Animal Kingdom Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Stay Close, Stick Together
Ashley Bissette Sumerel
at
.
The Cody family is one of the most dysfunctional groups of people I've seen on television in a long time, you guys.
Animal Kingdom Season 1 Episode 3 continues to flesh out its characters and their dysfunctional relationships with one another. And I can't take my eyes off the screen.
Okay, so these are unlikable characters for the most part, but they do all have redeeming qualities. Mostly, those redeeming qualities have to do with family, and I think that's why we still root for them.
There's something fascinating about getting to the bottom of their motivations. It all boils down to three things, as far as I can tell: survival, power, and mom's approval.
And mom? She's basically the worst.
Smurf does seem to care for her "boys" as she so fondly likes to call them, and she believes in loyalty and family. Those are her priorities, but it's also pretty clear that money and power aren't too far behind.
Smurf's twisted sense of logic about family and loyalty are also the reason she kidnaps her granddaughter in the grocery store.
When Catherine finally finds her daughter, Smurf tells her she did what was best because Catherine was using a babysitter who wasn't taking good care of Lena.
In her mind, she was just doing what was best for her family. And that always seems to be the case, no matter how twisted things become.
She also has a conversation with her grandson about sex that is a little too frank.
I can't tell you how many times by boys have gotten laid because some little girl was trying to piss off her daddy.
Smurf
Her openness in discussing sexuality is one thing when she's talking about herself or her adult sons (sort of), but when it comes to her teenage grandson, it's just upsetting.
This is definitely a show that isn't afraid to push the boundaries, and I think that's part of the reason why it's so hard to look away.
The relationship I'm most interested in at this point is the one developing between Baz and J.
Baz is clearly going to be the mentor J needs as he adjusts to his new family, and as I mentioned in my review of Animal Kingdom Season 1 Episode 1, I think he sees himself in J.
So it's Baz that J finally opens up to about his mother, feeling as though he was partially responsible for her death.
Baz not only assures him that it wasn't his fault, but he also has some empathy. He gets where J is coming from, and he makes that clear.
The episode ends with Pope crawling into bed with Smurf, yet again pushing the boundaries in a way that it is pretty shocking, and it makes me want to know more back story about the family as whole, but particularly with Pope.
Overall, Animal Kingdom definitely still has my attention. I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes.
What did you think of this episode of Animal Kingdom? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Need to catch up on past episodes?
You can always watch Animal Kingdom online right here via TV Fanatic. Watch online now!
Ashley Bissette Sumerel was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in September 2017. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.
