The following contains spoilers for Ozark Season 4, Part 2, now streaming on Netflix.
In Netflix’s Ozark, one of the most tragic deaths was that of Ben. Due to his bipolar issues, Wendy let the cartel kill her brother, because he would have spilled their secrets — exemplified by him outing Helen’s very shady lawyer deals to her daughter, Erin. It was a subtle death, though, because viewers didn’t see exactly what happened.
The series just focused on Ben outside a diner, looking for a guilt-wracked Wendy, only to see the Navarro enforcer, Nelson, approaching in sinister fashion. Well, with Season 4, Part 2 finally ending the series, Ozark pulled a big fakeout that made this ordeal even more heartbreaking.
Hopeful fans posited that because a body wasn’t seen, Ben wasn’t killed. Usually, the show would have the kills blatantly on screen, but no one saw who Marty burned when Nelson dropped a body bag off at their funeral home. Conspiracy theories ramped up in Part 1 when Wendy sauntered out of town to inspect a body, which, while it was denial, had fans thinking maybe the cartel kept Ben as leverage.
However, Part 2 revealed early on what transpired with Nelson and Ben. He held Ben at gunpoint, got him into the jeep and drove for quite some time. A restrained Ben began rambling off speeches like he did when he took a long drive down to meet Wendy in Season 2, making it seem like they drove for hours, or maybe days.
Ben even apologized to the cartel, and sent his forgiveness to Wendy, all while Nelson remained silent. It did feel at this point that if Nelson wanted to kill him he’d have done so, especially because Nelson had no problem in the past murdering in public. Nelson eventually took Ben to an old building, where there might have been other cartel members waiting to pick Ben up. Unfortunately, Nelson rushed Ben inside and had him kneel on a tarp in the dirt.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be, cementing that Nelson brought Ben there to die so he could tidy things up and get the body back to the Byrdes as a sign of respect. More so, it’d intimidate them over how meticulous Omar was with wrapping up loose ends. The soul-crushing part came with Ben, crying and quavering, begging for a second chance.
This was clearly the antics of a man in need of help, reiterated when he then stopped and began telling Nelson this was all a dream. Clearly, Ben didn’t know if his mind was playing tricks on him, or if this was a side effect of going off his medication. Sadly, as he said that, Nelson shot him in a really unforgiving, cruel scene that showed the cartel didn’t have patience or a heart.
See how Ben’s final moments unfolded with all four seasons of Ozark streaming on Netflix.
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