Animal Kingdom Series Review

Animal Kingdom (2016-2022)

Season 1 - 10 episodes (2016)
Season 2 - 13 episodes (2017)
Season 3 - 13 episodes (2018)
Season 4 - 13 episodes (2019)
Season 5 - 13 episodes (2021)
Season 6 - 13 episodes (2022)
Rent Animal Kingdom on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Jonathan Lisco
Based on: Animal Kingdom by David Michôd
Starring: Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary, Finn Cole, Daniella Alonso, Molly Gordon
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
After his mother's death, "J" Cody moves in with his estranged grandmother and her sons in Southern California who fuel their excessive lifestyle through criminal activities. 

Verdict
This starts well, a California family that breaks the law to live an opulent  lifestyle. The heists are the best part of the show while the uneasy family dynamic and strong personalities always provide drama. Ellen Barkin is a force every time she's in a scene, and later seasons suffer as she appears less. The second half of the series also splits the main story with an ongoing flashback that details much of what we already know, diverting focus from the main plot. It seems like filler. With a show focused on robbery, the heists need to be good and every season delivers on the high stakes robberies. They're almost always creative and intense. The first season is the best season, but the fourth season on isn't quite as good.
Watch it.

Review
This show is modern day outlaws. The family aren't moral standouts, but they are interesting. Each of them have issues and conflicts that provide depth. In a world where it's all about the stuff you have, this family has found a shortcut. Because of that they're always on edge. You can't do this work and not attract some amount of attention

To start season one, after his mom dies, J (Finn Cole) goes from living in squalor with his mom to moving in with his grandmother Smurf (Ellen Barkin) and uncles Baz (Scott Speedman), Craig (Ben Robson), and Deran (Jake Weary) who obviously spend some money. It's a culture shock as his brothers throw money around so easily and he grew up with nothing. We wonder why J's mom was estranged, and it could be the strange family dynamic. That or the secrets everyone seems to keep.  Smurf is more of a pal than a parent. We soon see that Smurf and her sons are planning a robbery. That's how they've paid for their lifestyle. When Pope (Shawn Hatosy) returns, he doesn't seem to like J.

S1: Finn Cole, Ellen Barkin play J, Smurf

Barkin's presence in every scene is commanding. Smurf's rule is that all jobs run through her. She doesn't miss a beat, and she knows when her boys pull jobs behind her back. Everything she does seems to be a test, either loyalty or strength. She's unscrupulous, even with her kids. That might be why each of her sons seems to have something to prove. That and they all keep secrets.

Later in the season Baz starts to work J's girlfriend Nicky's dad Paul. It's a confidence scheme as Baz pushes him one small step to where they want him. He's the key to their next big heist at Camp Pendleton. While J doesn't like that they're using his girlfriend, he's told no one is off limits.

In season two, the boys have nearly spent through their Pendleton cash, and they want a new job and off Smurf's leash. Baz wants to be the new lead, but Smurf sets the rules. That starts a season long arc of the boys feuding with Smurf and her rules.

A series like this needs good heists, and the show delivers on that. They plan to rob a mega-church. The church heist has fun details like the boys placing sound monitors in the church and sound dampening the safe room with spray foam to muffle the drilling sounds.

Someone from Smurf's past pops up, and they want revenge. They beat up J to get the point across. With the life Smurf has lived, you have to imagine she has more than a few enemies, but Smurf also isn't one to leave any loose ends.

S2: Scott Speedman, Ben Robson, Jake Weary, Finn Cole, Shawn Hatosy play 
Baz, Craig, Deran, J, Pope

I liked season one more than two. It's such an easy and predictable story arc to pit the boys against Smurf. While we get a heist early, I'd love to see another one. The first season established the family dynamic, season two wants to tear the family apart. All of the strife among them is just too easy of a plot. That culminates in Baz discovering Smurf was skimming. Instead of seeing it as useful for when the family hits hard times, he decides to take out Smurf. Unfortunately for Baz, Smurf was paranoid and made J her power of attorney so she could run the business in case anything happened. The family is irate, but as J succinctly put it, she trusted him more than them.

S1: Scott Speedman, Jake Weary play Baz, Deran

Season three picks up after the cliff hanger of season two. J is trying to manage the family business, the boys are running out of money, and they need another job. J has to protect Smurf while she's in prison. His uncles still are upset with her, and that gets worse as we discover just how far Smurf will go to protect her place at the top of the hierarchy. The problem with putting Smurf in jail is that we don't get the presence and command she brought to every scene. It's a noticeable absence.

In episode four the boys pull off a risky heist of a convenience store that's a front. They shim the doors to keep the guards out while using a garbage truck to pick up and take the safe away.

Deran's dad Billy (Denis Leary) pops up and Smurf orders everyone to make sure he leaves. They don't, and we eventually find out why she wanted to get rid of him. He's nothing but trouble, creating discord among the brothers. He gives Deran just a bit of hope before ruining it. I waited multiple episodes for Pope to go off on a rage and beat up Billy. That does finally happen.

They rob a plane and Smurf gets released. J wants to loop Smurf in, but the other kids don't. I get why they're mad but it feels like a bit of drama at this point. She provided for them and had a framework to cover their tracks. We've seen how ruthless she can be, but this season shows what J can do. He stole from Smurf and murdered to cover his tracks. This season ends with J planning to topple Smurf. It seems a bit out of left field, a way to end the season on a dramatic note. While that would explain why he stole from her, it seems like a reason after the fact.

Season four begins the concurrent flashbacks to a young Smurf. She's on a bank robbery and in the present day the boys are on a bank robbery. I wondered why this season introduced the flashbacks. Was it Smurf reflecting on her life? Eventually the past and present connect, but the past sequences feel like a distraction or filler. While interesting, I'd rather see what's happening in the present day.

This season is the ascension of J. He's always been smart, but this season he's the new Smurf; completely ruthless. His girlfriend Mia becomes a larger problem throughout the season while Julia's friend Angela might be a problem for Pope

Smurf's flashbacks contrast how she started versus where she is and how she sees herself, reconciling her current fate with what she's overcome. She's never had an easy road. The flashbacks intersect with the present, though years apart, to set up Smurf's final heist. 
Barkin had wanted to leave the show since the first season but wasn't allowed. While she's proud of the work she did, she stated it wasn't a pleasant job.

There's unrest in the Cody household to start season five. Who is in charge? While Pope and J agree to work together, not everyone likes that. Smurf gave her estate to Pamela and nothing to the boys. They don't know Pamela and don't like that. Pamela plans to keep what was given, but she agrees to give it back to the Cody boys if they work for her. The show traded one powerful mother for another, but I assumed Pamela would be a larger presence in the show. She didn't stick around long. I was disappointed this season fractures the group into a bunch of separate plot lines.

A cop wants to team up with them, but the cop's increasing demands make you think that relationship won't last. When the cop fixes an issue by creating a lot of trouble for the boys and wants them to pay him for it, it's all but over.

Their heist this season involves an illegal money transfer system. The heists are always the best part. They must break into a container at the port. Deran has a getaway boat with another dodge on top of that. This series never shows much of the planning or setup, so you never know how they'll escape from a job.

With Smurf out of the picture, the boys have to develop their own contacts or transition her contacts. That's a bumpy road as one of those contacts tries to rip them off. By the end of the season the brothers and J reunite.

The flashback story depicts Smurf with her young twins. It's her slow road to stability as she eventually ends up in her dream house. It's just background that I never needed. It's filling in questions that don't really matter. Are assumptions easily fill in the gaps.

The final season, season six, focuses on Julia, Andrew/Pope, and Baz as teens under Smurf's rule. She's pushing Julia and Andrew into heists when they'd rather go legal. She's using them for her benefit and wants to control them, and she lies to keep them in line. Part of is that through them she can't get charged. None of this is new information. We already knew Smurf was toxic.

J wants to set the family up for the future,  wanting to start a trust, get into investments, and have their property work for them. While J is talking to a lawyer, he gets involved with a paralegal. It wouldn't be a Cody deal if their weren't some complications, but it seems that the brothers finally trust J.

Unfortunately the season shifts more and more to the flashback story. It's not bad, but it isn't the show I started watching. I don't need the background on characters when we know where they end up. It doesn't add to the show. Baz is just an adversary for Pope in the past, and it seems out of character from what we've seen. This cuts the present day story in half, and I'd rather focus on present day heists. This season, they're stealing from a high-end jeweler. Deran poses as a fire marshal while J and Pope cut open a sewer pipe to catch the jewelry Deran flushes.

The run up to the end involves a cop working a cold case that of course ends up being Baz's girlfriend Catherine's case. That's a problem for Pope who ends up in jail and confesses instead of dragging anyone he knows through a legal proceeding. The rest of the Cody boys plan to cash out and leave the country.

I get that J's dastardly ways make for good drama, but earlier in the series he wants to get back at Smurf. Now it's everyone else. Why? Did he have that much hate for the whole family? Even the flashback underscores it was Smurf at fault for what happened to his mom. It just seems story driven more than character driven. His uncles have given him several opportunities, and they didn't have to. J is always out for himself. Everyone is a means to an end. While that mirror's Smurf's journey, she didn't have uncles that gave her a home and a job.

The final episode is explosive. The Cody family attempts their most daring crime yet. While his uncles are counting on him, J has other plans. When we first met J, and throughout the series, he continues to isolate himself. Even at the very end, everyone else is just a liability. The final episode is death and destruction top to bottom. 

I enjoyed the first season, the second less so as it went into a predictable story arc. Season three was tough as we lost a main character, and season four under utilized Barkin. While the flashbacks starting in season four felt like filler, they did serve a point with past and present converging as well as providing background on Pope. Season four felt a bit scattered but seeing the rise of J certainly helped. Season three felt like a connector as the show changed directions. Season five just doesn't feel like the same show without Smurf. Season six bests it just because it's the big finale and provides closure. I'd rank the seasons one, four, three, two, six, and five. With a show about robberies, every season delivers on the heists, while I wouldn't mind even more, all them are exciting.