Ozark: Season 2

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
So, season 2 dropped a few days ago, and I just finished watching the 10 episodes. After an excellent season 1:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?358297-Ozark-Season-1

the big question was - would season 2 hold up? Be worse? Better? How would they handle recapping to re-orient the audience and remind them of key developments in season 1? So many challenges. And so many shows fail this transition - to *me*, a terrible example is Strange Things, where I loved, loved, loved season 1, and could not watch beyond the first episode of season 2, so utterly did they mishandle recapping season 1 and degrading everything that was good in season 1 - an epic failure (in my eyes). Or things just went off the rails completely - loved season 1 of True Detective and season 2 which really had nothing to do with season 1 was just a gigantic fail (funnily enough, season 3 of True Detective will apparently take place in the Ozarks :)).

The short of it - LOVED season 2 of Ozark just as much as season 1. I thought they handled the recapping brilliantly. And set up season 3 very, very nicely. Everything that was great about season 1, was also great in season 2 - very nice plot developments which never felt forced (as so often happens in TV series as the natural premise gets exhausted and writers hunt for ways to prolong things). The tension was handled well, with almost all episodes (save one) consistently keeping you at the edge of your seat. Characters evolved realistically, without major inconsistencies (the most frequent flaw in TV series - when you feel that a given character would never do something based on his previous portrayal). Excellent acting from everyone continues, just as in season one, there's really not a bad performance from anyone here.

I must say, I've thoroughly enjoyed this series. I have not seen everything Netflix has done, or indeed the rest of the wave of TV content available these days, but of the things I've seen, this is by far the best.

Oh, also, Jason Bateman is actually a good director! So often actors are given a vanity directing opportunity and they deliver mediocre or worse results, but Bateman is legit good!
 
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Good news indeed!...we started watching and about 5 min in decided to re watch season 1 again...what incredible writing, directing, acting....every aspect spot on. After another 3 episodes we will watch the new season...this time making a probably futile attempt not to binge watch our way through the 2nd one
 
OldCorpse said:
VariCam 35? Any idea what lenses they're using?
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Ozark was VariCam Pure. Some of season two was another camera at first, but then they returned to the VariCam Pure. Don't know what lenses.

CORRECTION:
We just checked with Ozark DP Ben Kutchins. Ozark seasons 1 & 2 were all shot VariCam 35, not VariCam Pure and not on another camera (any change was nixed in preproduction). Ben predominantly used Cooke S4 primes and occasionally will use Zeiss Super Speeds.
 
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Dan Pears said:
Hi Mitch, a little off topic - but was the Varicam still used for the night scenes in Better Call Saul season 4?

Thanks.
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Better Call Saul has always been a spilt between RED and VariCam 35/LT/Pure. There was even some 35mm film for an episode as a "hark back" to Breaking Bad." All night time and candle lit interiors are shot on VariCam Pure.
 
Ozark is the first show that i feel varicam was the best choice from an aesthetic perspective. Some shows use the iso5000 to their advantage, but overall their show could’ve been shot on anything else and bee ok, but With Ozarks, i find it difficult to imagine it shot on anything else. I kind of think the Venice maybe, but i am not familiar with that camera’s look to be sure, and even then, i think they really are using the V35 color palette to their advatnage. The gaffer and grip crew seem to be doing amazing things on the show as well.
 
Yes I agree completely...though not as extreme as The Arrival, I sometimes find the grade too dark, but the camera/s produce exquisite detail and color....and though only on episode 2 of season 2 the show itself does not dissapoint!...I'm trying to stretch this one a bit!
 
Thanks, Mitch. I love the look of Ozark and I'm honestly impressed by the Varicam 35 and the lens choices. The show is a technical and artistic success. The way the set up season 3, I feel leaves them with a lot of milage and drama potential, so that's very clever - so many series run out of juice after the first season and the premise is exhausted, but here the season 2 was fantastic and season 3 has rich prospects. If it keeps up like this for a solid 5 seasons, it'll join a small group of top series for me, next to The Wire and Breaking Bad - very exciting!
 
I kind of hated season 2. I just finished it.

Really loved season 1 but there were a couple things in season 2 that just completely lost my trust in the show to the point I don't know I'll watch season 3.

It was getting a bit samish for me too. Problem pops up... they take care of it. Rinse and repeat. I just needed other things happening to hold my interest more.

Also Bateman and Linney are just great to watch.
 
Loved season 2 also. Indeed, Bateman and Linney are wonderful as the leads, but the supporting cast and villains are all great too. Both the camera work and the cameras are great, and I have to say Bateman's direction in the episodes he directed too, is very strong...
 
It was a stronger second season than a lot of shows. West World - cough.
 
I liked season 2. The way that Wendy's character evolves is really interesting. Marty becomes less sure about the whole thing - more reflective, showing some conscience and she becomes more resolute and fierce. The ending solidified that. So I thought they did a good job with it. Bateman is so good in it and Laura Linney kind of makes the show what it is. It's a good story and I don't think they broke anything, which can happen.

I'm glad to see the Varicam being used in more productions. I like it very much in the night exteriors in Better Call Saul where they stay saturated and attempt skin tones even under ambiguous light. Here the skin tones go blue/gray. It works for the show, for sure, but this type of grade has been helping digital cinema look acceptable for a long time. The real beauty of a good system shows its stuff in warmer tones which are not explored in Ozark. Not a knock on the camera just an observation.
 
hscully said:
I'm glad to see the Varicam being used in more productions. I like it very much in the night exteriors in Better Call Saul where they stay saturated and attempt skin tones even under ambiguous light. Here the skin tones go blue/gray. It works for the show, for sure, but this type of grade has been helping digital cinema look acceptable for a long time. The real beauty of a good system shows its stuff in warmer tones which are not explored in Ozark. Not a knock on the camera just an observation.
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Usually darker shows with this type of grade are favored by many...but if this was a blind camera test with some new camera on the market the forums would never sleep, major outrage.

The general noise in this industry (including movie criticism) can be very ironic.

Use a $50K+ or whatever it is camera and completely ruin the image and most don't care or notice. But you'll get 100 pages here on why the skin tones just don't look quite right on the newest, hottest mirrorless camera.
 
Great article, thanks. Crazy Rich Asians is a really good example of the more richly saturated images that show how the Varicam shines. The cool de-saturated images of Ozark tell that story beautifully but Crazy Rich Asians really sell the platform for me. Excellent.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Better Call Saul has always been a spilt between RED and VariCam 35/LT/Pure. There was even some 35mm film for an episode as a "hark back" to Breaking Bad." All night time and candle lit interiors are shot on VariCam Pure.
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Hi Mitch,

Sorry for the twenty day late reply - thanks for the comment. Great camera..

Cheers.
 
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