Ozark: What episode does Ruth Langmore die? Her fate explored

Ruth Langmore, the third most important character in Ozark after Marty and Wendy Byrde, dies at the end of season 4, in the final episode, titled, A Hard Way to Go. Played by Julia Garner, Ruth’s character goes through a lot but ultimately does not receive any kind of personal redemption.

Jason Bateman, who not only starred as Marty Byrde but also directed some episodes, including the Ozark series finale, talked to Vanity Fair about the team’s decision to kill Ruth.

He mentioned that the creative team had decided that if one of the key characters were to be killed off, it should be impactful and make sense to both the audience and in terms of the story.

Ending Ruth’s arc in death was tragic but also logical, given how her life turned out after she got involved with the Byrdes. In the interview, Bateman mentioned that showrunner Chris Mundy wrote the final moments of Ruth in a way that brought out how

“The character has a moment of fear and realization of what was coming, then a moment to transition to acceptance and almost turning it into a good thing.”

Ruth’s character development in Ozark was compelling as she came a long way from where she started. However, while the Byrdes were able to flee and finally start fresh, Ruth was not that lucky.

Ruth Langmore was killed by Camila Elizonndro in Ozark

Ruth is introduced in the very first episode of Ozark as Marty and Wendy, along with their two children, move to the wilderness to launder money for the cartel. Marty sees potential in Ruth, and after she blackmails him into hiring him, they start working together.

Ruth remains faithful to the Byrdes and even kills her uncles to ensure that her hard work does not go to waste because she knew that they were after Marty. Coming from a troubled family, with her mother dead when she was only 8 years old and her father in jail for most of her formative years, Ruth had survival instincts inside her from a very young age.

After working for the Byrdes for two seasons, Ozark Season 3 shows the conflict between Ruth and her employers as she comes to know that it was Wendy behind the deaths of both her father and her lover. This makes her leave the Byrdes and start working with Darlene Snell and Wyatt as she helps them move heroin.

Unfortunately, Javi kills Darlene and Wyatt, but Ruth does not sit silent this time and avenges their death by murdering Javi. Despite surviving so much, she cannot save herself at the end as she is shot dead by Camila Elizonndro, the cartel leader, in the finale.

Ozark can be streamed on Netflix.

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