Christian. I don't consider myself anything, but I do like to think that I follow a certain code. So even though I now am in possession of that little piece of paper...I'm not gonna take your club. I'm gonna buy it. And as I said...I'm able to make you a very fair offer. So...One seventy five?