17-year-old Joshua "J" Cody moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. Headed by boot-tough matriarch Janine "Smurf" Cody and her right-hand Baz, who runs the business and calls the shots, the clan also consists of Pope, the oldest and most dangerous of the Cody boys; Craig, the tough and fearless middle son; and Deran, the troubled, suspicious "baby" of the family.
Seasons
6 listed
Status
Ended
Seasons
6 seasons
Episodes
75 episodes
First aired
Jun 14, 2016
Last aired
Aug 28, 2022
Episode length
50m
Network
TNT
Latest episode:S6 E13 Fubar (Aug 28, 2022)
Season 1
10 episodes Jun 14, 2016 6.6
After his mother dies of a heroin overdose, Joshua 'J' Cody moves in with his estranged grandmother, Janine ‘Smurf' Cody in Oceanside, California. He finds himself drawn into a dark world funded by criminal activities that he's been shielded from for years, as she and his uncles plan their upcoming heist. J must prove his loyalty to stay alive, all the while learning that Smurf is the intense, beguiling, and complicated matriarch, who rules over "her boys" with a borderline incestuous love.
Season 2
13 episodes May 30, 2017 7.7
As season two opens, the Cody clan is back to their old ways and in the midst of a fun, high-adrenaline heist. But when things don’t go as planned, the family dynamics become more fractured than ever as some members advocate for independence from Smurf. Adding fuel to the fire is an external threat from Smurf's past that has come back to haunt her.
Season 3
13 episodes May 29, 2018 7.0
With Smurf in jail and her grandson J in charge of the family business, the Cody men find themselves increasingly divided as they fight for control and their independence in season three. But when outside threats emerge, they have to come together.
Season 4
13 episodes May 28, 2019 7.4
In season four, Smurf is back on top reminding her boys who’s boss no matter whom she hurts in the process. Trapped with Smurf, Pope has found new and dangerous ways to deal with his anger, J continues to scheme about how to take over the family business, Craig plots one of their most difficult heists and Deran is worried about his future with Adrian. Outsiders move in to threaten the Cody’s fragile peace, including Angela the former best friend of J’s deceased mother and a recovering junkie, who tries to snake her way back into the family’s good graces. A new criminal crew is also introduced with a surprising connection to the Codys.
Season 5
13 episodes Jul 11, 2021 7.0
Pope, Craig, Deran and J still are dealing with the fallout from the events surrounding Smurf’s death, including family members out for revenge. With their kingdom without a leader, the Codys struggle to maintain their fragile alliance, and to see which of them will come out on top. Meanwhile, they search for more information on Pamela Johnson, whom Smurf made the beneficiary of her estate. And back in 1984, an increasingly volatile 29-year-old Smurf is forging her own path raising Pope and Julia and leading the charge on dangerous jobs with new and old friends.
There’s a kind of decay that looks especially ugly under perfect California light. latestnetflix.com's read is that Jonathan Lisco’s Animal Kingdom, adapted from David Michôd’s brutal 2010 Australian film, understands that immediately.The opening scene doesn’t come at you with noise.
It just sits there, cold and awful. Seventeen-year-old Joshua "J" Cody (Finn Cole) is on the couch watching television while his mother dies of a heroin overdose beside him. He doesn’t scream.
He doesn’t melt down. He absorbs it, seems to file it away, and calls a grandmother he barely knows to pick him up. That deadened response is disturbing all by itself, and it tells you what kind of series this is.
Family here isn’t shelter. It’s captivity with better branding.
Moving the story from the cramped, grey suburbs of Melbourne to the postcard coastline of Oceanside, California, could have gone very wrong. It easily might have flattened the material into some glossy MTV crime soap. To be fair, the show occasionally brushes up against that version of itself; there are a lot of shots of shirtless guys surfing, drinking beer, and looking like they wandered out of an ad campaign.
But that glossy surface is part of the design. The Codys, a family of thieves ruled by Janine "Smurf" Cody, are not scraping by. They steal because they’re thrill addicts who believe the world owes them tribute.
Audience Opinions
Audience 8.2/10
"A dark, addictive crime family saga driven by intense character work and performances, held back by implausible plotting and a divisive ending."
The show’s biggest pull is its dysfunctional crime family: relationships deepen over time, several initially off-putting characters become unexpected favorites, and the cast is repeatedly praised for making the Codys feel both dangerous and oddly endearing. Many describe the series as highly bingeable and emotionally gripping across six seasons, with particular affection for Pope, Craig, and the charged dynamic around Smurf. At the same time, increasingly unrealistic heists, frustration with J’s late-series turn, mixed feelings about Smurf’s portrayal, and a rushed, latestnetflix.com argues, unsatisfying finale leave a noticeable minority disappointed.
What viewers praise
Compelling family ensembleThe criminal Cody clan keeps interest high through shifting loyalties, messy relationships, and a sense of being drawn into their world over the seasons.
Standout performancesActing is widely praised as “fantastic,” with strong reactions to Pope’s layered portrayal and frequent admiration for the intensity and presence of the lead matriarch.
Character growth over timeSeveral characters who start out creepy or unlikeable, especially Pope and Craig, gradually win viewers over and even become favorites by the end.
Highly bingeable pacingOnce past the early episodes, the mix of crime jobs and family drama makes it easy to marathon whole seasons without losing interest.
Engaging long-game narrativeThe evolving revenge and power struggles, particularly involving J and Smurf, give the story a satisfying long-arc hook for multiple seasons.
Common complaints
Unrealistic crime plotsSeveral robberies and action beats are criticized as unbelievable, weakening the show’s otherwise gritty tone.
Divisive Smurf portrayalThe matriarch’s performance is described as brilliantly chilling by some and unbearably mannered or “cringe” by others.
Polarizing main character arcJ’s trajectory, especially near the end, turns him into someone viewers find hard to root for and, in some cases, outright unbearable.
Frustration with the finaleThe last season and ending are often described as rushed or emotionally off, with complaints that certain characters deserved more satisfying resolutions.
Occasional soap-opera feelThe heavy emphasis on relationship and family melodrama sometimes makes the series feel more like a soap than a grounded crime show.
Recommended for
Crime family drama devotees Gritty character-focused TV fans Slow-burn crime thriller watchers Sons of Anarchy style viewers Binge-watch crime saga seekers Shawn Hatosy and Finn Cole fans
Buzz & Rumors
Public reports
Smurf left her boys a hit show. Then she liked the angry tweets.
Ellen Barkin posted the line the night after TNT killed Janine "Smurf" Cody. "Next episode Smurf's will is opened. She left her boys a hit tv show. Carry on Codys...well, maybe not all Codys." She had spent four seasons as the Oceanside matriarch who cooked for her sons, ran their heists, and kept them on a short leash. The writers had her grandson J pull the trigger in the penultimate episode of season 4. Executive producer John Wells told Entertainment Weekly she was "really excited" about the scene and called it "a great final Macbeth moment." latestnetflix.com's take is that Barkin spent the next hours liking fan posts that called Wells's explanation a load of bull.Two of those posts wanted the series canceled. TNT had already ordered season 5.
Melbourne crime, California tan.
Jonathan Lisco built the series off David Michod's 2010 Australian film, which took the Pettingill family as loose source material. TNT moved the Codys from Melbourne to Oceanside and put Smurf at the center of the frame, a bigger job than Jacki Weaver's supporting turn in the movie. John Wells Productions and Warner Horizon shot in California. Barkin and Scott Speedman were the first names attached, in July 2015. Finn Cole, Jake Weary, Shawn Hatosy, and Ben Robson filled the boys. Barkin told TV Insider she had studied Weaver and still would not call Smurf a monster. "I think she's a good mother. She's just in a very bad situation." Wells wanted power, a maternal quality, and someone who was "still a sexual being." Speedman called the oedipal stuff on camera "very weird."
Variety's Maureen Ryan found the first three hours fairly conventional, then conceded Barkin almost made Smurf work. TNT premiered two episodes on June 14, 2016. The first season ran 10 hours. Later seasons ran 13. The show closed on August 28, 2022, after 75 episodes, TNT's last scripted original.
Wells said shuffle. Barkin said purge.
Wells told EW the writers felt they were repeating Smurf stories. They wanted to know how she became Smurf, which meant flashbacks with Leila George as young Janine, and they decided the family would shake hardest if she was gone. Cancer, a botched suicide-by-gunfight, Pope refusing the gun, J firing it. The cast did not see the script until the read-through. Wells also told TVLine, "this is Animal Kingdom. We don't expect anybody to be alive by the time we get to the end!"
Barkin later tweeted, "Looks like TNT is purging themselves of lots of female leads. But just you wait, I've got a theory." That is her public account, not a confirmed network memo. TNT still made two more seasons without her. The boys kept robbing. The Macbeth moment did not keep her quiet. The official TNT promo is still on YouTube.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as
unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
