Marty Byrde

Marty Byrde is a mild-mannered, Chicago-based financial advisor who launders money for a Mexican drug cartel.[1] When the cartel discovers that his partner, Bruce, has skimmed $8 million of their money, Marty is forced to plead for his life. In a last-ditch attempt, Marty shows a member of the cartel a vacation flier for the Lake of the Ozarks and claims that it is a good location for money laundering. Marty says if he is allowed to live, he will launder $500 million in five years. The cartel partly agrees, and Marty replaces the skimmed money by liquidating his assets. He then sells his home and moves his family to the Ozarks to begin his money-laundering scheme.

Before arriving in the Ozarks, Marty learns his wife, Wendy, is cheating on him. This strains the Byrde family's transition from Chicago.[2] After arriving in the Ozarks, Marty searches for local businesses to purchase he can use to launder the cartel's money. He eventually purchases the Blue Cat Lodge, a boating resort run by Rachel Garrison, and the Lickety Splitz, a local strip club owned by Bobby Dean.[3] Unbeknownst to Marty, the strip club is also a money-laundering racket for the local heroin-dealing Snell family, led by Darlene and Jacob Snell.

Throughout the season, Marty and his family encounter many obstacles in their money laundering scheme. Marty's activities draw the attention of FBI agent Roy Petty, who has tailed him from Chicago and is working undercover in the Ozarks.[4] When Marty tries to convince the Snells to do business with them, the cartel sends Del and his associate Garcia to check on their progress. The Snells, who use pastor Mason Young's waterfront boating church congregation as a heroin distribution racket, murder the pastor's pregnant wife after Marty and Wendy feign interest in building an actual church for him. The Snells leave the baby on Mason's doorstep, rendering him a single father. Rachel steals a significant amount of money from the Byrde family and disappears.

When Del and Garcia realize little progress is being made, they terrorize Charlotte and Jonah, Marty's children. As a result, Buddy, a terminally ill tenant living in the Byrdes' lakefront home, kills Garcia. Del rips off Marty's toenails in an attempt to find out what happened to Garcia. Concocting another plan, Marty tells Del that he will work with the Snells to build a casino to launder the rest of the money. Del agrees and meets with the Snells, but Darlene shoots him in the head with a shotgun after he calls them "rednecks". Marty is forced to continue with the casino plan.

Disillusioned by the Snells' violent acts and the perceived danger to his own family, Marty begins planning the family's escape to the Gold Coast of Australia.[5] When Wendy finds out, she feels the plan is flawed and opts to protect the family using a different approach. While Wendy begins to establish important ties with the Kansas City mafia, her increasing disregard for Marty's input on decisions strains their relationship further.

Marty and Wendy must now deal with Navarro cartel attorney Helen Pierce and her bodyguard, Nelson, who have replaced Del after his death. After FBI Agent Petty successfully raids the Byrde home, Helen assists with the damage control. Their neighbor, pastor Mason Young, kidnaps Wendy and ties her up in his cellar after his son, Zeke, is taken into state custody.[6] Marty retrieves Zeke from the state and returns him to Mason, but he is forced to shoot and kill Mason when he threatens to stab Wendy in the neck with a screwdriver. The incident leaves Marty traumatized.

Ruth Langmore is trapped between working for Cade, her father, and Marty. Cade kills Agent Petty, solving a problem for the Byrdes, but Wendy plays a wild card when she orders her first hit against Ruth's abusive father. Her decision to have Cade killed further widens the rift in her marriage to Marty. Now that it is safe to stay in the Ozarks, Marty prepares to open his casino.

Marty and Ruth now manage the Missouri Belle, the riverboat casino being used for the Byrdes' laundering scheme. Wendy and Charlotte handle public relations. While the FBI is constantly monitoring the casino's activities, they are unable to prove that Marty is laundering money. Wendy's brother, Ben Davis, shows up in the Ozarks and begins living with the Byrdes. Omar Navarro, the leader of the Navarro drug cartel, kidnaps Marty and takes him to his estate in Mexico to see if they can launder the money without him. Marty is thrown in a cellar and is forced to listen to loud, heavy metal music for hours. He is fed maggot-infested food. When he returns, Marty copes with the trauma by purchasing an old arcade game and playing it obsessively.[7]

Marty and Wendy begin seeing a therapist named Sue. Unbeknownst to Wendy, Marty is bribing Sue to side with her so that Wendy does not get upset. Their relationship is further strained when Wendy is forced to divulge the nature of the Byrdes' activities to Ben, who witnessed Marty's kidnapping. Ben, who is bipolar, grows disillusioned with their crimes and lashes out at Marty, Helen, and Helen's daughter Erin. Helen resolves to kill Ben, forcing Marty to escort him to safety.

When Wendy abandons Ben on a road trip and leaves him to die at Nelson's hands, Marty cremates Ben's body at the funeral home. Jonah discovers Ben's ashes and realizes what happened, permanently damaging the relationship between Marty and his son. Marty and Wendy win Navarro over and have Helen killed, cementing them in the cartel.[8]