Are The Waterfront and Ozark related to each other? Here's what we know about the new show of Netflix

The Waterfront, which premiered on June 19, 2025, is a series by Kevin Williamson—known for Dawson’s Creek, Scream, and The Vampire Diaries—that follows the Buckley family in coastal North Carolina as they face the downfall of their fishing business and desperately turn to smuggling drugs in their fishing boats.

Ozark (2017–2022), another Netflix-original show, was created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams and stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, around whom the story is centered. He is a financial advisor who relocates his family to the Missouri Ozarks to launder cartel money.

The Waterfront and Ozark are not directly related, except that both are Netflix shows. The two share no creators, characters, or timelines. However, they are both family crime dramas and resonate with similar themes and vibes.

Read on to know more about how the two shows are similar.

Here is how The Waterfront and Ozark share a similar tone and vibe

Both series portray crime-entangled, dysfunctional families where the patriarch builds a criminal syndicate to support his loved ones. Both shows explore the criminal world and the moral dilemmas that come with it, as well as the personal and emotional challenges, blending gritty crime drama with emotional nuance.

The Waterfront mirrors Ozark in terms of the basic premise, which showcases a dysfunctional family entangled in crime. In Ozark, the Byrdes launder money via a casino; in The Waterfront, the Buckleys do it through a fishery. Both families are fraught with internal conflict, and loyalty is constantly tested by plot developments.

Next comes the tonality of both shows, which aim for a gritty and serious tone with over-the-top scenes that sometimes undermine realism and gravitas. Kevin Williamson's style of using cheesy dialogue and dramatic relationships is evident in the new Netflix show. It portrays financial and moral corruption along with intergenerational trauma.

The series is said to be inspired by the creator’s father's life back in the 1980s when he was involved in the drug smuggling business.

“It was sort of loosely inspired by my own family and my dad – and growing up in the ‘80s as the son of a fisherman,” Williamson, 60, exclusively told The New York Post.

Williamson then added that the show is inspired by other series as well, especially Ozark and Yellowstone.

“‘Yellowstone’ was my dad's favourite show, and I used to call him up after every episode and we would chat about it because he loved it, and it was something that sort of bonded us,” Williamson said. “And so it did inspire a lot,” he told The Post. “‘The Waterfront’ has its own thing going on, but I would say that it lives in the same grocery aisle with those other shows.”

The Waterfront isn't quite able to replicate Ozark's charm

Topher Grace plays Grady, an opioid dealer who is both quirky and menacing—a refreshing twist at first. However, his involvement with the family comes across as entirely predictable. The show features promising actors, but they are underused and given little narrative weight.

Moreover, the show tries to juggle several themes at once and rarely delves deeply into any of them. Character motivations don’t feel organic—for instance, Bree, the Buckleys’ daughter, has some emotional potential but seems stuck in repetitive choices.

The show mimics Ozark in visual tone—it's washed-out, brooding color palette—but lacks the psychological depth or narrative grip that made Ozark a standout. Unlike Ozark’s Julia Garner breakout moment, The Waterfront doesn’t leave you with a new star or memorable character arc.

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