Why Ozark Fans Are Split Over Charlotte
Crime drama Ozark is loved by fans and critics alike — the Netflix series has an 81 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score rating of 92 percent. Unfortunately, that love doesn't carry over to all of the show's characters, as many fans are split over Charlotte Byrde (Sofia Hublitz).
Charlotte has been a mainstay character since the beginning of the series. Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy Byrde's (Laura Linney) daughter started the show as an innocent child in season 1. As the fourth and final season of the series approaches, Charlotte is fully aware of her parents' criminal behavior and deception. While that doesn't necessarily make her a bad person, it does make her an accomplice. With that said, Charlotte is just a teenager, and she has been through a lot. Uprooting her life by moving from Chicago to Missouri in itself is a drastic change, and that's only one of many life-changing events she has had to endure throughout the series.
Some of Charlotte's decisions have, however, made things harder for her parents, such as, whether justified or not, trying to emancipate herself from her family. Charlotte, like all well-written characters, is complicated — and Ozark fans are split over how they should feel about her.
Why do some audience members dislike Charlotte?
In a Reddit thread titled "[SPOILER] S2 Why all the Charlotte hate?," /u/YourExcellency77 starts the conversation by writing, "I don't get why people hate Charlotte on this sub. I see a lot of 'she is a whiny and annoying teenager'. I think her behavior is completely justified. Marty and ESPECIALLY Wendy are complete pricks. I was rooting for her in S2. So why the hate?"
Another user responded, "Yeah, I was surprised reading the threads here and seeing the hate, as I felt she acted pretty normal as to what I think a teenage girl would in her situation. But – When it's the characters primary drive the entire season, and it's also in conflict with our protagonists, I can see where frustration can grow."
While all teenagers aren't the same, many young people tend to blow their problems out of proportion. Combine that with the fact that Charlotte is dealing with life-threatening situations, and it's understandable why she acts the way she does. Not all audience members agree with her behavior, though, and some even think the writing for her character is bad. "It's the writing," another user wrote. "I personally find her arc irrelevant, cheesy, and overly dramatic for the sake of the filler. It doesn't contribute to the plot, it doesn't define her character (she flip flopped a lot along the way and by S3 she practically faded into the background)."
Many fans do, however, enjoy Charlotte's presence, as another user responded, "Honestly, i really like charlotte. the only reason i think people dislike her is we don't see the show from her perspective, so for the most part her behaviour just causes problems for our protagonists. looking from charlottes perspective, i honestly feel horrible for her. she was a 15 year old girl who was living a normal, stable life and all of that was completely destroyed in a few days. i cant imagine many people would react differently if they were in her position. i hope by the end of the show her and jonah have some sort of stability again. but i highly doubt it will happen."
Fans are clearly split over Charlotte. Nevertheless, it'll be interesting to see how Charlotte's story ends in Ozark season 4.