‘Animal Kingdom’: Who Survived the Dramatic Series Finale?
[Spoiler Alert: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Sunday’s Season 6 finale of Animal Kingdom.]
The TNT drama series Animal Kingdom came to an end on Sunday, August 28, after six seasons, but which characters made it out alive, and who ended up saying goodbye for good?
In the finale, titled “Fubar,” the Codys put together their plan to break the oldest Cody son, Pope (Shawn Hatosy), out of jail. However, J (Finn Cole) had plans of his own, as he sought to get revenge on family matriarch Janine “Smurf” Cody. What followed was an episode of double-crosses, violent showdowns, and, yes, plenty of murder.
The violence started when J turned on his uncles Deran (Jake Weary) and Craig (Ben Robson), abandoning them while in the middle of a shootout with the cops following the prison break-out. Later, Craig and Deran held up a convenience store for some cash and a first-aid kit. But the store owner’s child shot Craig, who wound up dying as Deran promised to raise Craig’s son like his own.
J’s girlfriend Penny (Stevie Lynn Jones) also met her demise after she decided she wasn’t going to run away with her beau. Knowing that he couldn’t leave behind any loose ends, J fatally dosed Penny’s cocktail and wept as she passed away.
And while Pope survived the shootout with the police, the guilt weighing him down after years of psychological abuse from Smurf eventually became too much to handle. So he ended up setting the Cody house on fire and laid down to die. As for J, he lived to fight another day. In the episode’s final moments, we saw a glimpse of J, all alone in some kind of luxury getaway.
With J and Deran surviving the finale, fans immediately began speculating about a potential spinoff series. While TNT has yet to confirm any plans for future series set in the Animal Kingdom universe, the network’s general manager Brett Weitz said in 2021 that he is open to the idea if the show’s creator Jonathan Lisco is on board.
“John knows how much we love him and love working with him,” Weitz told Deadline. In our jobs, you want to nudge the creators, you don’t want to force them into a decision. So, when he’s ready and he feels like there’s a natural evolution to that show or spinoff, not only is my door open, but there’s probably a slot on the air for him to do that. He could do no wrong in my books.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Scott Speedman as the actor who portrays Pope.
