Animal Kingdom - Final Season (Part 2)

If they kill off Deran, he won't be able to come back for a re-boot for the show.

So I think they're going to kill off his character.

Denis Leary looks great for his age.

He has always been thin, and it serves him well.

My theory: When J finds out he’s a product of incest rape that spun his mom into heroin hell and eventually death, I feel he will torture Pope into killing himself as his comeuppance. Deran needs to be with Adrian. Yes he’s a grifter scumbag like the rest of the Cody’s but he’s a hot gay guy who isn’t acting like Paul Lynde. He surfs , drinks, kicks ass…he is giving gay men representing on TV a new look. Hes decamped the stereotypes. Craigs a burnout with greasy hair who has a druggie baby mama. They can all crash and burn for all I care, the kids going to be so fucked with them as parents. Where’s the Lena girl again? Her mom was murdered , her dad was murdered and her uncle up and left her. She’s going to need major therapy.

In an interview in Distractify.com, Shawn Hatosy (Pope) doesn't tell us how the series ends but does tell us the mood of the ending.

[quote] Though Shawn did not divulge how Animal Kingdom will end, he did tease: "This is gonna be tragic."

[quote] The actor referenced the Season 1 poster and mentioned it could be some foreshadowing — the characters are silhouetted, and the palm trees in the background are on fire.

[quote] "There's not a rainbow up there. They are not happy clouds. They're on fire," he said. "Every step of the way with these guys, it's like a terribly long marathon, and when we look at them at the end of this thing, they're not going to look like anything we recognize."

[quote] "There's not a rainbow up there. "

Fuck.

This has been a great third act for Shawn Hatosy, though I feel like it’s never gotten it’s due from critics and always been completely ignored for any awards. It’s definitely a show that deserved best ensemble awards, which just don’t exist in that many acknowledgments. He had such an auspicious beginning with his lovely and heartbreaking performance in the Borstal Boy and that Gay kiss is one of the most heartfelt in cinema.

I didn't know that Shawn was in a gay movie, R6.

Thanks for the information.

The first movie I ever saw him in, was The Faculty.

Loved him and his tight, shirtless body in the locker room with Elijah Wood.

That's when he first caught my attention.

I've been a fan ever since.

I always thought it was Ha-TOS-y. It’s HA-tos-y

Actually R8, Shawn himself said it during a commercial which ran during the show.

He says: "I'm Shawn HAT-uh-see."

Emphasis on the word HAT.

I finally got to watch the entire Australian movie version of "Animal Kingdom," and it was fantastic.

James Frecheville was amazing.

It makes me wish that they had found a better actor to play J in the series, and made him the focus of the show.

Finn Cole can't really pull off the lead character, but it's amazing how young James Frecheville completely stole the show from veteran Australian actors, including Guy Pearce.

Borstal Boy music vid with gay kiss

Shawn Hatosy posted a cute picture with an even cuter caption:

[quote] Shawn Hatosy June 17, 2019 · Wow, what a special Father’s day. Here I am with my 2 oldest kids.

I thought it was a strange comment at first, but then I realized that Shawn is actually 15 years older than Jake Weary!

Jake Weary's pits.

Just because.

Top 5 Deran Moments from Animal Kingdom (Seasons 1 to 5).

Includes:

"Smurf, I'm a gay."

"Goodbye, Adrian."

"Brokeback tribute: smelling his shirt."

That scene with Deran and Adrian breaking up was so beautiful!

Finn was great in the early season, I thought, but either hasn’t grown or has lost his way, IMO. He’s my least fave and god that pornstache. Whose idea?

I have to laugh at the guys trying to break Pope out of prison.

That idea is SO dumb!

I was relieved that that idea seemed to fall apart, because that caper would be ludicrous.

Has it fallen apart just yet? I suppose Pope will clue them in on his rediscovered lust for life, but they were still lining up major firepower. Maybe Billy got to Deran.

Smurf, Mother of the Year

I knew J was going to betray them. At least they're still pushing the Adrian and Deran reunion.

J—Julia’s revenge.

Is he also gonna dump the girl? Just stringing her along to manipulate the trust?

I think he is, R23. Like Deran said: "Ice in the veins."

The part that's hard to believe is that she's falling for it.

It makes sense that J would want revenge for how she was treated by Smurf, but why is he getting revenge on Pope, Craig, and Deran?

They didn't really do anything to him or Julia. It was mainly Smurf.

There was a slight allusion to Craig ignoring him when he was younger, but that's not a really good reason to fuck them over.

And it also seems to stupid that he's calling his uncle "bad people" and "killers," when he participated in all the same crimes that they did.

I had a feeling that the writing at the end, would fall apart.

It always does.

They didn’t protect Julia.

They didn’t protect Julia.

But Craig and Deran were so young. They couldn't protect her.

Remember that Deran is only a few years older than J.

The only one who could have helped her was Pope. And it seems that Smurf was hiding everything from him.

I mean, you could make the argument that he just hates them all and wants to fuck them all over, but I still think that it's dumb to blame the brothers.

So was Julia raped at the end of this episode?

She had scratches all over her face.

Maybe that creepy guy "Thorpe" is J's father.

Only one more episode, and there still cliff hangers.

Will Deran end up with Adrian again? (And will Adrian appear in the final episode?)

Will Craig marry Renn? Or will one or both of them die in the finale?

Will Pope be revealed as J's father?

Will J kill Pope, to get even for his mother's death??

Will J also kill his new girlfriend, since she's now a witness and a party to a crime?

I hope that next week's finale is two hours long.

Deran tried to drown J the first time he met him and Craig banged his underage girlfriend. I think his revenge is stealing all their money but letting them live. I think Pope will be revealed as his father and he will kill him.

Any chance that J's girlfriend is a scam artist who's been playing him all along? That she'll abscond with ALL the money? Would make for a nice twist.

I don’t see how Pope could be revealed as J’s father in the midst of an apparently botched jailbreak.

In the movie, Deran and J grew up together as peers. Julia left much later

Here are my (evidence-less) predictions: (1) Pope is revealed to be J's father, which will include a dark, angry argument where J yells that none of them ever loved him or his mother. (2) Pope and J die. (3) Craig and Deran live. (4) Deran reunites with Adrian, but Adrian doesn't actually appear on the screen.

I think Deran and J are the survivors.

I want them all dead or in jail.

That $10 in the account is a real fuck you. Not $0 which could be a glitch. Not $10k which could probably get you somewhere. J also likely sabotaged the getaway cars, so I don't think he's even going to be around for the jailbreak. I think it's Craig throwing the spikes across the road. And J isn't seen in the pre-guns-blazing final hug. Is that him with the bloody hand, though? This episode did make me glad that J was the one who blew Smurf's head off.

[quote] That $10 in the account is a real fuck you. Not $0 which could be a glitch.

Thanks for pointing this out. I was wondering why he left ten bucks in the account.

I wonder how much Julia told J about the circumstances under which she left home?

I mean, he'd have to know the whole story for him to be THAT pissed off at Smurf and the boys.

And yeah, I didn't see J during the prison break either. But we did see Pope hugging his two brothers, so it looks like he does get away. At least for a while.

Did I miss the moment when the plan changed from spring Pope from the jail to intercepting his transport?

I think his getting transferred was part of the plot. Pope did ask for it. We never saw them plan a escape from the prison itself, though they did speak of “busting him out of prison.”

I thought Pope confessing to crimes wasn’t given much of a buildup.

What was the point of Craig’s new friend? That didn’t go anywhere.

Maybe the actor was some producer's bf.

I’d say his influence led Craig to make some positive changes in his life. Whatever happens in the finale may scuttle that.

[quote] What was the point of Craig’s new friend? That didn’t go anywhere.

Craig is a different man now, thanks to his sobriety coach.

He wants out of "the life." This is the final heist.

Now he has a son, and he asked Renn to marry him.

This is like 1,000,000 miles away from Season 1 Craig.

So I would say that was the guy's purpose this season.

I really hope that Adrian comes back for the finale.

Just give the gay couple a happy ending, for fuck's sake!

I agree, R44.

When Jake Weary cleans himself up, he is absolutely STUNNING.

I really hate that he just goes with the dirty, greasy hair.

He can look so much better.

I think Craig's going to die.

It's interesting that J left Craig with the diamonds and Deran with a bunch of Indonesian Rupiah. Not enough to live in luxury for the rest of their lives, but enough to get started in a new life. It feels like he's planning to ditch them overboard with a lifeboat, while he sails off in The Bounty.

^ They're probably fugazis. Doubt that an ice-cold motherfucker like J would give the guys he's about to fuck over actual diamonds.

Craig is not clean and sober. He just had a three-day binge.

I’m so glad J blew his grandmother’s brains out. What a nasty bitch!

SPOILER: Spencer Treat Clark not in the cast list on IMDB for the final episode but that may nit mean anything.

but Noel fisher who played Mickey from shameless was in the cast list on IMDB when he made a very brief surprise appearance in s9

TNT featured the scene of Craig and Deran reminiscing about Adrian on Youtube. Hopefully, it’s a spoiler.

I'm sure I'm not breaking any news here, but I didn't realize that Jake Weary's mom is long time soap actress Kim Zimmer.

R55, true. He also played Luke Snyder before he came out on ATWT.

SPOILERS: Someone on Reddit says Craig dies in Deran’s arms, and Deran promises to look after Nick and the baby. Poster seems legit.

I can see that happening, R57.

Craig's marriage proposal to Renn made me think that something is going to go wrong, ending in tragedy.

It was just too perfect.

Wonder what event the flashbacks will end with. I’d assume, something between Julia and Smurf.

(The actress who plays Julia has been terrific.)

And Deran would make such a good father!

I hope this doesn't mean he goes to Thailand for the kid instead of Indonesia for Adrian. Yet again, the gay guy is alone.

I can't believe this show is over tomorrow night.

Sad!

Animal Kingdom actors say goodbye to the fans.

I caught a glimpse of Ellen. Editing mistake?

Major spoiler on Reddit.

I was going through my digital cable guide, and in the preview for Sunday's episode "Fubar," the episode description says "... Andrew commits the original sin that destroyed the family."

They pretty much spoiled it for everyone.

What's the sin? Incest?

I think so, R67.

Pretty sure that Pope is going to reveal to J that he's his father.

Andrew eats the fruit if the tree of knowledge?

From J's best moments, the scene where he whispers into Smurf's ear while she's sleeping:

[quote] “I’m going to take it all, Smurf. Everything you have….everyone you’ve ever loved.”

That scene is at 3:39. J transferring all the money except $10 to his own account makes this scene (from season 4?) relevant. It took enough time, but he's finally doing it.

Also interesting to me was the scene at timemark :20 where he confronts the drug dealer that sold the drugs that killed his Mom. This is from season 1, and I forgot how angry and passionate he was about her death. J in future seasons is anesthetized by comparison with this scene. Or more accurately, as Deran would say, J now has ice water flowing through his veins.

J was raised by the other Animals in Animal Kingdom. He may eventually betray them and screw them over, but they created this version of him.

I just know I'm going to tear up at the end of the episode.

I know... MARY!

Here's some pictures from the finale. They really don't tell you a lot so I don't think they spoil much at all.

The most interesting pic is "Smurf goes platinum blonde."

I wonder if it will actually come as a surprise to J that Pope is his father?

Or did he know it all along, because Julia told him?

The original sin is disloyalty against the family, right? At least from the Bible of Smurf. It's why she tossed Julia out, right?

No Adrian. The final episode sucked. Don’t waste your time.

R74

Smurf tossed Julia out because she threatened her control over the boys (and by extension, her “livelihood”). Her superfluous use of “baby” is also a control tactic via incestuous overtones.

Smurf is the epitome of evil.

I hate watched in hopes of revenge for what they did to the old lady with the cat. I am satisfied. Ish.

Dunno if deliberate or by design as far as the writing, but I hated all the characters on this show. They made them all too irredeemable. Even Tony Soprano had a moral center of sorts, at least a soft spot for animals anyway.

I got all four fates right, though I thought Craig would OD and Deran would go after Adrian, not his nephew. Perhaps he’ll get both.

Excellent.

You don't think Deran will be arrested by day's end?

What the hell happens to Deran? I don’t appreciate them leaving his story hanging like that.

At least they avoided the 'Bury your gays' trope. Still, wish we could've gotten something more from Deren's ending.

Well that was disappointing.

As I mentioned in the Part 1 thread, it seems like writers just give up in a final season. They're all ready to move on to new projects and just stop caring about the show they're writing for. And that really sucks.

First off, I wish Pope had killed J. There was nothing likable about his character. He was just cold and boring.

I would rather that Pope had either strangled him in a choke hold, or drowned him in the pool. That would have been satisfying.

J was just as bad as his uncles. He killed many people, robbed many people, and killed an innocent person at the very end. So why in the hell did he get to live? It's not like his mother was perfect, either.

Also, why did Craig and Deran leave? If it was that easy for Pope to kill all the cops, then it would have been even easier for three of them to kill off all the cops. Then they could have all hopped in a car for Mexico, and LIVED.

But if Deran and Craig had to go off by themselves, then why let him be shot by a child?

That is like the dumbest way for Craig to die. It was actually quite annoying.

Of course, Deran the gay character gets no ending. He just leaves his brother by the side of the road (I don't believe he would do that), then disappears

LAME.

The ending with J by a pool, with all the money, just rubs me the wrong way.

The writers really misjudged the audience's feelings for the characters.

J was the worst.

I really do think they chickened out at the last moment with making Pope the father of J. What was the point of his botched attempt at a kiss with Julia earlier in the season then? So J’s father is either boring Baz or some drug addict rando? Wasn’t an important theme of the show the destructiveness of incest? What was the point of the incest then? What were they ultimately saying?

Are they leaving the door open for a J spin-off? Ugh.

I thin we were supposed to think that J was left with nothing but despair..And lots of money. Are there no extradition arrangements with Thailand?

Deran should've came and killed J out of revenge at the very end.

Nobody wants a J spinoff.

r88, NOBODY!

I always thought J was terribly miscast. The actor is such a weenie.

Me too, R90.

For one thing, he somehow looked both childlike (perhaps because of his smaller stature) and much older than his supposed age.

Which is an odd feat.

Well, it was a good run for sure. Deran and Adrian, we can only hope, are fucking madly and in perpetuity...

Final ep was too heavy on caper for my taste.

Yeah, J is the last person who should have lived.

These last two seasons, he’s been so boring (and he’s lost his cuteness).

In that final scene by the pool there was no discernible acting. I mean, it was clear that he realized that, despite winning, he’s lost. But it was anything but gripping to watch.

It the writers deserve some of the blame. In earlier seasons, he often seemed salvageable. Once they wrote him as purely cold and calculating, we lost our rooting interest.

How has he lost? All the people who betrayed his mother are dead. (Deran was too young to be responsible.). He has all their money. He escaped. His girlfriend is dead, which is a bummer, but he’ll get over it.

J’s survival makes sense since we started with him as the outsider coming in.

Yeah, the finale is perfectly in keeping with the tone and direction set in the very first episode. I wouldn't have expected it to end any other way.

I don't think the show wanted us to feel he was ok. He was totally bereft and vacant. And I'm not sure even J can easily get over murdering someone he loved.

So the Original Sin wasn't incest, but casting Julia out into the wilderness with no resources or support?

I like the finale. I thought it was one of Jake Weary's best performances and the scenes with Craig were moving. The series overall was pretty good.

J looks to be somewhere in Asia. If Deran's headed to Thailand for Renn/Nick, I'd like to see him track down J and kill him. It could be a one-off movie like El Camino.

There was no incest.

I like that Pope finally showed some emotion.

His guilt was bottled up inside of him for all these years, and it finally came out.

But Jake Weary really stole the show with his acting at the very end.

That scene with him, as Craig lay dying in his arms. It was so moving and powerful.

I also think that there's going to be a follow-up to this story, where Deran hunts for J.

When Deran realized that J screwed them over, he kept going on and on about how it's all his fault for trusting J, and then says "I'm going to kill him. He's dead."

It's either going to be a short series, or as someone above mentioned, a one-time event.

Jake Weary shares his mom’s talent for handling an emotional scene. He will continue to find work.

He sure looks a lot like his mom.

Was this show popular enough in its last seasons to warrant a sequel? I never hear about it anywhere except DL.

No, it was not. There’s no chance of a follow-up.

And TNT is exiting scripted programming.

The finale was just another episode. Very disappointed.

[quote] And TNT is exiting scripted programming.

Wow, I didn't know that.

It sucks, because TNT has had some good shows on the network, like "The Alienist" and "Animal Kingdom."

What a bummer.

TNT exiting scripted drama…

All I kept thinking about watching the final episode was.. wow, this is an awful lot of hard work - with a high body count - to get your hands on only 5M.

Since I’ve not watched the last two episodes yet I’ll only read part of it, but seems interesting.

Those two young actors really were terrific, especially Polish. Some really hard stuff to play, and she’s been the emotional center of the final season.

How depressing to play a doomed character.

Jasper Polish as Julia was fantastic.

I thought that they would go somewhere with Baz's character, but he just kind of faded away.

The guy who played Andrew is really hot, but the way he played the character was more like someone developmentally disabled.

I don't think that Pope is mentally slow. I think he's just weird. So that was kind of a "miss" for me.

I really want to see more of Jake Weary. He'll always have a place in my heart for playing such a unique and complicated gay character.

He brought a new perspective on gay men, that we don't always get to see. So for me, his character was pretty ground breaking.

Jake Weary is pretty fearless. As flat as Finn increasingly became, Jake gave a deep, heavy, layered performance.

Even if he was just hauling boxes of beer and wiping the bar, there was always lots going on in his head.

I'm going to miss this show.

It was one of my favorites for the past few years.

Scripted tv has really sucked, with few exceptions.

This show being the exception.

So, I’m guessing they didn’t burn the house to the ground, which is what I was hoping for.

Pope actually did burn the house to the ground, R115.

Here's a recent interview done right before the finale with the actors that played young Pope and young Julia. The article in R110 appears to be based on this video/interview.

They discuss the intense scene in episode 12 where Smurf throws Julia out of the house and leaves her with nothing.

Oh, thanks R116, I haven’t watched the last two episodes, but no one mentioned it. It was my one prediction for the show so I’m glad it came true. The set of the house was built on the former house for the Waltons TV show, so now it can be cleared away for the next show to you the lot.

Now what in the hell am I going to watch?

Animal Kingdom was one of the few scripted shows that I would watch every week.

Walking Dead is coming back, but that one is over soon too.

Waaahhh!!!

R119 I came later to it, but as family dramas where they’re ripping each other apart, Secessions can’t be beat.

We saw what happened to Craig, Pope and J. We need a standalone 2-hour ep for Deran.

They could have just showed a shot of Deran on a plane just before the final shot of J so we know he escaped.

Love that there's so much support for a killer and a thief just because he's a hot gay man.

Those kids had no choice. Smurf corrupted them.

[quote]I hated all the characters on this show. They made them all too irredeemable.

Have you seen the original movie? That was pretty much the point.

The r124 excuse could be made for many of the criminals in history. Doesn't make them innocent.

We’re not talking about guilt. Of course Deran is guilty. We’re talking about whether the audience can have sympathy for him.

Sure, but not enough sympathy to see him escape without punishment.

^ J did. He was gulty too.

It seemed in the finale flashbacks, Smurf DID try to help Julia. She made references to multiple rehab stints and them being a waste of money. So J was wrong in that Smurf didn't do shit. Sometimes addicts are a lost cause in spite of all attempts to help them.

I saw this thumbnail out of the corner of my eye and thought it was Jake at first. Maybe his next project should be a Cobain biopic?

^ Jake Weary sings, too, for those who don't know.

That was so cool, R131!!

It sounds like 80's British punk or Depeche Mode or something like that.

How fun!

r130 has prosopagnosia

R133 You can just call me face blind, you don’t have to get all clinical.

Those kids didn't have a chance with Smurf. She was a monster. I know they are hardened criminals, but there's a tiny bit of room for some sympathy. Pretty wild ending. The back story of when they were young offers some explanations.

I think they missed a huge opportunity in making Pope J's Dad. Him raping his twin sister would have fit within the character psychopathy - and would have perhaps given Smurf an ounce of regret in what she did to turn Pope into the monster he became. And it would have given the final scene between J and Pope some added tension and electricity. Pope giving his life for his twin sister and all the sins he himself committed would have been an apt ending for him.

Another episode of Deran and J...taking care of loose ends between those two, would have been good.

Shawn Hatosy is such a terrific actor, he elevated the whole show. Pope had some real pathos to his character that a lesser actor probably couldn’t have pulled off.

[quote] In that final scene by the pool there was no discernible acting. I mean, it was clear that he realized that, despite winning, he’s lost. But it was anything but gripping to watch.

J was animated by revenge. Once he accomplished his mission his soul was so corrupted he withdrew into himself and basically became Pope. The last scene with him sitting fully clothed and stiff at the edge of a lounge chair at a resort was evocative of Pope. If he were really the product of incest they would have had to kill him.

I didn't quite understand why Smurf was 6 feet tall in flashbacks and physically dwarfed Baz and Pope but in reality she was 5 feet tall and much shorter than both.