I’m addicted to Ozark. I’m addicted to Laura Linney’s impenetrable smile. I’m addicted to Justin Bateman’s preternatural calm in the face of hideous violence. I’m addicted to Ruth Langemore, smart, tough, mean. I wonder where they got the germ of the story. Did it start with place? The Missouri River? The old man in the basement on oxygen. The genius name for the main character Marty Byrde. The appetite for dead bodies. At first I thought it was all about raising the stakes plot wise, but I think it works because the characters deepen. At least for me. I’m soft that way.
Where do your ideas come from: place, character, a name, a detail?
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Betsy Lerner 
Detail.
“Where do your ideas come from: place, character, a name, a detail?”
It depends, but rarely from a place alone. There has to be a person involved.
Characters – from everything you listed. Not one is pigeon-holed.
But more importantly, OZARK! We have been binge watching – something I thought I’d never do for any show – from Season 1 all the way to Season 4, and we are somewhere around episode 4 or 5 and we have slooooowwwwweeeed it down b/c we don’t want it to end!
Did you know Julia Garner is slated to play Madonna whenever that movie is done? She will be PERFECT. I agree about Laura Linney’s smile – it’s so sweet, and yet. Wow, the things Wendy has done. Justin Bateman has perfected the unruffled, almost flatlined character of Marty. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with, a death/tragedy/mistake piling on with more twists and turns than that Missouri river.
Start with place and/or detail. A good name is important. A friend played in a Blues duo and went by the name Sonny Fortune. I wrote a story based on this persona and started with the line, Fortune smiled on his wedding day.