re: I’m trying to like Ozark

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All I have seen was Season 1. And the entire idea that they could launder millions of dollars through some crappy marina and a strip club. Just absurd.

Laundering money is one of the most lucrative, difficult, and sophisticated challenges in the entire financial world. So the premise of a cartel laundering millions through a seasonal resort in the backwoods of Missouri is just absurd. If they didn't spend time thinking that part of the show through, then I don't have much respect for them showrunners.

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Keep in mind that one of the most successful shows of all time laundered money through a carwash place. It wasn’t to the same scale of Ozark, but laundering money is laundering money at the end of the day.

Gotta get used to the over the top characters. Only Charlotte calmed down by season 3.

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All I have seen was Season 1. And the entire idea that they could launder millions of dollars through some crappy marina and a strip club. Just absurd

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You must not have been paying attention then bc one of primary conflicts was the cartel pressuring Marty to launder more money than he was capable of. He was stashing cash in his walls bc he couldn't wash it fast enough. And spoiler alert. They acquired a casino.

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Should have been a 10 minute show.

They would have executed the dude in the first episode. Fairy tale.

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I must be bored bc I don't feel strongly enough about the show to be knighting for it but... the idea that this show is outlandish but a show about a chemistry teacher becoming a drug kingpin is high art is pretty dumb. I like both shows for what its worth.

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It’s good but very overrated

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And cancelled after four seasons as it should be.

It's crazy how much TD loves this show. It's by far the most overrated series I've ever seen.

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It's crazy how much TD loves this show. It's by far the most overrated series I've ever seen.

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I loved it for two years but after waiting nearly two years for S3 and then the shite shown in S3 it lost its luster for me. It had a good run but it is time to wrap it up.

I liked it from the beginning, but if you don't it's cool. Don't try too hard. It's just television. There's something else that you might like.

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I have a hard time suspending disbelief for the rest of it.

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There's just too much of it that is hard to take seriously, if you think about it at all. Suspension of disbelief killed this one for me, though I did watch until the casino boat. That was the last straw.

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I watched the first season. And there was no plausible realistic way to launder millions through that shitty marina. It takes huge businesses to launder on that scale. Like a casino. And I have a master's degree in finance. And I'm in a business that could be used for that purpose. And I've been approached by some potential clients who I suspected wanted to do just that. I know enough about it to speak intelligently on the matter.

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You are correct and I'll weigh in from a similar professional background as a fed. Once you're under formal investigation and every financial transaction is being examined (such as season 3, where agents are spending 8+ hours a day walking the casino floor with Marty's team), the money laundering days are over. Sure, you might be able to hide a few hundred dollars here and there but millions? Not a chance.

To be honest, that's the way 90% of organized crime is- if you're not drawing attention to yourself with unnecessary greed or violence, it takes a long time to show up on our radar. Resources are limited and financial investigations are time intensive and costly. But once you're targeted and a case is opened against you, it's game over. If you're fortunately enough to escape arrest and/or jail time, you shut down your operation immediately. You don't sit there continuing to launder money through a legitimate business with the FBI sitting in your office.

But I still enjoy the show. Watching pretty much any Hollywood production involves the suspension of reality and as long as it's not too egregious, I can look past most of the "OMG that would never happen in real life!" moments. I can forgive a bad plot if it leads to solid character development and interplay, and Ozark does that. Watching Ruth grow past her abusive family has been a fun ride, and the writers have done a great job of exploring the stresses this criminal lifestyle has brought on Marty and Wendy's already fragile marriage.

I loved all 3 seasons. But 2nd season was kinda tough to get through