Phineas Larson is an award-winning screenwriter, director, editor, and television critic currently working as CBR’s Taylor Sheridan News writer. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Chapman University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, majoring in Writing for Film and Television and minoring in English. Before joining CBR, he contributed weekly television episode reviews to mxdwn.com. Larson has also written two independent feature films and received awards for several original spec scripts. During his time at Chapman University, he served on the Editorial Board of the school’s student literary magazine, Calliope. His experience spans a wide range of storytelling, from evaluating poetry submissions to examining big-budget television productions. His perspectives on films and television episodes are informed by tens of thousands of hours spent watching, studying, and writing about media.

In 2026, two of Taylor Sheridan’s standout projects have been Season 1 of Dutton Ranch and Season 4 of Tulsa King. Both Paramount+ series revolve around crime and feature central characters trying to find their footing in unfamiliar environments. It’s a compelling formula that has also helped make one of Netflix’s most recognizable shows so successful: a four-season crime drama led by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney.

Created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, with Chris Mundy (Lanterns) serving as showrunner, <Entity value=”Ozark” category=”tv_show” /> aired from 2017 to 2022. While Dutton Ranch sends Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) from Montana to Texas and Tulsa King relocates New York gangster Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) to Tulsa, Ozark follows the Byrde family as they leave Chicago for Osage Beach, Missouri.

Ozark Creates Tension by Making Its Characters Outsiders

Much of the suspense throughout Ozark‘s four-season run comes from placing Jason Bateman’s Marty Byrde in an unfamiliar Missouri setting. The Byrdes, Dwight, and Beth all find themselves at odds with the local culture and established ways of life in their new surroundings. Much like Dutton Ranch and Tulsa King, this premise makes Marty an accessible protagonist whom viewers can easily sympathize with and support.

Moving to unfamiliar territory strips these characters of the comfort, connections, and security they once relied on, just as the criminal stakes begin to rise. Dwight is separated from his crew, while the Dutton name carries far less influence in Texas. Ozark takes that vulnerability a step further by making even Marty’s new home a dangerous place, establishing an atmosphere of tension from the very beginning.

Beth, Marty, and Dwight all face considerable obstacles as they attempt to establish their lives and businesses in unfamiliar territory. Their efforts to find stability become increasingly difficult, eventually drawing each of them further into criminal activity. In all three series, the central characters repeatedly come into conflict with the established order in their new communities, struggling to stay afloat while trying to build their respective businesses.

Because the Byrdes are newcomers to the Ozarks, viewers discover the region’s dynamics at the same time as the family. This approach makes each series easy to become invested in, but Ozark arguably makes the strongest use of the concept. Unlike Dwight and Beth, the Byrdes arrive with considerably less power and influence, giving them an even greater disadvantage from the outset.

Ozark Gives a Familiar Genre Trope Its Own Distinct Identity

Marty and Wendy make a move against a competitor in Ozark.Image via Netflix

In Taylor Sheridan’s Tulsa King and Dutton Ranch, the characters’ attempts to establish successful businesses are closely tied to their involvement in criminal activity. However, the two series approach this conflict differently. In Dutton Ranch, the move into drug smuggling is portrayed as a more reluctant development, while much of Tulsa King revolves around Dwight’s willingness to cut corners and use intimidation and violence to expand his business empire.

Rather than exploring every detail of Dwight’s growing criminal operation, Tulsa King places greater emphasis on character relationships and the conflicts surrounding him. The business side often takes a back seat to the interpersonal drama. For example, Dwight’s relationship with Mitch (Garrett Hedlund) carries more weight than the specific process of generating money through Bred-2-Buck. Ozark, meanwhile, takes a different approach. Although it is equally compelling as a character-driven drama, its narrative is built around the mechanics of money laundering.

The series’ detailed exploration of money laundering is a major part of what sets Ozark apart. By giving considerable attention to how its characters move and conceal their money, the show establishes a distinct identity among crime dramas that tend to simply acknowledge the financial schemes behind their criminal operations without examining them in depth.

Even so, Ozark never allows the technical side of its story to overshadow its most important relationships. The marriage between Marty and Wendy (Laura Linney) remains at the heart of the series, while the money-laundering operations introduce another layer of suspense and conflict into their lives.

Ozark Makes Full Use of Its Eerie Setting

Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, Laura Linney as Wendy ByrdeImage via MRC

Both Dutton Ranch and Tulsa King use the culture and physical landscape of their settings as essential parts of their storytelling. In Dutton Ranch, the bars and ranches of Rio Paloma, Texas, shape the show’s atmosphere and conflicts, providing the backdrop for storylines involving cattle illness, the influence of the 10 Petal Ranch, and the drug trade. Tulsa King takes a similar approach, quickly introducing viewers to the city’s casinos, weed farms, and surrounding ranches.

Throughout its four-season run, Ozark also connects its criminal storylines to the businesses operating in its setting. The Byrdes rely heavily on a casino as one of their main sources of income, while their growing success brings them further into the orbit of the Navarro drug cartel. Put Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler in place of Dwight Manfredi, with their cattle ranch replaced by his business operations, and the result would be something very close to Ozark.

The series also makes its natural surroundings a defining part of its atmosphere. Its expansive lakes and stretches of water create an unsettling, almost otherworldly backdrop, much like the open deserts and mines featured in Dutton Ranch. Although the visual palettes are quite different, with Dutton Ranch favoring earthy browns and golds while Ozark leans into colder blues and greys, both shows use their distinctive aesthetics to reinforce their identities.

Ozark Depends on Its Morally Complex Characters

Julia Garner as Ruth LangmoreImage via Netflix

As crime dramas filled with complicated conflicts, Tulsa King, Ozark, and Dutton Ranch all revolve around morally ambiguous protagonists. Rip Wheeler, Beth Dutton, and Dwight Manfredi are characters viewers can easily get behind as their personal histories and personalities gradually come into focus. Their respective shows also introduce antagonists whose cruelty makes supporting even a gangster like Dwight seem like an obvious choice.

Where Ozark particularly excels is in the depth of its character development. Despite his criminal activities, Marty Byrde and his family initially come across as remarkably ordinary people. Unlike Beth, Rip, and Dwight, who are introduced as larger-than-life figures with sympathetic qualities, the Byrdes feel much more grounded and relatable. Beyond its storylines involving money laundering, murder, and casinos, Ozark is ultimately about a family’s gradual loss of morality.

In Tulsa King and Dutton Ranch, the protagonists frequently find themselves on the morally justified side of their conflicts, with their attempts to establish new lives repeatedly disrupted by ruthless enemies. Ozark takes a less straightforward approach, showing how Marty and Wendy’s involvement in criminal activity steadily compromises their principles and transforms who they are.

While trouble seems to find Dwight, Beth, and Marty, Ozark takes particular care in showing just how deeply Marty and Wendy become entangled in the circumstances surrounding them. The series handles this progression with intelligence and complexity, continually placing its characters in unfamiliar situations. Their initial fight for survival gradually turns into a willingness to embrace corruption and increasingly manipulative schemes, creating an absorbing story that keeps viewers invested.

Nearly a decade has passed since Ozark first premiered on Netflix. Following its conclusion in 2022, the series has gradually slipped out of the spotlight as the streaming landscape has become increasingly crowded with crime dramas and major Netflix hits. However, viewers drawn to the characters in Dutton Ranch and the criminal schemes in Tulsa King may find that Ozark offers even more than they expect.

With Taylor Sheridan continuing to bring fresh attention to the crime genre through projects such as Dutton Ranch, Tulsa King, Landman, and others, now is an ideal opportunity to revisit Ozark. As Tulsa King moves through its fourth season and viewers face an indefinite wait for Season 2 of Dutton Ranch, the four-season Netflix drama offers a substantial and compelling series to dive into in the meantime.

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