WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Ozark Season 3, now streaming on Netflix.
Season 3 of Netflix's Ozark ended on a very heartbreaking note with a few crucial deaths. One of them was Tom Pelphrey's Uncle Ben, who was sold out by his sister Wendy (Laura Linney) to the cartel. On the road, she realized she couldn't hide him from the gang anymore, and he just couldn't be trusted to keep their criminal empire's secrets.
The cartel's henchman, Nelson, showed up when Wendy abandoned him at a diner, and it's assumed the body he brought back to be incinerated was that of Ben's. However, following the final shot of the season -- a dark union -- it may well be that Ben isn't dead after all and is actually being kept as insurance by the cartel boss, Navarro.
Ozark doesn't mince things when it comes to death, in fact, it loves reminding fans through headshots that everyone's expendable. It's clear in the last moments of Season 3 when Nelson actually blows Helen's brains out after she tried to replace Wendy and her husband, Marty (Jason Bateman). Navarro embraces them and makes it clear, this is a new beginning and they'll be leading his operations in America now. So, this brings to mind a couple of things about Navarro, someone who prides himself on loyalty and perhaps found Helen's backstabbing ways as something that could undo him in the future.
Keeping Ben alive works in his favor because if he holds him as a prisoner, it's a way to get Wendy and Marty to stay in line and do exactly what he wants. Ben would be an insurance card, in case the Byrdes ever wanted to flip and become informants. Navarro knows the FBI has their teeth sunk into the couple, which is what Marty uses to get the FBI to take out the rival Lagunas cartel. Thus, he'd want to ensure he has leverage, and Ben is perfect because the family cares about him deeply. Holding Ben means he has a firmer grip on the Byrdes.
Now, Wendy had no choice but to sell her brother out because he kept blabbering about Navarro, and he also let Helen's daughter, Erin, know about their crimes. If she didn't let Helen and Nelson take Ben out, her family would be sacrificed instead. But the moment she made this call, Helen had to greenlight the kill with Navarro and Nelson, and seeing as the hitman answers to Navarro and not Helen, we can easily see Nelson working a secret plan engineered by Navarro.
Because at this point, Navarro would know the Byrdes are truly loyal as Wendy's willing to sacrifice her brother for the sake of their partnership. Plus, Helen was already hitting him up to usurp the Byrdes, so he'd have a sense of who he could really trust. The fact Helen faked documents of Marty becoming an FBI confidant says it all, and Navarro would know her speaking to the feds doesn't bode well for the future as she could turn and make her own deal without anyone knowing.
Granted, we do see Nelson bringing a body for Marty and Ruth to burn. But while it's the same size as Ben, they never unzip the bag. They burn it as is and the fact Marty's son, Jonah, plays with Ben's ashes, in the end, the show could be hinting these ashes aren't what we think. After all, all we saw was Nelson approaching Ben, we never saw what transpired after. The subsequent cremation could be a sleight of hand knowing the family would just want to get the body burnt as they had to rush to break the news to Jonah and his sister, Charlotte. Navarro already kept Marty in prison in Mexico for a couple of episodes and we can see him doing the same with Ben because he knows the bipolar uncle is worth more alive than dead.
Season 3 of Ozark, which stars Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Sofia Hunlitz, Skylar Gaertner, Julia Garner, Jordana Spiro, and Charlie Tahan, is currently available on Netflix.