Animal Kingdom: The Absence Of Julia Cody Is Hurting The Show
For the first few seasons of Animal Kingdom, Smurf was the most recognized central figure. She was the brains behind the family and set the tone as the matriarch. However, in Season 4, the writers decided to go in another direction. It was time for the “Cody Boys” to stand on their own. Smurf was killed off and many wondered how the show would survive.
The Smurf fans have grown to either hate or love is no more but her character is still center stage. What we’re seeing now are flashbacks of Janine before she became the infamous Smurf and the unorthodox way she raised her twin kids, Andrew and Julia.
With Andrew still alive, fans have been treated to his younger version. While Smurf has a larger-than-life persona, it’s not Smurf nor Pope who has caught the attention of others. For me, the true neglect in the show is the absence of Julia Cody.
In the first season, Julia was found dead by her son J. She quickly became an afterthought for fans as just a junkie who overdosed and left her son in the care of his grandmother, uncles, and his father. But as we’re seeing from Smurf’s flashbacks, not having Julia in the present storyline is hurting the show.
We’ve always wondered why Pope is the way he is. Why he’s so closed off from reality? And most of all, why is his and Smurf’s relationship different from his brother’s?
In the early stages, it was Smurf, Pope, and Julia. But why would the writers completely write Julia out of the show? What’s missing in the Cody family is the dynamic that Juila would bring. But since her death, something has been missing in the show.
It appears that every female in Animal Kingdom is around just a few episodes before they either leave or meet their demise.
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In their younger years, it was Julia who would calm Pope down or it was Juila who would explain to Smurf what Pope was feeling. While she wasn’t as reckless as Smurf or Pope, Julia still held her importance. Pope is not a true leader. Daran is too emotional to see the bigger picture. Craig’s drugs issues are clouding his judgment, Baz was more from himself and J is just too young to take control.
Killing Julia off was a huge mistake.
It would’ve been nice to see how she interacted with her brothers and son as they planned jobs. She and Smurf could have run the legit side of the business while Pope, Daran, Craig, Baz, and J, ran the criminal side.
Smurf kept the boys in check and since her death, they have fallen apart and are at each other’s neck more and more. Having a strong female voice is what they need. Smurf could’ve appointed Julia the leader which would have given the show another boost.
Julia and Pope were close growing up and seeing the power struggle between the twins would have been a great touch to the storyline. But fans were robbed of that. The flashbacks just prove how important Julia’s non-presence is.
There is still more left to the younger Smurf flashbacks and maybe we’ll see what actually happened between Julia and Baz in their younger years. Maybe we’ll get answers to a question like “was Julia ever a part of the criminal side of the family business”? Julia is still a mystery that we figured didn’t have any importance to the show. However, the flashbacks show that Julia could have and should have been a major character on Animal Kingdom.
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.
