Ozark spoilers follow.
Ozark's finale packed more than a few punches and twists for viewers, but it was one major character's death that amassed the biggest reaction.
Fan favourite character Ruth Langmore found her untimely – but previously foreshadowed – end during the final episode of the show's fourth season, when she was shot down by Camila Elizonndro at the side of the road.
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Speaking to TVLine, showrunner Chris Mundy revealed that a grueling debate broke out in the writers' room when trying to decide Ruth's fate.
Related: That major Ozark character death was foreshadowed
"Half of the writers, or maybe a little under half, felt that there was something nice to knowing that Ruth would be out there in the world and doing well," he said.
However, the team eventually decided that it wouldn't be logical or authentic "if everyone just gets off too easily".
It became apparent to them that the Byrdes "don't get away clean karma-wise, but they do get away clean in terms of their lives and their success".
And so Ruth's fate was sealed.
"It started to feel like the writers were just imposing a happy ending on things because we're kind of like surrogate parents of the characters," the executive producer added. "Are we telling a true story if something [tragic] doesn't happen?
"We talked about it, we debated it and I knew what each person in the room thought."
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However, the executive producer went on to add that the process of finding a proper ending and deciding to kill off Julia Garner's character was a "hard and emotional" one for the writers.
The way the episode played out also hinted at the "innate cynicism" in having the Byrdes get away with their crimes practically unscathed while Ruth died – as "capitalism doesn’t work unless there is a winner and a loser".
Mundy added: "And there's a degree to which the Langmores are going to be the losers of that equation, while somebody else builds their fortune. The Byrdes came in and climbed their way up off the backs of people like the Langmores, and they're representative of a lot of people.
"There's something about it that's cynical and there's something about it that's very, just, true. So we were trying to write into that truth."
Ozark is available now on Netflix.
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