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Apple TV’s Ozark Replacement Is Avoiding Breaking Bad Comparisons With 1 Trick

October 20, 2025

Apple TV seems to have its own Ozark replacement, which, unlike the Netflix show, avoids comparisons with Breaking Bad in one clever way.

Although its ending remains divisive, Ozark is often remembered as one of the best crime thrillers on Netflix. Perhaps one of the best things about Ozark was that, despite having several narrative inconsistencies, the show always kept viewers on their toes. Throughout its runtime, it remained unpredictable and did not shy away from killing even some of its main characters.

However, Ozark was often compared with Breaking Badbecause of how similar it often seemed with its portrayal of moral decay and the criminal world. Now, Ozark has an Apple TV replacement, which also riffs on many similar themes and story ideas. What makes it seem different from Breaking Bad, though, is how it treats its main character.

Your Friends & Neighbors Is Apple TV’s Ozark Replacement, But Its Protagonist Is Nothing Like Marty & Walter

Image via Apple TV+

In terms of narrative structure, Your Friends and Neighbors is quite similar to Breaking Bad and Ozark. Like Marty Byrde and Walter White, Your Friends and Neighbors‘ Andrew Cooper also dips his feet in the world of crime in a desperate attempt to regain control over a life that seems to slowly slip away.

However, unlike Marty and Walter, Andrew’s journey is defined more by denial and preservation. His descent into the criminal world has less to do with a growing hunger for power. Also, unlike the protagonists from Breaking Bad and Ozark, he also settles for petty stealing instead of diving right into the dangerous world of drug kingpins and money laundering.

Owing to Andrew Cooper’s motives, Your Friends and Neighbors‘ themes seem significantly different from those of Ozark and Breaking Bad. While Breaking Bad and Ozark primarily focus on the moral corruption of their characters, the original Apple TV show serves as a critique of the suburban lifestyle and the “American dream.“

By showing how Andrew Cooper resorts to stealing from his affluent neighbors to maintain a skewed image of success and stability, the show exposes the fragility of the bubbles of expectations and unrealistic ideals the rich surround themselves with. With this, it becomes more than a typical tale of “man turns to crime” with its sharp social satire.

Your Friends & Neighbors Benefits From Its Breaking Bad & Ozark Differences

Walter White using a cellphone in Breaking Bad

There have been far too many “Breaking Bads” and “Ozarks” in recent years. Since both shows did an incredible job of capturing a man’s moral decay, other shows that dabble with similar themes often struggle to match the high bar set by them. Owing to this, it is hard not to crave something new in the crime thriller genre.

Fortunately, Your Friends and Neighbors brings something new to the table while still borrowing some elements from Breaking Bad and Ozark. While only time will tell whether the Apple TV show will be able to match Ozark and Breaking Bad‘s legacy, it seems to have had a good start and is all set to return with season 2 soon.