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Wendy Marie Byrde (née Davis) is the villainous deuteragonist and sometimes the main antagonist of the Netflix series, Ozark. She is portrayed by Laura Linney.

About[]

Wendy and Marty Byrde have been married for close to 20 years. Together they have 2 kids, Charlotte and Jonah.

Wendy was raised in Boone, North Carolina, and used to have a very strong accent. She grew up in a poor, church-going family. In her teenage years, she got heavily involved in drugs and alcohol, and even had abortions. She confessed this to her pastor and was rejected by him, causing her to question her faith and split from the church.

Background[]

In Season 1, Marty and Wendy's relationship is strained as he has found out that she is cheating on him through a private investigator. They decide to stay together for the kids and Wendy helps Marty pack up everything overnight to move to the Ozarks after the cartel's threats.

Wendy helps support Marty and come up with creative ideas to launder money, while they're in the Ozarks. Wendy starts working with Sam Dermody at the realtors office after a few weeks in the Ozarks. Before, she used to be a public relations consultant on political campaigns before moving to the Ozarks.

Eventually, Wendy ends up being a principal partner in Marty's scheme. She is ruthless and conniving and knows how to get things done. She helps manipulate Charles Wilkes to their advantage in Season 2.

In Season 3, Wendy starts to become a major player in the cartel scheme. She starts making decisions without Marty and starts to build a friendship with the cartel lawyer, Helen Pierce. Wendy even starts having private phone calls with Omar Navarro himself, despite Marty's concerns.

When Wendy's brother, Ben Davis, moves to town he starts to stir up trouble for the Byrdes. He has bipolar disorder and goes off of his meds, giving great concern to Wendy and Marty because they know that he can cause danger to himself and others. Once Ben learns about the cartel business, he confronts Helen and her daughter Erin, telling Erin what her mom really does for a living.

Helen wants Ben dead as revenge, but Wendy tries to avoid this by taking him on a road trip to find a place to hide. Once she realizes how unreliable Ben really is, Wendy turns on her own brother and calls Helen to tell her where he is. Ben dies and Wendy goes into a temporary depression, wondering if she made the right call.

At the end of Season 3, she and Marty fly to Mexico with Helen to see Omar Navarro. Navarro unexpectedly shoots Helen, showing his allegiance to the Byrdes.

In Season 4, Marty and Wendy now don't only have to deal with Omar- they have to deal with his erratic nephew, Javi. Omar is also demanding that the Byrdes get him his freedom, threatening theirs if they can't deliver.

Marty and Wendy's marriage continues to have pain points- mainly on how to handle Jonah, who has gone to work for Ruth. They disagree on a lot of parenting decisions.

Wendy and Marty finally comes to an agreement with the FBI and Omar Navarro, and they are meant to have their freedom. Until Maya changes the plan and arrests Omar. Javi thinks Marty and Wendy were behind it and threatens to kill him until they promise to negotiate a new plan -protecting Javi.

The plan to protect Javi is in play until he decides to take care of the "Darlene problem" and shoot both her and Wyatt. This sets off Ruth, who goes to get revenge and ultimately tracks down and kills Javi. Marty and Wendy have to move fast to make a new plan- get Omar out of jail by getting him extradited to Mexico. Marty has to temporarily take charge in Mexico in Omar's place while Wendy holds down the fort at home. She is continuing her political campaigning and manages to get Jim to work for her again. Her job is to get Omar off of the SDN list- but she needs Randall Schafer's support for that.

Marty returns and tells Wendy Camila took the hit out on Omar. Wendy acts fast and reaches out to Camila- insistent that Marty and Wendy start to work with her. They eventually let her into their FBI plan, asking her if she wants to work with them instead of Omar. She agrees and consents to the plan to kill Omar in Navarro so she can step in. The FBI agrees and Marty and Wendy have their new path to freedom.

At the end of the series, Camila confronts Marty, Clare, and Wendy about who killed her son. Marty and Wendy don't give Ruth up but Clare does, which ultimately leads to Ruth's murder. In the last scene, the private detective, Mel Sattem, confronts Marty and Wendy about Ben's death because he found his ashes in their house. Jonah shoots Mel to save the family. Wendy and Marty get off free.


Murders[]

1)Cade Langmore- Bribes him and lures him out of town where he is shot by Nelson.

2)Benjamin Davis- Shot at a diner in Kentucky by Nelson after Wendy confirms his location to save her family.

3) Javier Elizonndro-Ambushed and Shot to death by Ruth after Wendy organizes a meeting with him.

Quotes[]

Evil comes when the righteous path is so hidden, it just looks like there’s only one way out.

Wendy

Photos[]

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