Why won't there be an Ozark season 5? Cast and crew explain

It was announced in June 2020 that the show would be returning for a "supersized" fourth and final season, made up of 14 episodes and split into two parts.

At the time, showrunner Chris Mundy said: "We’re so happy Netflix recognised the importance of giving Ozark more time to end the Byrdes’ saga right."

Since then, in an interview with The Daily Beast, Mundy explained that when to end the show was always Netflix's decision, but he'd made clear to the streamer that he wanted advanced notice, so he could bring it to a satisfying close.

However, it seems that in the end, the decision to end with four seasons was mutually beneficial, with Mundy explaining: "I’ve been talking to them about trying to end it in five [seasons], and they weren’t sure if they wanted to do four or five, and Netflix is the one that hit upon the idea of doing four seasons but a longer order, with the idea always being that it would split.

"My gut feeling is that they have an appreciation for letting things run the right amount of time for them, and creatively. I know for us, creatively, we didn’t think it would go past five. Knowing where we wanted to end it—at least emotionally; we didn’t know all the mechanics of it—it felt like somewhere in that four-five season range was kind of perfect."

Meanwhile, in an interview with Collider for the show's third season, before the final season was confirmed, Bateman explained that "I think there's always been the presumed area [of] three seasons, four seasons, five seasons, something like that."

Bateman's reasoning for this was not wanting to "jump the shark", saying that given Marty and Wendy's intelligence, and the rate of escalation in the danger and the play "they're either going to be killed or put in jail."

"The alternative is to flatten out that pitch so that you don't end up jumping the shark," Bateman continued, "but then you start stalling just for additional episodes and seasons."

So there we have it. It seems that a combination of creative decision making and, ultimately, Netflix's final say, is why we won't be returning to the Ozarks for any more crime and chaos.

Speaking about the series' ending to Time, actress Julia Garner - who played Ruth Langmore in the series - discussed how emotional it was to leave the show behind.

Garner said: "It’s really bittersweet. From an artistic point of view, I feel like ending on a high note like this is probably the smartest move. You don’t ever want to be the last person leaving the party. Personally, and selfishly, I could shoot this show until I’m 70 years old."

Describing the cast and crew as a genuine "family", Garner added: "It was a dream. It was such a personal experience. It makes it harder in some ways to be on other sets because I have this sort of Ozark standard in a way."

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All four seasons of Ozark are available to watch on Netflix now. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.

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