l think that I can predict what will help finally bring down “Ozark’s” Wendy Byrde (the priceless Laura Linney).  Then again, I am almost invariably wrong in my predictions for TV shows, so maybe you should take this with a grain of salt.  Either way, various Seasons 3 and 4 SPOILERS after the jump below  …

It’s the missing persons report that Wendy filed for her brother Ben (Tom Pelphrey) that will expose her publicly as a likely criminal. 

Recall, please, that Wendy and Ben actually had an extended (and probably memorable) confrontation with two police officers while she was desperately trying to drive Ben to safety in Season 3.  In the depths of his mental illness, Ben told random strangers at a shopping center about his transgressions against the Navarro cartel — and about the consequent need for Wendy to hide him.  Some of those people related his entire tale to a couple of cops, who confronted Wendy at her car.

Being cops, they’re more likely than anyone to see a missing persons report.  (There’s some specific technical dialogue in Season 4 emphasizing just how widely such a report is circulated.)  Those two cops surely remember her and her strange companion … they would have at least run her plates and probably would have documented the encounter.  They can name Wendy as the last person seen with her brother, acting suspiciously and refusing to answer their questions.

From there, a review of CCTV footage from the businesses along nearby highways could place Wendy and Ben together at the restaurant where he was presumably kidnapped or murdered.  There’d be footage of that too, if it occurred right there in the parking lot where Wendy bird-dogged him for the cartel.  (The show is a little ambiguous about the details.)

Even if all of this isn’t enough for police to bring charges against Wendy for murder, could they at least charge her with filing a false or misleading police report?  (Her missing persons report doubtlessly omitted all of above details.)  Her suspicious involvement in her brother’s disappearance would become a matter of public record, and it would be a public relations disaster for her company — especially after she exploited his disappearance for public relations purposes.

Of course … a lot of this would be moot if ben is actually alive, as some fans theorize.  (We do not see him killed.)  I myself would dislike that particular plot twist, because it would  undermine much of the drama and tragedy of the past two seasons.  But your mileage may vary.