Ozark: Why did Esai Morales really leave Ozark as Del?

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Netflix series Ozark is going strong with season three recently hitting the streaming service and becoming a big hit. The series has seen cast members getting killed off on brutal manners, which is unsurprising given the dark subject matter. Some fans are starting the drama from the scratch or coming to it for the first time – but why did this character leave?

Why did Esai Morales really leave Ozark as Del?

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Ozark

Camino Del Rio (played by Esai Morales) was the big antagonist of Ozark season one.

He was the cartel man calling all the shots with Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) forced to flee to the Ozarks, Missouri to avoid getting killed by the mobster.

Del was a high-ranking member of the Navarro Cartel and dispensed with life indiscriminately.

He lived a violent life and met an equally bloody demise in season one during a meeting with Jacob (Peter Mullan) and Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery).

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Marty and Del had gone to negotiate with the heroin kingpin couple the Snells but made a wrong move.

The Chicago financier thought introducing Del to the Snells would be good for business, but the cartel leader upset the pair after calling them “rednecks”.

Shortly before his death, he told the Snells: “Only Marty Byrde can move to Missouri and somehow convince me to partner with a bunch of rednecks.”

Darlene was affronted and asked him to repeat what he’d just said, leading her to shoot him dead along with his henchman.

Jacob reprimanded Darlene for her actions because Del was a “guest”, however he didn’t seem to be too bothered by the dead bodies in his living room.

From the looks of it, Del was killed off in as part of one of the big twists in Ozark and was purely a narrative choice rather than the actor’s decision.

After starring in Ozark, Morales has found further fame with a role as Chief Lugo in Chicago P.D. and later Roland St. John in Mars.

He also featured in NCIS: Los Angeles, Titans as well as continuing with his role as Jorge Castillo in How To Get Away With Murder.

According to IMDb, he has a raft of projects in the pipeline including Senior Moment, Simone, Mission: Impossible 8.

The actor told the Deeper Interviews podcast back in 2017, saying: “When I was reading the script, I thought it was a great story.”

On his death, he joked: “I think he [Del] has a twin brother. You know, there are flashback, there are all kinds of things.”

He admitted Ozark had brought him the most fan reaction he’d ever received on a show he’d worked on.

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Ozark season three continued to up the ante in the latest outing with more shocking deaths as characters, who fans had been accustomed to, meeting grim ends.

This is likely to continue going forward as Marty and Wendy land themselves in more trouble.

The deaths are going to become even more heartbreaking as the show, so fans should brace themselves for more.

Netflix has yet to confirm season four of Ozark but given the immense reception, it could well be making a comeback.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, film and television productions have been halted so a potential series four could be delayed.

There was already a wait for season three of Ozark of about 18 months as the cast and crew worked on other projects, particularly Bateman who also serves as a director.

Ozark seasons 1 to 3 are streaming on Netflix now

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