The first season of TNT’s crime drama Animal Kingdom focuses on 17-year-old Joshua “J” Cody (Finn Cole) and how he adapts to living with his estranged criminal father after his mother dies from an overdose.
J quickly picks up the ropes. Over the five seasons, he has participated in his family’s heists and has proven he can keep pace with his grandmother, the matriarch of his family Smurf (Ellen Barkin), and his four uncles.
As he gets closer to his extended family, he also uncovers quite a few secrets, including that his uncle — and Smurf’s adopted son — Baz (Scott Speedman) is actually his father. Baz’s demise and betrayal lead to Smurf’s grooming of her grandson. She teaches him how to manage and run the criminal family’s criminal enterprise.
Smurf makes J second in command, as she, like Baz, knows that J is far smarter than his uncles.
Baz never had any involvement in J’s education, and until Smurf moved in, he did not even know he existed. Although J was never given guidance by his father, there is a crucial moment in Season 3 where viewers see that J follows in the footsteps of his father, which could prove fatal.
What will happen to J in the series finale? Read on to discover the fate of J.
Does J die on ‘Animal Kingdom’? Things haven’t been looking too good for him…
After Smurf passes the torch to J, he literally runs with it. In Animal Kingdom’s Season 3 finale, while Smurf is sleeping, J sneaks into her room and whispers in her ear, “I’m going to take it all, Smurf. Everything you have. Everything you’ve ever cared about. Everyone you’ve ever loved.”
This is the same thing Baz said about Smurf in Season 2. Baz told Lucy (Carolina Guerra) that he would “take away everything on this Earth that [Smurf] cares about.”
While Smurf was in prison, J pulls a similar move like his father; instead of stealing her cash, he decided to steal some of her properties, with his newly attained title as power of attorney.
Smurf finds out about J’s deception even after covering his track, including a crime. Smurf realized she couldn’t operate her business without him and could have him executed just as she did Baz.
Now with Smurf totally gone, J is still following a similar path to his father. He seeks to control, power, respect, and power. He could be the next Smurf. However, he seems to be taking the same path as his father.
J nearly drowned at the hands of Craig Cody (Ben Robson) in Episode 8.
That fight was a long time coming for J’s secretive ways, but it was pretty brutal, and for a minute, fans probably thought he was going to die.
While J survived that near-death incident, there might be some deadly consequences on Animal Kingdom for J if he tries to cross his uncles again.