‘Animal Kingdom’ Bank Heist: Smurf’s Violent 1970s Past Emerges Again Next Week
Animal Kingdom returned Tuesday night with Janine “Smurf” Cody (Ellen Barkin) offering the first jaw-dropping moment in one confusing scene. It looked like boys and their mom started season 4 with a bang during a bank robbery gone bad. But the real stunner came when you got to see who really was behind the masks of Abraham Lincoln and company. When the masks came off they weren’t the Cody boys or any faces that fans recognized. So who were these strangers?
Animal Kingdom: Janine “Smurf” Cody Blooms Into Criminal Early On in Life
After a few head-scratching moments you realized you were dragged back to the 1970s. Janis Joplin music playing in the background of teen Janine’s night out was probably the first clue that they went back in time. What you just witnessed on Animal Kingdom was Smurf’s first bank heist as a teen.
A teenage Smurf and friends emerged blood splattered from standing in close proximity to the one gunshot victim in the bank heist. But she wore it like a trooper as the only female in this group. After a quick window into the teenage antics of Smurf, fans were treated to her some of her parenting tactics on the new season’s first episode of Animal Kingdom.
Andrew Pope Cody (Shawn Hatosy) is about to burst with anger, so much so that his brothers think he’s going to kill someone. They want him out of the next family job but Smurf cuts them right off – he’s going. Smurf’s got it all under control, or so she thinks. It looks like she’s got her own style of Animal Kingdom anger management.
#AnimalKingdom season 4 starts right now easy coast. Let’s make some noise. See you on the other side- pic.twitter.com/5kvCsl888m
— Shawn Hatosy (@ShawnHatosy) May 29, 2019
Anger Management at its Best
Mama Smurf’s anger management consists of sitting at ringside placing bets on Pope, who she enrolled in an underground fight club. He emerges a bloody mess but it’s what’s inside his head that has his Animal Kingdom brothers worried. Deran Cody (Jake Weary) is still with his surfing buddy but Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark) looks to be a big stepping stone in the Cody family’s demise.
Those designer drug smuggling surfboards that the Cody brothers arranged for his travels on the surfing circuit got him a special place within the DEA. Once the agents put a drill through one surfboard at the airport and white powder flew out, his butt belonged to them. He’s playing along with Deran and Craig Cody (Ben Robson) to find the supplier for the DEA agent he’s assigned to. And the guilt seems to be getting the best of him. on Animal Kingdom.
Then there’s J Cody (Finn Cole) who came to his grandmother as a blank canvas for her to paint after his mother’s heroin overdose death. And granny dearest painted him alright. She’s met her match in this kid as his intelligence keeps him one step ahead of Smurf. It looks like he might have surpassed her in the devious department as well.
What’s J up to?! ? Season 4 of #AnimalKingdom starts NOW, West Coast! pic.twitter.com/3vxKLnn6PC
— Animal Kingdom (@AnimalKingdom) May 29, 2019
Animal Kingdom: Feeding the Fishes
In the last season of Animal Kingdom, J took Smurf’s crooked lawyer out for a ride in the ocean. He sliced her so she’d bleed just enough to entice the sharks for a gnawing death. Now that wasn’t the act of someone with a weak stomach. It certainly had viewers questioning his lack of conscience as well. It looks like Janine Smurf Cody created a well put-together monster. Her boys pale in comparison to her grandson J. But his allegiance is to himself, not his grandmother. Speaking of her boys, Craig, on the other hand, can’t stop talking about his new landlord position.
Smurf deeded over the buildings she owned to her family members. She did this evenly among her clan last season. This season Craig can’t stop talking about the derelict tenants in his building. His complaining includes descriptions of what these tenants do. It’s probably the closest thing to comic relief that you’ll ever get from Animal Kingdom.
Tuesday night’s heist was not only well thought out, but it was also pretty amazing to watch. The Cody boys went to work with all their ducks in a row. The only thing that went wrong – a silent alarm went off and cut them short of time. They couldn’t get all they came for. But the getaway looked clean, that is until Pope loses it and Deran has to go back for him.
Dark Things to Come
Next week flashbacks of Smurf’s teen years parallels with what’s going on with her boys. The cops approach J and Smurf realizes someone’s been talking to the law. It looks like something major happens as Pope is really banged up and a bloody mess. Then his two brothers look pretty beat up as they walk away from something dark.
Frankie (Dichen Lachman) showed up in the premiere episode and it looks like she’ll be back next week as well. She’s beckoning Craig to come in with her on a job. It looks like TNT is going to take viewers back to Smurf’s origins again next week through flashbacks that offer more of that window into Smurf’s Animal Kingdom past. It doesn’t look pretty as a teenage Smurf looks terrified in preview scenes for next week. Maybe the fans will learn just what turned Janine Cody into what she is today.
Animal Kingdom airs Tuesdays on TNT at 10 pm local time. Come back to SoapDirt for more news and spoilers on Animal Kingdom.