Animal Kingdom: Is J The Savior Or The Destroyer Of The Cody Family?
Season 6 of Animal Kingdom is its last and through the first two episodes, it’s on pace to be its best. One thing that the writers did manage to get right was offering the backstory of young Smurf, Pope, and Julia in Season 5. It’s been a wild ride to how they became a family but it also set the foundation for how the show might end.
In the early stages, the flashback storyline focused on Smurf and younger versions of Pope and Julia as the centralized characters. But a quick fast-forward for Season 6 and we see the twins in High School but they’re not alone. Baz is now living in the house and there has even been appearances by the younger versions of Deran and Craig as well. The family is whole, minus one. There is no J in sight yet as we learned that he’s the offspring of Baz and Julia. It seems moot when he learned the truth, however, the first two episodes of Season 6 began to show the similarities between, J and both his parents.
Now that we may know a bit more regarding the personalities of his parents, should we expect J to be the one who not only walks away at the end but the one to also takes the family down?
Here are a few reasons why that may happen. Smurf raised her kids in the image of herself. However, we’re learning that it was Julia who wanted something different and viewed Smurf as trouble. A mother and daughter relationship has its ups and downs but Julia held resentment towards her mother.
Related: Animal Kingdom: Should There Be Any Cody’s Left Standing In The End?
While she loved her brother Pope, Julia found a way to escape that life but not the demons that came with it. The drugs were her escape which in turn took her life and placed her son right in the arms of the enemy. This is where the story begins to take shape even more. J fell in line but there was always something sinister and vengeful with him. He ties in with the family but was never a true fit.
Smurf taught him the business side of the family business which put a target on his back as far as his uncles go. But that was another Smurf tactic. She was good at drawing lines in the sand and placing people in opposition. She knew what J was capable of and made sure he was the one to take her role.
But there is still something in his eyes that says all is not forgiven. While his mother was dealing with her demons, J also understood that her brothers were nowhere to be found. J and Julia had to fight that alone and while J has been Team Cody, he has never let that pain go.
Season 6 is the swan song for the Cody boys but will their demise be by the hand of the law or one of their own? It seems that J has always had a plan. And with him and Pope still dealing with a power struggle for leadership of the family, J may have something up his sleeve. He makes all the moves business-wise for the Cody’s and has even found an ally with Craig.
With the way his mother was treated and the handling Baz’s death, J could very well be the one who brings them all down out of revenge for Julia. It will be a fitting end for the kid and his mother who was left behind.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
