TNT’s Animal Kingdom ran for six seasons and 75 episodes, from its premiere on June 14, 2016, to its finale on August 28, 2022. It was developed by Jonathan Lisco from the 2010 Australian film of the same name, itself inspired by the criminal Pettingill family. David Michôd, who wrote and directed the original film, produced the series.
The show was the final scripted original series to air on TNT before the network ceased production of original programming. That is the fact that will outlast the show itself.
Trailer, via TNT.
Joshua Cody Moves In With the Codys
The series centers on Joshua “J” Cody, played by Finn Cole. After his mother dies of a heroin overdose when he is 17, he moves in with his estranged relatives in Oceanside, California. The Codys run a criminal family enterprise governed by matriarch Janine “Smurf” Cody.
The heists are carried out by J’s uncles. Barry “Baz” Blackwell, Smurf’s adopted son, calls the shots. Andrew “Pope” Cody is the oldest and most dangerous of the sons. Craig is the tough, fearless middle son. Deran is the troubled, suspicious youngest.
Ellen Barkin plays Smurf across seasons 1 through 4. Leila George plays the younger Janine in flashbacks set in 1977, 1984, 1992 and 1999, a recurring role in season 4 and a main one in seasons 5 and 6. Rimea Kasprzak plays Smurf in a 1966 flashback.
Baz, Pope and the Heist Crew
Scott Speedman plays Baz through seasons 1 to 3, with a guest turn in season 6. Shawn Hatosy plays Pope, who has mental illness and OCD and returns to the family after three years in Folsom State Prison for a bank robbery that went wrong.
Ben Robson plays Craig, who has a predilection for drugs and risky activities, and Jake Weary plays Deran. The flashback cast includes Darren Mann and Kevin Csolak as younger Baz and Pope, and Houston Towe and Reeve Baker in earlier years.
Associates include Catherine Belen, Baz’s live-in girlfriend and mother of their daughter Lena; Nicky Belmont, J’s girlfriend and a fellow high school student; Lucy, Baz’s mistress from Mexico; and Mia Benitez, a young gang member with the Trujillo family.
Season Premiere Dates
| Season | Premiere date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 14, 2016 | 10 |
| 2 | May 30, 2017 | 13 |
| 3 | May 29, 2018 | 13 |
| 4 | May 28, 2019 | 13 |
| 5 | July 11, 2021 | 13 |
| 6 | June 19, 2022 | 13 |
The first season ran 10 episodes. Every season after that ran 13. The show’s last episode aired on August 28, 2022.
What Works and What Wears Thin
Three things carry Animal Kingdom further than its premise should allow.
- Barkin’s Smurf, a matriarch who is protective of her family and shows a borderline-incestuous love toward her sons.
- The flashback structure, which hands the later seasons to Leila George and lets the show rebuild its own mythology instead of repeating it.
- Oceanside itself, a beach town where the criminal enterprise sits inside ordinary domestic life rather than apart from it.
The weaknesses are just as consistent. The heists grow more elaborate without growing more interesting, and the family’s suspicion of J becomes a loop the writing returns to instead of a story it resolves. Speedman’s character is written out after season 3, leaving a gap in the crew.
The flashbacks are the best decision Animal Kingdom makes. They could have been filler. Instead they give the series a second engine in its back half, when the present-day plot, in this paper’s view, is running on fumes.
What dates the show is its patience. Six seasons is a long time to spend on a family that mostly refuses to change, and the middle stretch drags.
The score below reflects a series with a strong central performance and a smart structural gamble. It is worth watching for Barkin and for the flashbacks. It is not worth defending as a great crime drama.
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