Ben Davis (played by Tom Pelphrey) arrived in the Ozarks to reunite with sister Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) after being fired from his job as a substitute teacher. Netflix viewers witnessed the reasons for his dismissal were more than justified, as he destroyed a number of students’ cell phones before brutally assaulting an innocent gardener on the school grounds. However, he escaped justice by flocking to the Ozarks where he encountered a number of new acquaintances.- including FBI agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes).
And while Maya had her attention firmly set on money launderer and casino owner Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), she found her interest piqued when she first encountered Ben gambling at the blackjack table.
Well aware he was Wendy’s brother and suspicious that he was gambling their money to clean it through the casino, Maya wasted no time introducing herself.
“You’re Ben Davis, Wendy Byrde’s brother,” Maya says, prompting Ben to reply: “When were you gonna show me your badge?”
The conversation soon turned tense as Maya quizzed him on his intentions in the casino as well as taking an interest in his job.
READ MORE: Ozark fans call out hilarious Jason Bateman Horrible Bosses Easter egg
Ben came clean and revealed he was indeed a substitute teacher, which led Maya to remark: “I didn’t know it paid so well.”
After quizzing Ben about Marty’s whereabouts, their conversation was cut short by Ruth (Julia Garner) as she warned Maya away from interrupting the players.
However, some fans have spotted a seemingly glaring plot hole in this interaction – and one that may have saved Ben’s life.
Maya clearly did her research on Ben, knowing who he was before she went over to him to introduce herself.
They continued: “If she didn’t know about it just because the information she had learned about Ben was previous to that of his crimes, then why didn’t anybody at the FBI not say anything to her after she encountered Ben?
“Surely she wouldn’t have remained silent about Ben’s random presence in the Ozarks to her superiors or colleagues who, with how much heat the Byrde family is attracting, should for sure know about Ben’s outstanding warrant.”
If Maya had known about Ben’s previous actions, shouldn’t she have arrested him or passed him over to local law enforcement?
Maya could have even used the threat of sending Ben to jail as leverage on the Byrdes for them to come clean.
And considering the Byrdes went on to kill him off to save their business, they’d have surely had no problems with seeing him locked up.
If Ben were arrested and kept incarcerated, he would’ve been spared the deadly consequences of his reckless outburst later in the series.
Maya could’ve ultimately prevented him from his fateful outburst at Helen (Janet McTeer) and kept him alive to make it to season four.
Ozark is available to stream on Netflix now.