Top 5 Clues That Could Prove Ben Is NOT Dead: Ozark Season 3

Netflix’s Ozark Season 3 may have been delayed for what seemed like an eternity, but it was right on time when it suddenly showed up within the first couple of weeks of the corona quarantine. This show was just what I, as a hardcore Ozark fan,  needed to take my mind off this “new normal” situation and I didn’t hesitate to take full advantage of my binge-watching capability to follow Marty and Wendy Byrde (Jason Bateman, Laura Linney) on their never-ending journey of crime, mayhem, and murder as they attempt to settle into life, as they know it, on Lake Ozark.

The Byrdes, while up to their same tricks of running a money-laundering operation for the Mexican drug cartel out of their newly acquired casino, taking criminal direction from Helen Pierce (Janet McTeery), disagreeing on damn near everything, attending “fake” marriage counseling, all while trying to keep the family together and alive, has another major curve ball thrown into their already-treacherous game when Wendy’s brother Ben (Tom Pelphrey) shows up out of nowhere. Hell, who knew she had any other family besides Marty and the kids? I didn’t.

Ben imposes on his rich sister and she insists that he stays with them until he gets his shit together. As the show continues to progress, I realize that I really enjoy and is invested in this Ben character.  He presents as the loving brother to Wendy and the cool, laid-back uncle to Charlotte and Jonah (Sophia Hublitz, Skylar Gaetner). But, it’s soon revealed that Ben has a serious mental issue (he’s manic bipolar) and has to consistently take medications to prevent himself from going ballistic at any given time. And, what happens?  Yep, he stops taking his meds and it’s a downhill freight train after that.

Ben accidentally finds out that his sister and brother-in-law are involved with some dangerous business partners and he explodes with rage at Wendy’s work function and she’s forced to have him admitted to the state’s mental facility. With help from Ruth (Julia Garner), who Ben has developed a romantic relationship, he’s discharged from the facility and has a serious bone to pick with Helen. After he calls a Lyft and brazenly pulls up at Helen’s lake house, Ben violently confronts the woman about her shady dealings right in front of her teenage daughter and Helen is beyond pissed. She goes straight to her boss, Mexican Cartel leader Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) and places a hit on Ben’s life, unbeknownst to the Byrdes at the time.

Once Marty and Wendy grasp what’s going on, they decide to get Ben out of town immediately. Wendy takes her little brother on this long road trip, trying to keep him out of harm’s way a.k.a. off the cartel’s hit list. Wendy attempts to talk some sense into Ben, but he’s hellbent on trying to apologize and smooth things over with Helen, who is only interested in sending hitman, Frank Nelson, to locate and murder Ben on-sight.

After spending days on the run with Ben, trying to keep him alive, and soon realizing that her brother’s mental illness has taken its toll and trying to rationalize with him is a lost cause, Wendy, reluctantly and gut-wrenchingly abandons him, with instruction from Marty, at a restaurant off the interstate, leaving him to be a sitting duck for Frank, the henchman, to do his business, as Frank comes face-to-face with Ben and the scene cuts to black.

Check out the clues that make me feel pretty damn confident that brother Ben is still alive.