There are major spoilers for the Ozark season 4 finale . In Jason Bateman's Ozark series finale, titled "The Hard Road," every desperate deal, broken promise, and bloody murder comes together as the Byrdes family fights to escape the Mexican drug trade. The group made a last-ditch effort. Before the final showdown - which includes the death of a fan-favorite character - the Bird family must reunite.
At the beginning of the episode, Marty visits Ruth and threatens to murder Harvey's mother, Camilla, if she doesn't help her son. He explained that Wendy had been checked out at the same hospital where Ben had been admitted and refused to leave "until she got the baby back," and Ruth paid her a visit "to see what was bullshit and what wasn't." After the conversation, Ruth agrees to do her part to stop Wendy's abusive, estranged father Nathan from moving Jonah and Charlotte to North Carolina. "If I keep my word, you'll tell Marty to stop the narc assholes," Ruth negotiated. Wendy's reaction? "I promise."
So Ruth visits Nathan with a gun from the safe and, after a few drinks, demands to know why he's fighting for a child he doesn't even want. Nathan admits it was all to piss off Wendy, but refuses to leave Jonah and Charlotte behind, she fires a warning shot and demands he tell them the truth or she'll shoot him in his "fucking head" The gun - but not the man on his shoulder.
Although the audience can't see what happens in between, the next scene shows Jonah and Charlotte visiting their mother in the hospital. Despite their initial warning that their presence does not mean they will stay, they appear to be left behind after Wendy gives an emotional speech in which she takes responsibility for her selfishness and anger leading to Ben's death. Convinced to stay. "I want you to stay so much it hurts my teeth, but if you want to leave, then go ahead. I promise you I will love you all the same," she told them, insisting she didn't want to be "trapped "Them, just like she did to Ben.
After Wendy leaves the facility, they next get into a van with Marty. As Wendy discusses how she's going to call the moving company and how they'll be "free" to move back to Chicago in just 48 hours, Marty swerves to avoid a head-on collision with their vehicle, and the Byrdes have another brush with death. It rolled over and over several times before stopping. While Marty, Jonah, and Charlotte were all fine, there was some initial doubt about Wendy's condition, even though she also walked away with just a bruise.
Back home, a visit from Father Benitez leads Marty to realize that Omar Navarro knows, or at least suspects, that Nelson is dead. After confirming to Ruth that he was indeed on her edge, he offered to connect her with a private investigator who could give her a "fresh identity" and a clean start. They also wanted to work with her to continue laundering money from the Missouri Bell Casino after assuring her that the FBI would do so. "I like my name," Ruth insisted, agreeing to listen to the FBI's offer.
Believing Camila was responsible for the murder, Navarro gave Marty a Chicago hitman's phone number and asked him to "take care of" her. Although Navarro's prison transfer assassination attempt goes off without a hitch, the Byrdes consider calling when Camila shows up at their party and begins asking Claire about the day her son died. After a graphic threat from the incoming cartel boss, Claire admits that Ruth killed Harvey in retaliation for him killing Wyatt. As Marty and Wendy stand with them, Camilla warns the couple that she will kill their child and warns Ruth that she will come for her.
Although Wendy tries to come up with a plan to make good on her promise to protect Ruth, Marty reminds her that they have no choice - Ruth must be sacrificed. When she got home from the party, Camila was waiting for her by the pool with a gun in her hand. "I'm not sorry," Ruth defiantly tells Camilla after asking how she found out she murdered Harvey. "Your son is a murderer. Now I know where he got it from." After a long silence, Ruth asked, "Well, are you going to do this or something?" Camilla A shot is fired into Ruth's chest and the screen fades to black.
Meanwhile, Marty and Wendy return home from the party to find a broken glass door and Mel sitting outside, holding a cookie jar containing Ben's ashes. They offered him money to keep quiet, but Mel refused their "toxic" money. "You can't win," Mel told the Byrdes. "You can't be the Kochs or the Kennedys or whatever you people think of as f*cking royalty. That's not how the world works."
But apparently it does, and as Jonah emerges from inside, we hear gunshots. "Since when?" Wendy asked as the screen went black, a gunshot could be heard and Al Green's "Love and Happiness" began to play on the blank screen.
