Quarantine lessons from binge worthy shows- Volume 1: Ozark
Season 3 Episode 4 of Ozark. Marty Bryde gets kidnapped and taken to Mexico. The Cartel leader Navarro has made it clear that he’s unhappy with Marty’s unfulfilled plan to launder money through their newly acquired casino. Navarro asks Marty in a stern tone, “What do you want Marty?!”. Marty is confused by his question and before he utters a word he gets thrown into a dungeon without any idea of what Navarro wanted to know. Marty remained in the dungeon for days where they blared death metal music and heavy artificial light keeping him from getting a minute of sleep.
Riddled with fear (as anyone would be in that position), the Cartel boss brings him up from the dungeon for another in-person meeting and says to Marty ”She wants it all (referring to Marty’s wife) What do you want?”. Marty emotionally explains that he wants to be with his wife and kids. Which was the most obvious choice in a desperate situation. That answer wasn’t good enough.. Navarrow sends him back to the pit fatigued, confused and emotionally taxed.
During all of this time Marty is in isolation he’s having flashbacks of his childhood. The recollection of an arcade game that he played relentlessly while his father laid in the hospital bed dying.. Losing often, this was Marty’s escape from reality is this arcade game that he feeds with every bit of attention and quarter he has to no avail. As Marty sits in the dungeon thinking about this childhood experience, he gets brought back up to the cartel boss after a wire transfer to the cartels account doesn’t arrive as scheduled. The Cartel boss asks Marty where his money is and slides a laptop in front of Marty.
Marty proceeds to find a solution for bypassing a red flag and getting the funds deposited into the cartels account. Problem solved right?
Nope, Marty gets sent back to the dungeon kicking and screaming, “I did what you asked of me!” (with a series of explicit words). Sitting in the pit, Marty is broken, distraught without any explanation of how and why he got there. He continues to live in complete disruption as the heavy death metal and bright light continues to blare in his jail cell. Days go by with no end and sight if he’ll be dead or let go, Marty is brought up one final time. This time Marty states what it is that he wanted with authority. Marty gives Navarro an unwavered demand of what he wanted. First being that they only moved Navarro’s laundered money when he said it was safe, second being that he would compromise a FBI agent and get her on his side and his third and final demand being “I want you to say thank you”. Navarro honored all but the third demand.
What Navarro was able to expose in Marty is that he was able to force him to think about what his intentions were. Marty used his family as an excuse for his “Why” statement. Marty was broken down and tested into acknowledging what he truly wanted. Also the competitive nature within him. Many of us have a tough time with verbalizing our why. This episode was a great analogy of where we’re all at in this quarantine. By using the time we are at home, we can determine our why and verbalize what it is that we want. As soft and pragmatic as Marty Byrde is, what was brought to light was the competitive side.
(Sorry if we spoiled this episode for you)
Stay Well + Stay Positive
Positive People Posse/ 3P Media
3P DAILY 