Animal Kingdom Series Finale Recap: Which Codys Made It Out Alive?

"This is Animal Kingdom," executive producer John Wells chuckled to TVLine back in 2019, when the TNT drama killed off Ellen Barkin's viperish Smurf. "We don't expect anybody to be alive by the time we get to the end." (Revisit that interview here.)

Nonetheless, at least a couple of key characters managed to emerge from the series' sixth and last season finale with their hearts still beating. It wasn't easy, what with Craig and Deran setting in motion what was arguably the thieves' most impossible crime ever — breaking big brother Pope out of jail — at the same time as J was stabbing his uncles in the back. But two of the Codys did get out alive. Which ones? Keep reading, and we'll go over all the episode's gory details. Then you can let loose in the comments with your reviews of the show's send-off, the season and the series as a whole.

As "FUBAR" began, so did J's double cross. Rather than help Deran and Craig exchange fire with the cops as they extricated Pope from the prison transfer bus — not to mention the clutches of a vengeful inmate — J made tracks back to Smurf's house. There, he used a burner phone to tip off the authorities to the location of the storage unit where his uncles had stashed their cash and heavy artillery as well as the getaway cars that they'd soon discover had flats. 

When the cops paid J a visit, he made a reluctant Penny his alibi — a twist that so shook her, she decided that she wasn't going to run away with loverboy after all. In response, he fatally dosed her cocktail. And although we all know that J's a stone-cold killer — right, Mia? Morgan? — he wept after she died and trashed the house, no doubt picturing his grandmother's face with every swing of the bat.

Back in the desert, Pope, Craig and Deran broke into a house as sirens grew louder and louder. The Codys were going to be outgunned — big time. What could they do? Pope would draw the cops' fire, he said, while Craig and Deran got the hell outta there. It was the only (sniffle) play they had. Knowing that Pope was on a suicide mission, his kid brothers hugged him as if it was the last time that they were ever going to see him. But he insisted, "We're gonna be all right... I'll come find you." 

In fact, Pope did survive, taking out all of the cops as only a series lead possibly could. At the same time, Craig and Deran held up a convenience store to score some cash and a first-aid kit. In the process, Craig was shot by the owner's child. Deran sobbed that Craig was going to be OK, but no. He was not. As he slipped away, Deran vowed to take care of Renn and raise Nick like the baby was his own.

Once he'd made his way back to Smurf's house in a stolen car, Pope choked out J, then tied him up in a chair poolside. "You set us up to die!" Pope screamed when his nephew came to. J wasn't remorseful. On the contrary, he felt more than justified in betraying his family. "You deserve it," he spat, "all of you, for what you did to my mom. You could've saved her, but you didn't." 

After sending J into the deep end, Pope couldn't help but recall the day that Smurf had told a pregnant Julia she was taking her back to rehab... when in reality, she was dumping her under the bridge with the other junkies. Julia had begged her twin to come with her, but he had been too weak to stand up to their mother. So, he concluded in the present, he really was to blame for everything. 

With the weight of all that misplaced guilt bearing down on him, Pope saved J from drowning and let him go. Then Pope set the house on fire, laid down by the pool and died. The last thing he saw? That old photo of himself and Julia, baby-faced kids tangled in their vile mother's web. (Read what EP Daniele Nathanson has to say about what happened — and most definitely didn't happen — here.)

In the episode's — as well as the series' — final seconds, we got a glimpse of J, all alone but living in the lap of luxury. In the end, he really had succeeded in taking everything that was Smurf's the way that he swore he would seasons earlier. But at what cost? At what cost?