Ozark‘s Charlie Tahan on the Scene That Changed Everything For Wyatt

This story contains spoilers for Season Four, Part One of Ozark.

Five seconds. Ozark usually moves at a hauntingly flat-footed pace, building tension bit by bit, like a twisted Jenga tower, only to knock it all down an hour later. That changed in the series’s Season Four, Part One finale, which debuted on Netflix last week. After an episode filled with FBI wheelings and dealings, it suddenly cuts to cartel-boss-in-waiting Javi. With about 10 minutes left in the new batch of episodes, he storms into the Snell ranch, murders Wyatt Langmore and Darlene Snell, and moves on.

“I kind of had a different idea of how it was going to be,” says Charlie Tahan, who has played Wyatt in Ozark since the show premiered. “I thought it was going to be a lot more drawn out. But I really loved the sudden shock of it. It’s five seconds. They sit down and that’s it.”

When I zoomed with Tahan on Thursday night—AKA on Ozark Eve—he had, obviously, had some time to process the death of the character who has been in his life since he was 18 years old. (Tahan is 23 now, and quips that he went to “Ozark school.”) For the rest of us? We’re left to mourn the sudden demise of a character who had finally made a decision with his best interests in mind: marrying Darlene, taking responsibility for baby Zeke, and, like it or not, building a life separate from Ruth. Wyatt Langmore? You were gone too soon.

Tahan talked to us about Wyatt’s final interaction with Ruth, whether or not Darlene and Wyatt truly loved each other, and filming that fateful scene. The conversation below has been edited for clarity and length.

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ESQUIRE: When did you learn about Wyatt’s fate this season?

Charlie Tahan: I remember a series of phone calls. [Ozark show-runner] Chris Mundy, when he called me, he may have felt bad and thought that I would think that he was personally attacking me, which is not the case.

ESQ: Let’s start with the first scene of the last episode, when Wyatt tells Ruth that he loves Darlene and he’s going to stick with her. Could you break down what’s going on there, just from your perspective?

C.T.: The main thing I always say is, he’s struggling with his confidence in his abilities to get out and carve his own life out. He was thinking [about] what Ruth would want from him. Ruth, obviously, feels a lot of guilt later on in the show, but even at the start, Ruth puts her eggs into making sure Wyatt is OK. In that scene, it’s just Wyatt humbly accepting responsibility for the makeshift family he’s made for himself. Whether it’s right or wrong, I think it’s just something in that moment that he feels he has to see through.

ESQ: When you’re talking about Wyatt carving his own path—could that have meant a life separate from both Ruth and Darlene?

C.T.: Yeah. I think the option that Ruth was waiting for was, in some capacity, just to get out of the neighborhood. And I think she put a lot of emphasis on Wyatt’s intelligence. He seemed like he had a pension for academia. It just seems like something that I think Ruth would hope for, [that Wyatt] wouldn’t have the similar cyclical life that her family had. She wanted Wyatt to break that pattern. And I think Wyatt would’ve liked to, too. He just hasn’t had anyone from the outside world telling him and inspiring him to do his own thing. Separate from Ruth, he kind of thinks that he is at a place where it’s as good as it’s going to get for him. I think he found some purpose between Season Three and Four with Zeke.

ESQ: That’s sad and hopeful at the same time. Having a baby in his life is beautiful for the character.

C.T.: Also, who knows what the fuck would’ve happened if Wyatt left. Maybe he would’ve gone to college and stole something that week and got thrown out. That’s maybe what’s going through his head. I don’t know. There’s something, sort of sad about it, but there’s something almost admirable about just him—taking responsibility and not running away. He had a pattern of running away from his problems. And I think he’s like, Look, whatever happens, I started this thing and I’m going to see to it. On paper, that could be admirable at times, even though I think it is born out of his own insecurity, probably.

ESQ: That’s especially admirable in a show where most of its characters are either running after or away from somebody. Do you think that moment between Ruth and Wyatt, where he doesn’t invite her to his wedding, was a definitive break in their relationship?

C.T.: I think it’s a definitive break in the relationship they had for the past two seasons. I don’t think I ever thought of it as a complete break from our relationship as a whole. Wyatt spent a lot of time this season getting juggled between his allegiance to Ruth and Darlene. He makes a decision, for better or for worse. When we were filming, I wasn’t thinking of where that would lead Ruth in the future. But I imagine they’d still be running around the same circles.

ESQ: What will you miss about playing Wyatt?

C.T.: Oh, a lot. When you’re playing a character, it honestly just depends on the day. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, other days it’ll seem easier. I mean, the stuff that I’ll miss the most is just being on set and with my friends. Everyone says it, but we were all together for five years and we did become a family. And I will miss that. I’m going to miss hanging out at the lake where we film. I got this job when I was 18 and a child actor. So, this is the first job where I didn’t have to have guardians or do school. I’m 23 now. I did Ozark school.

ESQ: Ozark University.

C.T.: That really is what I compare it to. I mean, I made a whole group of friends. Also, I’m just, really proud of the show and how many people respond to it.

ESQ: One thing we haven’t gotten to yet: the relationship between Darlene and Wyatt. Do you believe there’s genuine love there?

C.T.: I’d say, me, Charlie, I’m young and don’t really know what that looks like and it wouldn’t really be my place. When we were filming, I just said that there was love there for whatever reason. I think they each fill a role that the other is missing. And I do think they create a real bond and rapport. They have a mutual respect. While Wyatt was vulnerable, I don’t think Darlene starting a relationship with him was something that she had foreseen or planned or anything—no matter how nefarious she may be after that.

I don’t quite see Wyatt as a victim in that way. Are they in love? I think there’s some love there, absolutely. I’m still figuring out what that means. I think Wyatt felt taken care of by Ruth and his family, whether that’s positive or not. What Darlene offered Wyatt that Ruth didn’t was a sense of responsibility. She actually gave him purpose, responsibility, a real place, and a job that’s his own. After being looked out for by Ruth for so long, I think it felt good for him to take care of Zeke, a business, and separate from the family he was born in.

ESQ: What do you remember from filming Wyatt’s death?

C.T.: It felt different filming that scene, even just from a technical perspective from other scenes. They haven’t done a lot of tracking shots, where that much information is given. We were just with stunt guys, throwing my head back. That was a very fun scene to film. And it was one of the few times that I looked at the monitor right after we filmed. Everyone’s like, “You’ve got to see this shot.” … When I was going up to film, I kind of had a different idea of how it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a lot more drawn out. But I really loved the sudden shock of it. It’s five seconds. They sit down and that’s it.

ESQ: Once you wrap that scene, are you saying to yourself, Oh, shit, He’s dead now?

C.T.: I think, if it was the last scene that I did, I probably would’ve felt differently. I wish I could say a cool quote that I was upset when I went home that day. I mourn the loss of Wyatt, but no, it was really just a day where there were a lot of practical effects and a lot of moving pieces. It took a while for that one shot. But I love shit like that. It’s a dance.

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