In the third season of Ozark, fans were shocked with the eventual fate of Ruth (Julia Garner) after all she did to help Marty (Jason Bateman) and the Byrdes build their laundering empire. Ruth ended up alienated by the family after Wendy greenlit the death of her brother, Ben, which led to a nasty severance. Ultimately, Ruth took up residence with her cousin, Wyatt, and his older lover, Darlene, at her estate. However, while it seems like Ruth's just looking for a new job, she's actually perfectly positioned to become Season 4's big villain.
Marty has always weaseled out of situations and bad business deals, whether with the Navarro cartel or rivals in town. He can talk his way out of things, work numbers to get people to switch to his side and use guile and charm to genuinely make people believe in the dreams he's selling.
It's why he's duped the FBI time and time again. But with Ruth, he'd be facing the most ideal nemesis. Marty tutored her since he came to the lake and even wanted to hand the business off to her when he was ready to leave in Season 2. She knows the ins and outs, how all his rackets run, where his monies are, all his partners and so on. This information makes her more than just a snitch; she knows the Byrdes' weak points.
And she has perfect motivation as Marty didn't retaliate when Frank Cosgrove Jr. of the Kansas City mob assaulted her in an ego trip. He and Wendy merely tried to placate things, with Darlene being the one who shot the goon in his midsection, garnering revenge.
This proved to Ruth who really had her back, and Darlene gave her a sense of family. Ironically, Darlene lost family, too, as her opium trade conflicted with Marty's project. Not to mention Marty screwed her out of land for the cartel's casino. Thus, it's easy to see her handing off the kingdom to Ruth, allowing her and her cousins to break the Langmore curse as they've always been told they're backwater, low-class people.
Seeing as Darlene's also got the Kansas mob in her pocket, Ruth's perfect for running logistics, leading the show, signing up Marty's enemies and cutting into his profits. As his former protégé, she knows all the right moves to make. And as Marty's always said, she sees angles he can't -- evidenced when she used tech to bankrupt a rival casino.
What'd motivate her is her hatred toward Wendy. Ruth loved Ben, plus when Wendy threatened her for walking out, she called Wendy a "bitch wolf" in one of Ozark's most iconic arguments. To top it off, she had to kill her uncles to protect Marty while the cartel killed Ruth's dad, Cade, to keep their secrets intact. Although she understood those deaths protected her own interests, now she's got reason to want to break the Byrdes forever. The scary thing is, she's got the money and manpower to accomplish it.
Executive produced by Chris Mundy and Jason Bateman, Ozark stars Bateman along with Laura Linney, Sofia Hublitz, Skylar Gaertner, Julia Garner, Jordana Spiro and Charlie Tahan. All three seasons are currently available on Netflix.