Why Smurf Had to Die For J’s Big Plan to Work

After six intense seasons, Animal Kingdom has lastly come to an finish. Season 6, Episode 16, “Fubar,” depicted the fallout of J’s (Finn Cole) revenge plan, and it had devastating penalties. Like a lot of Animal Kingdom‘s mainstays, J’s ethical character was fairly grey all through the TNT sequence. However, the finale pushed him into true villain territory, proving his ruthlessness and coldness rivaled his grandmother’s. Smurf (Ellen Barkin) at all times maintained that J was smarter than his uncles; nonetheless, the sequence finale additionally proved that J would not have been in a position to pull his grasp scheme off if Smurf was nonetheless round.

How J Sought Revenge in Animal Kingdom’s Series Finale

Despite functioning as Smurf’s (Ellen Barkin) proper hand after which successor, J continued to really feel like an outsider amongst his estranged felony household. He additionally harbored resentment and even hatred stemming from the Codys’ therapy of his late mom, Julia (Jasper Polish). Animal Kingdom‘s earlier seasons teased J’s plans of revenge; nonetheless, it wasn’t till Season 6’s remaining episodes that he really took steps to make his musings a actuality.

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With Smurf dying in Season 4, J quickly took management of his grandmother’s felony empire. This, after all, made it simpler to cover his misdoings from his uncles, who by no means actually understood how Smurf ran the enterprise within the first place. However, it was actually Pope’s (Shawn Hatosy) homicide confession and ensuing jail stint that set J’s plan into motion. With Pope taking a look at a life sentence, Deran (Jake Weary) and Craig (Ben Robson) satisfied J that breaking Pope out was the one choice, reasoning that Pope would do the identical factor for any of them. The downside with this was J suspected his uncles would not really do him that service, simply because the household turned their backs on Julia over a decade prior.

As such, J stole the whole lot of the Codys’ fortune and arrange his uncles to take the autumn for breaking Pope out. Bloodshed adopted, with Pope and Craig seemingly dying and Deran left alone declaring vengeance towards J. Due to Pope’s mercy, J made it out alive however not with out shedding his love, humanity and household within the course of. Through J, Animal Kingdom reminds audiences that revenge is usually bittersweet. But, extra importantly, it proves that J’s plan seemingly would not have succeeded with Smurf nonetheless round.

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Smurf Would Have Seen J’s Revenge Plan Coming

Smurf acknowledged J’s potential not lengthy after welcoming him into her residence. Like Baz (Scott Speedman), Smurf’s adopted son and probably J’s father, Smurf thought of J extra clever and succesful than her sons. She pointed it out on a number of events, comparable to in Season 2, Episode 3, “Bleed For It,” when she recommended J on the diner heist shock, saying, “You’re a pure, not like the opposite boys. I needed to train them every part. Every single factor.” In some ways, Smurf appeared to contemplate J as a kindred spirit of types. They each got here from nothing and had drug-addicted dad and mom, though Smurf was satirically the basis of Julia’s issues.

However, Smurf herself was additionally extremely crafty and observant of her environment. She knew learn how to learn individuals, and he or she knew learn how to get info. Thus, it is uncertain J would’ve been in a position to pull off his revenge, as seen in “Fubar,” if Smurf have been nonetheless alive. Smurf would’ve caught on to J’s plan lengthy earlier than he had an opportunity to steal cash or set his uncles up. After all, Smurf had caught J in quite a few lies all through Animal Kingdom, together with his try and steal her properties, which he was solely in a position to do as a result of she was in jail.

With Smurf actually in charge for J’s issues, it could have been a deal with to see him actually face off together with his grandmother. However, it is clear a finale with Ellen Barkin’s Smurf would’ve regarded loads totally different for J and the remainder of the Codys. J was in a position to simply outsmart his uncles, however his grandmother would’ve offered a major problem. As Smurf stated herself again in Season 3,” You’re good, J. Are you that good?” As such, it appears J solely succeeded as a result of Smurf wasn’t there to catch him, and Pope wasn’t round to terrify him. J, being the opportunist he was, simply took the second and ran with it.