This article contains spoilers for the series finale of Animal Kingdom.The series finale of TNT’sAnimal Kingdomhas provided 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 gruesome lifestyle. The finale asked viewers to bid adieu to each of these men, though the endings for some were far more upsetting than others. Despite the bitter taste the endings for some of these characters may have brought, the crime drama made the right call.
Animal Kingdom’sseries finale ended with two of the Codys alive and two dead. The Cody family’s final heist left J and Deran reeling witha new number of emotional scarsand a handful of physical ones. J and Deran were the Cody family’s only survivors, as both Craig and Pope’s journeys came to an undoable end. Saying goodbye to a series likeAnimal Kingdomis tough without the deaths of two of its main characters, but in regard to Pope and Craig, the series had no other choice.
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ThroughoutAnimal Kingdom,neither Craig nor Pope had ever truly been one hundred percent. There was always a subtle element of instability that existed within both men that neither of them was ever able to resolve. For Craig, it was his partying habits that fueled his addiction to both hard drugs and alcohol. His reliance on cocaine specifically, put him in a number ofrough spots throughoutAnimal Kingdom,that often saw someone else having to bail him out of trouble. Oftentimes, Craig’s drug use would increase his erratic behavior that the Codys often found difficult to control. Traditionally, Pope was viewed as the unstable one due to his own behavior and violent outbursts.
That routine instability for these characters is partly what makes their endings so disheartening. Never having seen them in a solid place, it’s natural for viewers to want to see them get there. Craig had the best chance at this. Prior totheAnimal Kingdomseries finale,he had just gotten engaged to Renn, and the two were making plans for their family. This optimistic development for a character like Craig is often a marker that bad times are right around the corner, and they certainly were.
Given the rather unpredictable behavior Craig had exhibited throughoutAnimal Kingdom,the chance that Craig would’ve lasted in exile is fairly slim. Between J, Deran, Pope, and himself, Craig is certainly the most likely to slip or find himself in trouble thatwould risk giving away their cover.Therefore, Craig’s death was an unfortunately beneficial event for both Deran and J as the survivors. The nature in which Craig dies is heartbreaking, and it’s meant to be. He’s shot by a child defending his father, which certainly has an underlying connotation of Craig’s relationship with Nick. To have Craig’s final moments spent with Deran, the Cody he is closest with, promising to care for his family, is exactly how it should have been.
Arguably,there is noAnimal Kingdomcharacterthat viewers wanted to see in a good place more than Pope. Of the four Cody men, Pope has certainly had the roughest storyline. He had always been a character that was viewed as untrustworthy and treated as a problem the family needed to solve. Pope frequently admits wanting help, but few characters ever take his claims seriously. Instead, most of the Codysexploit Pope’s violent tendencies,which only make him feel worse about himself. With the way Pope has been treated by the series, he never would have been able to live past the finale. Therefore, there was no other choice forAnimal Kingdombut to kill off Pope.
The final Cody heist revolved around J, Deran, and Craig breaking Pope out of his prison transport bus. Had they all gotten away successfully, Pope never would have been able to live a successful life. He, more so than the others, would have always had to look over his shoulder in fear of someone realizing who he was.As an already paranoid characterthat struggles with trusting others, Pope would have had an even worse time living life on the run. Unable to be happy with or trust those in his own life, Pope never would have been able to find that again with someone new. All the baggage J, Deran, Craig, and Pope already carried with them, plus the events that transpire in the series finale, guarantee that no matter who lived and died, none of them have gotten away clean.
As unfortunate as the endings for both Craig and Pope were,Animal Kingdommade the right choice by killing these characters off. Neither of them would have been able to function on their own for very long or set up businesses to thrive in the way Deranand J have proven to.The deaths of these characters bring their stories to a natural conclusion that may not be any easier forAnimal Kingdomviewers to accept, but at least, an ending that serves these fan favorites well.
Animal Kingdomis now streaming on Amazon Prime.
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