I’ll do my best to cover recaps for all the Animal Kingdom episodes. But Summer is crazy in my house with guests and vacations. I normally keep these light hearted, but the first few episodes have been intense, so no snark this week.
*The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Season Three opener of Animal Kingdom.
Where is everyone at the beginning of Season Three? Smurf, is in the same place as the end of Season Two – jail. Baz is where he was left in Season Two – the emergency room with a chest full of bullets. Craig is in Mexico with Renn, doing what Craig always does – partying. Josh, is running the business without any help. Pope is taking care of Lena, like he always does. And Daren is running his bar.
My Favorite Moments & the Only Spoiler that Matters:
Time of death 6:36am
In a bloody hospital scene, doctors try to save Baz to no avail. Baz is dead. Doctors don’t attempt any measures after flat line. No one is screaming for doctors to do more, to save him. They unceremoniously announce time of death, pull off their gloves and walk out. In a stark contrast to always having family around or someone to call for help, Baz dies alone in the ER. File him away with all the other faceless criminals, dead from gun violence.
I’m not going to lie. Baz is the only character I didn’t like. That’s saying something considering Pope killed his only love, and Smurf is a horrible, manipulative, vindictive mother. But I care about Baz’s death because Baz’s death impact’s everyone else.
Pope
Pope is the first to learn of the death. The police arrive the morning. Pope assumes they‘re responding to a complaint about another one of Nicki’s parties. This is where the incredible directing and editing starts. The cop’s voice fades into the background as the truth sinks in.
Every element in this episodes works. This season, or at least the first few episodes are going to be a slow burn. Pope tracks down Josh on a run and tells him of the death. Neither Pope or Josh seem to care about Baz’s death except that it may be the first of many revenge killings.
Daren is pulled into the loop. He seems more in shock until the reality of making funeral plans are discussed. Pope automatically starts to place blame. Javier’s crew is the first suspect, then Lucy. Pope is hell bent on preventing any more attacks on the family. He’s planning for an attack on Javier’s crew.
Later on, Pope tells Lena that her dad had to take a trip. Lena probably won’t miss her dad much, she’s used to him not being around. Pope promises Lena that she can stay in her house and her room.
Lucy confesses that she was there but couldn’t stay when the police arrived. She says she can’t believe Baz is dead and Lena hears. Unless there is a major twist, I pin Baz’s death on Lucy and her crazy brother. She was the only one who knew where Baz hid all of Smurf’s stolen assets.
Here’s one last thing on Pope. After saying that he saw more of Ben Robson’s butt than his own wife’s in Season One, viewers were treated to a view of Shawn Hatosy’s bum this time!
Smurf
Smurf breaks down when she learns of Baz’s death.
The DA wastes no time working over Smurf. The DA wants her to rat out her sons for various crimes, including putting Pope away for murder for life.
In addition to dealing with the DA, Smurf is being shaken down in prison by an unknown force. They already checked on Baz’s house and found all the items that Baz stole from Smurf had already gone missing.
Josh visits Smurf in prison. She reiterates that Baz was Josh’s dad. She is still sticking to that story, but I think Josh is skeptical. Smurf asks Josh if he knows where Baz put all the stolen items. I wonder what he thinks of this family now, with his grandmother’s first concern being her stolen inventory.
Craig
After insulting the entire Spanish speaking world with his language skills, Renn forces Craig to leave a party. (Seriously Craig, how can you not know Spanish yet!) Craig’s phone finally rings as they drive into range and he gets word of the death. He immediately comes home.
Craig being the big softy in the family, this is the first time I felt any real loss for Baz.
Ok, here’s one small moment of levity. You have to love three big baby criminals, hugging each other, all with guns in their back pockets!
Funeral
Craig tells Daren things are too heavy in Ocean Side, he’s going to head back to Mexico. He still wants to make something on his own. Daren doesn’t try to stop him. Baz’s body is still in the morgue awaiting an autopsy, but the gang hold a memorial for him at sea.
Josh gave money to the guy who told Smurf that her missing merchandise was not at Baz’s house. Who are they? How long will it take Smurf to get out of jail and fix all this? Will she roll over on her sons? And will Craig make it back from Mexico? Tune in next week to find out!
Picture Source: TNT & Animal Kingdom & Eddy Chen
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