Animal Kingdom Season 6 Episode 11 Review: Hit and Run
Jasmine Blu
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When you dig too much into the past, you're bound to discover things you'd rather not know.
The creepy, incestual vibes of the flashbacks got progressively worse during Animal Kingdom Season 6 Episode 11, and with two different timelines of pivotal points in Andrew Cody's life, the build-up until the prison break is enough to leave a person conflicted and on edge.
What more can you expect from these last few installments of this series?
The hour did its part in bringing back two familiar faces with Denis Leary and, to the excitement of many, Scott Speedman.
Much of the hour consisted of the guys trying to get their lives and futures in check in preparation for the prison break.
Once they pull off their plan, they have to leave the country for good, take off their own respective ways, and there's no coming back.
The reality of their plans hit each of them hard during the installment as they prepared. It meant each of them had moments of nostalgia as they recalled their life in Oceanside and how things would change for them.
Deran, you never listen to me. Listen me to this one time, ok? Wake. Up. Leave Pope in jail where he belongs, give Craig his share if you feel like you have to, that's fine. But do not give a goddamn dime to J, OK? The kid doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve shit.
Billy
Craig was getting his money together, sending small increments to Thailand so that when he left the country, he could flee and have a nice setup.
Meanwhile, J supposedly got to work doing quick sells of all of their assets and estates, pooling together the lump sum of what the Codys are worth now so they could split everything four ways and carry on with their lives.
Some of the most interesting moments of the hour were scenes that directly involved J.
We learned that Penny told her absent husband, of whom nothing has come from yet, about her relationship with J, again offscreen, and the whirlwind romance Penny may have thought she was living with J got all too real after that.
She doesn't want to be some form of a "kept woman," but she was living in his condo, presumably one that he's selling, yes? And she spoke about them going furniture shopping and things of that nature.
J and Penny never gave off that type of energy, so it's odd that Penny is fleeing one relationship and jumping into another with a mysterious, dangerous man who doesn't share things with her.
Nevertheless, she has some hold on J. Despite the awkwardness of that morning scene between the two, J expressed uncertainty about whether or not Penny could be a factor in J's new life after all of this goes down.
I appreciate that it took Billy's reappearance to prompt some questioning of J about where he stands. However, it didn't turn into a whole big thing either.
Billy's beef with J is pretty damn wild, and it's ironically on par with his loathing of Pope. However, his love for his son is as transparent as ever. It's genuinely too bad he and Deran never had the chance to spend a significant amount of time together.
Billy: Smurf really did a number on you boys. Well, it's your life. If you want to piss it away saving the psychopath, go right ahead. Well, I'll see you around.
Deran: Yeah. Billy, don't worry about it.
They made the most out of their scenes during this installment, though, and Weary and Leary play off one another nicely. There were so many moments when one or both of them were holding back on what they wanted to say or express, but it came through because of the nuanced performances by both men.
Deran called Billy for a contact into the prison, and it took some time, but he got it. However, it also served as a proper goodbye for the two men and perhaps some foreshadowing.
Billy has a specific idea of who Pope is as a person, and any reasonable person would've given Deran the same advice: let Pope sit in prison and move on with his life.
Billy has always known Pope to be "off" and figured prison was a certainty and the best call for him. However, he knows that Deran still has a shot at a normal life and doesn't want to see Deran throw it away.
Deran: Pope got locked up. He's probably not getting out, ever, so...
Billy: Oh, Deran. You gotta be shitting me.
Deran: Don't ask questions if you don't want the answers, okay?
Billy: Deran, listen to me, OK? Number one: Pope getting locked up is a positive development for all of civilized society. And number two, you're talking about U.S. Marshals. You're going to have to leave the country and never come back, ever.
Deran shared that his future can include meeting up with Adrian in Indonesia even though he knows Adrian won't want to see him. Everything else is falling apart around him, so he spoke like a man who doesn't have anything left to lose but his brothers.
That sentimentality, codependency, love, obligation, deep sense of loyalty, whatever you want to call it, bled through when he immediately assumed responsibility for Pope, volunteering to look after him until he gets on his feet when all of this is over.
Did anyone expect Deran to leave Billy the bar? Perhaps it's something that can still happen, but Billy took to the place well. His ideas for improving the bar make perfect sense and could boost sales and traffic. He'd be willing to invest in it better than Deran has over the years.
He had the bar packed for the first time in ages, and while he's only California sober, he'd be a natural running the joint when Deran leaves. Billy keeping Deran's bar open and alive would be ideal.
Meanwhile, it's fitting that Craig's condo, the same one that belonged to Baz, would likely get torn down and turned into something anew. They simply cannot fight the gentrification, and now it doesn't matter anymore.
Even if they weren't fast-tracking the sale, it's precisely what would happen with that condo. At least they'd get over a million for it.
J has been putting in the work for them, even though he was vehemently against this idea of breaking out Pope. Every moment they spent reminiscing on memories in the Cody house made you consider the possibility that this is J's long game.
Billy wasn't wrong in having his concerns; no more than J is wrong if he's still seeking some ultimate revenge in his mother's name. It'lldefinitely keep things suspenseful and exciting.
Deran and Craig casually talked about all their cherished memories and great times in the Cody house without even considering how oddly privileged they sounded and that J didn't have any of that for the first 17 years of his life.
It was moments like that which drew a stark contrast between J's upbringing and the world he knew from the likes of Deran and Craig.
And when that happens, you can imagine the unresolved anger and more J may feel when he's reminded of the life that he and his mother didn't have when a few blocks away, the Codys were living a life of luxury in comparison.
Craig and Deran even remember their memories with J differently. The dismissive response to how Deran and Craig almost drowned him in a pool stood out, for example.
We also got more insight into how J felt after his and Craig's conversation by the pool.
Craig: You got a lot of things right, J. Smurf always said you smart, like Julia. I never had anything against her you know. Your mom.
J: I know.
Craig: I was only little when she left. Saw her maybe one or two times after that, but you, you never liked me much.
J: You never really liked me much either.
Craig: Yo, you show up, Smurf brings you in, all of a sudden everyone is listening to you, what's the like?
J: Smurf used me.
Craig: She used everyone. It was never about anyone else but her, man. I was wrong about you, though. You set us up good. Now you're helping with the Pope shit, that's something. It's real.
J: Family, right?
Craig: Yeah, family.
He appeared to believe Craig when his uncle said he never had anything against Julia. Entering the Cody home, it was easy to lash out at everyone for not being there for her. And the others never seemed to react or care when she died.
However, it has to weigh on J that now they're all about "family" and risking their lives and giving up everything to save Pope when that was a sentiment that never seemed to exist for or apply to his mother.
Craig hid behind the fact that he was young when Julia left, and he only saw her twice afterward, but he wasn't that much younger. It sucks when we've seen that she was one of the only ones who constantly looked after her youngest brothers, but that connection seemed to have vanished.
Craig also seemed to address that he was jealous of J because of his ability to be heard and taken seriously upon his arrival. He admitted that he was wrong about J, though. But is he?
J: What?
Deran: It's a lot of work you've done. Selling all of Smurf's properties,setting up the businesses. You've been playing the long game, haven't you? Sure you don't want to cut and run?
J: It's for Pope, right? It's like you said. He would do the same for us.
Deran: Yeah, it's for Pope.
Interestingly, J has to remind the others of how he was manipulated by Smurf and affected by her too. But does that only fuel his anger or contribute to the kinship he feels with the others? Even with the bond J has developed with the boys over the years, there is still enough there to reinforce and justify why J would betray them if it came down to it.
J set them up nicely, although each of them getting a million each doesn't feel like nearly enough after everything they've done. But it's more than they ever would've seen individually under Smurf.
It's hard to shake the notion that J has contingency plans and could still have ulterior motives and is tempted to exact some final play that would be at his uncles' detriment.
They graced us with two different flashbacks during this installment, but we're still not technically at the point where we'd know when Julia left the Cody home and who is J's father. Although, the speculation is ripe for the taking, especially after this installment.
However, given that they provided us with flashbacks of what happened the day Baz and Pope robbed the bank and Pope got caught, it's possible they could jump around the timeline for the last two episodes.
Baz and Pope were not getting along when they pulled off that job. Baz got in Pope's case about his obsession with Cath and the inappropriate behavior he displayed toward his "brother's" girl.
Pope wasn't wrong about Cath deserving better than Baz and him sleeping with anyone and everyone, but it didn't give him license to intrude on that relationship either.
It sounded like there were no boundaries, and things got heated when Baz told Pope he was being a "weirdo," which was triggering for him.
It wasn't the type of conversation that they should've had seconds before they went into a job, and when things went sideways, you can see where it was a betrayal on Baz's part.
He could've waited a few seconds more for Pope. At the very least, he could've pulled in somewhere else and been there to pick up Pope, who was literally fleeing from the authorities.
Instead, Baz left Pope hanging, and Pope didn't stand a chance. While it was good to see Scott Speedman reprise the role, Baz was such an asshole!
Pope sacrificed himself for Baz, and Baz left him hanging, leaving him to take the wrap for their actions. The relationship between the boys had always been complicated, but that certainly changed the nature of their bond.
Baz: What's the matter?
Pope: I'm not a weirdo.
Yet, it was Baz who Pope envisioned when he was in solitary. Baz essentially let Pope off the hook for Cath's murder, telling him that he already paid for his sins and shifting the blame to Smurf.
Through a hallucination of Baz, Pope concluded that Smurf was responsible for everyone's deaths, and she's why he is the way he is.
Dream Baz ended Pope's self-flagellation, and now he's in the right frame of mind to want out of prison if the phone call he requested was any indication.
It's too bad Pope couldn't have this self-realization with the help of Baz before he signed a confession and all of that jazz. There are still legal ways to fight this given how many ways a now absent Thompson, the official plot device, violated him. But instead, we have prison break. .
Of course, the moment we're excited about Pope getting out of prison and him getting his head on straight, we're haunted by the flashbacks of what transpired between the twins.
Unsurprisingly, Baz was a dick who cheated on Julia. Nothing good could ever come from their relationship, and the second he got out of the house and into his own place, it was apparent that it would end things for them.
Julia was genuinely hurt when she caught him having sex with that beach bunny, but I was personally relieved that the blond writhing on top of Baz wasn't actually Smurf. I couldn't be the only one who thought they were headed there.
Let it never be said that Julia doesn't have hands, though. Baby girl popped Baz in the face twice in the middle of the argument, and that second time, he was ready to attack her.
The line about him being like his abusive father had to sting, which was probably the one thing that pulled him up short and kept him from getting physical with her at that moment.
Strangely, Craig and Deran should've been old enough to remember bits and pieces of this stuff, but they apparently did not.
Julia thought she'd get support and sympathy from Pope and maybe even Smurf, but she was the only one who didn't see Baz for who he was.
Pope's advice to Julia eerily mirrored the same sentiments he shared about Cath in the other flashback. He thought his sister deserved better, and he wasn't wrong about that.
Julia could've easily chosen one of the many colleges pursuing her, started a new life and found a much better guy. Julia could've been free. The tragedy of Julia Cody doesn't let up, and Polish makes you feel every bit of hurt for her.
The second Pope pushed her hair back from her face, a sinking feeling settled that he'd make a move on his sister, and moments later, he did.
The incestual vibes have been off the charts this season, and it's always uncomfortable to witness. On the one hand, you feel bad for Pope at this point.
You can understand how he would've gotten to a place where he tried to kiss his own sister. Smurf fostered this weird environment where they didn't have boundaries, and she was constantly disturbingly sexual with him and Baz.
Julia: Andrew, what the hell? You're my brother.
Pope: Please, please. I know you don't think there is something wrong with me, but there is.
She emphasized that they were a family and Baz was their brother, but then Pope caught his sister and Baz having sex, which shook him to his core and made him question everything.
Also, Julia was always his person and other half. He's possessive of her in that manner.
Once you toss in how socially inept he was in comparison to the other two and that he was always socially stifled to the point where his entire life revolved around everyone in that Cody house, and he didn't have meaningful connections outside of that, it was a clusterfuck waiting to happen.
Pope freaking out, calling himself a weirdo, and stating that he's aware that something is wrong with him was disturbing and raised some flags.
You can always count on men to be men. Believe it or not it can be very useful.
Smurf
It gives the impression that he has inappropriate feelings related to sexual things, and he knows that, but he also doesn't have them under control.
And then there is poor Julia. What do you even say when your brother kisses you? How do they move beyond that and act as if it didn't happen? How do they even address it?
You could tell it was something that Julia couldn't even process. Pope was her safe place her entire life, it was them against the world, and now he's the one to violate her.
She is also in this position where she constantly puts Pope's well-being ahead of her own, so she'll likely still feel protective of him even at her own emotional expense. Julia embodies the plight of the eldest daughter already, and it's only worse with a toxic narcissistic parent like Smurf around.
She placed the kimono Smurf gave her on as if she was using it to hide her figure or desexualize herself for her brother. And she proceeded to hit the liquor again and make dinner, but we didn't get any other follow-up from that troubling scene.
But we've been watching Julia slowly break in front of us all season. Could that incident be a factor in how Julia started getting into the heavy drugs and left the Codys?
Pope: I loved her man, I really did.
Baz: I know. What you did, it wasn't you, okay? It was Smurf. It's always Smurf. She killed Cath. She killed me. She killed Julia. Julia just took longer. Hey, Pope, she made you who you are. She knew what she was doing. Smurf got what she deserved, but you, you never had a chance, did you?
Pope: I never had a chance.
Why does it feel like this incident isn't even the half of what we'll learn about Pope and his disconcerting, scary, violating behavior? With Pope'shistory, these flashbacks, and a series finale titled "Original Sin," I'mnot emotionally prepared for what may reveal itself.
Pope didn't want to believe that Cath was afraid of him, but she was. And harkening back to one of his first sexual experiences when he got out of prison back in Animal Kingdom Season 1, he recited the words of a previous partner, and it sounded as if there was something taboo, unsavory, or potentially violent about that encounter.
They're not showing us this or headed in this direction for no reason, which is enough to have you on edge until the very end.
Over to you, Animal Kingdom Fanatics.
Were you happy with Baz's return? How shocked and disgusted were you by the twin near-kiss? Sound off below.
You can watch Animal Kingdom online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
