Animal Kingdom Series Finale

At some point in time every good series must come to an end. Animal Kingdom was facing the Swan Song. The Cody boys were nearing their final job wherein they planned on riding off into sunset together as a family.

As we know things are never quite as they seem in Oceanside when the Cody's are involved. As Deran and Craig prepare to spring Pope from jail and flee the country, nephew J has payback on his mind for all the years his mom was forgotten by the family.

This show to me has always been one of the best of the best because of the unpredictable nature of it. The series stayed true to itself until the very end, setting up sequences that were leaning one way and then went the complete other way when executed. In this episode alone, we see how ruthless each member of the Cody family can be when faced with the ultimate choice. Via the flashbacks we see how the family was initially divided and what led to all those years of hatred boiling inside of J.

As the tension mounts in this episode we know that the Cody's are finally going to face the music for all those years of crime and it did come to head. Pope was caught up in a shootout with the police while Craig and Deran found out just how quickly things can turn sideways in a convenience store robbery. It played to the strengths of one last emotional story featuring our favorite Oceanside boys. The hug in the house before the boys went their own way. The struggle within the Pope as he debated on how to handle J's betrayal. Deran and Craig being together and the emotion that pours out of Deran when they realize there is nowhere left to turn.

It was all but guaranteed things would change for the worse during the series finale when it was revealed the episode title was "Fubar" which means "F****d Up Beyond All Repair". This was years in the making and it was all coming down to this in both the past and the present. The Flashbacks led us right where we needed to be to fully understand the weight of the generational trauma Smurf had caused her boys and Julia. Pope clearly always regretted not standing up for his twin sister when he turned his back on family all those years ago and felt freedom in those final moments as he set fire to the home that will always hold those painful memories.

Animal Kingdom was my favorite series on television by the time it ended for many different reasons. It is sad to see a show of this calibre end but every amazing series must reach this point. I am thankful to have gone on this ride with these brilliant actors and story tellers for the last 6 years and will forever cherish summers spent watching this unpredictable show unfold.

There was never a dull moment and more shows can learn from this formula. Animal Kingdom never missed a beat over 6 seasons and always stepped up in high leverage moments and pivotal character growth moments. It will be very hard to find a show to replace my time with that matches Animal Kingdom in quality and overall talent involved. Thank you so much to the cast and crew who each played their respective roles over the years with dignity and the utmost professionalism. I can never speak on all the positive things the show did. I can only sit back and be thankful it exists, because it truly is one of the best of the best.