This article contains spoilers for the Animal Kingdom series finale. TNT’s Series Finale Animal Kingdom has given the final look at the Cody family. For six seasons, the crime drama followed Pope (Shawn Hatosy), Craig (Ben Robson), Deran (Jake Weary), and J (Finn Cole) in their exciting, but often horrific, lifestyles. The finale asked viewers to say goodbye to each of these men, though the endings were far more shocking for some than others. Despite the bitter taste the endings have brought to some of these characters, the crime drama made the right choice.
Animal Kingdom series finale ended with two of the Codys alive and two dead. The Cody family’s latest heist left J and Deran with a new set of emotional scars and a handful of physical ones. J and Deran were the only survivors of the Cody family, as both Craig and Pope’s journeys came to an irrevocable end. Saying goodbye to a series like Animal Kingdom is difficult without the deaths of two of its main characters, but regarding Pope and Craig, the series had no other choice.
During Animal Kingdom, neither Craig nor Pope had ever really been one hundred percent. There was always a subtle element of instability in both men that neither of them has ever been able to resolve. For Craig, it was his partying habits that fueled his addiction to both hard drugs and alcohol. His dependence on cocaine in particular got him into some tough places all around Animal Kingdom, who often saw that someone else had to rescue him from trouble. Often, Craig’s drug use increased his erratic behavior that the Codys often found difficult to control. Traditionally, Pope was seen as the unstable one because of his own behavior and violent outbursts.
That routine instability for these characters is partly what makes their endings so disheartening. Since they’ve never seen them in a fixed spot, it’s natural for viewers to want to see them get there. Craig had the best chance of this. Prior to the Animal Kingdom series finale, he was just engaged to Renn, and the two were making plans for their family. This optimistic development for a character like Craig is often a sign that bad times are ahead, and they certainly were.
Considering the rather unpredictable behavior Craig had exhibited all along Animal Kingdom, the chances that Craig would have survived in exile are pretty slim. Between J, Deran, Pope and himself, Craig is certainly the most likely to slip or get into trouble who would risk giving their cover away. Therefore, Craig’s death was an sadly salutary event for both Deran and J and the survivors. The nature in which Craig dies is heartbreaking, and it is meant to be. He was shot by a kid defending his father, which certainly has an underlying connotation of Craig’s relationship with Nick. To spend Craig’s final moments with Deran, the Cody he’s closest to and who promises to provide for his family, is exactly how it should have been.
Undoubtedly there is no Animal Kingdom character that viewers wanted to see more in a good place than Pope. Of the four Cody men, Pope certainly has the roughest storyline. He had always been a character considered unreliable and treated as a problem for the family to solve. Pope often admits wanting help, but few characters ever take his claims seriously. Instead, most Codys take advantage of Pope’s violent tendencies, which only makes him feel worse about himself. With the way Pope has been treated throughout the series, he could never have lived past the finale. That’s why there was no other choice Animal Kingdom but to kill Pope.
The latest Cody heist revolved around J, Deran and Craig breaking Pope out of his prison transport van. If they had all gotten away successfully, Pope would never have been able to live a successful life. He, more than the others, should always have had to look over his shoulder for fear that someone would realize who he was. As an already paranoid character struggling with the trust of others, Pope would have had an even worse time living on the run. Unable to be happy with or rely on those in his own life, Pope could never have found that again with someone new. All the baggage that J, Deran, Craig and Pope already carried, plus the events that take place in the series finale, guarantee that no matter who lived and died, none of them got away clean.
As unfortunate as the endings were for both Craig and Pope, Animal Kingdom made the right choice by killing these characters. Neither would have been able to function alone or set up businesses to thrive for very long as Deran and J have proven. The deaths of these characters bring their stories to a natural ending that might not get any easier Animal Kingdom viewers accept, but at least an ending that serves these fan favorites well.
Animal Kingdom is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
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