| “ | Patience. Frugality. Sacrifice. When you boil it down, what do those three things have in common? Those are choices. Money is not peace of mind. Money's not happiness. Money is, at its essence, that measure of a man's choices. | „ |
| ~ Marty's opening speech. |
Martin "Marty" Byrde is the main protagonist of Netflix drama Ozark.
He was portrayed by Jason Bateman, who also played Simon Callum in The Gift and Trevor Olson in Central Intelligence.
Series[]
Marty was an excellent bank accountant and was given an offer by Camino Del Rio to launder money for Omar Navarro as a result. Marty was hesitant due to the ethical implications but ultimately agreed as the offer was too generous for him to turn down.
Later the cartel end up wanting him dead and he has to move his family to the Ozarks to protect them. He has issues with his wife Wendy due to an affair she had before the series began. Despite that it is shown they do in fact love each other and their two children, Jonah and Charlotte.
Ruth Langmore who is an employee of Marty plans to kill him and steal his money however she realizes he treats her far better than most people in her life have and kills her two uncles to save his life after which Marty comforts her. Marty along with his business partners Jacob Snell and Darlene Snell distribute heroin to the paritioners of preacher Mason Young while he gives his sermons. When Mason tries to put an end to it his wife is murdered and he blames the Byrdes.
Mason Kidnaps Wendy and Marty is forced to kill him to save her life. He is plagued with guilt and is disturbed by how unaffected Wendy seems about everything.
Marty also has to deal with Roy Petty trying to bring him down until he discovers Petty's mother's drug addiction and blackmails him.
When Wendy's brother Ben arrives and becomes too much of a liability Marty pushes Wendy into having him committed. Once Ruth gets Ben released Wendy is forced to order her own brother's death to keep the rest of her family safe.
Personality[]
Marty is often stoic and seems unemotional. However he is far less ruthless and cruel than the criminals he works with as he tries to be as diplomatic and reasonable as he can when he talks with other criminals.
Marty can be pretty ruthless if it he deems it necessary as he gave Zeke away to Darlene, knowing how unstable she was as it was the only way to keep his family safe.
Marty often expresses guilt for the things he's done and does everything he can to prevent innocent people from getting hurt. Marty also does his best to be a good father to his kids and teach them how to live their lives properly though this can be hard given their knowledge of what he does for a living.