Is Ellen Barkin leaving Animal Kingdom? Season 4 episode 2 review
In the closing minutes of this installment, we had a chance to see Smurf collapse soon after Pope told her some rather surprising news — Angela is going to be staying with them within the family home! Well, the idea of this is certainly enough to make someone like Smurf want to pass out, but we do still have questions as to the how and the why of it. Did something happen to Smurf along the way in this episode? Was she poisoned or hurt? These are certainly some things to think about at the moment, and we found herself trying to re-watch some specific moments to see what exactly was going on. Or, if there was something here that inspired it.
For now, it’s hard to read it as anything more than just Smurf collapsing, but we certainly know that there are some people who would want to go after her to some degree. Take, for example, J, who wants to get himself out of Smurf’s control. He recognizes that she is running the show for him, and we know that J is not exactly a big fan of that. He wants to do what he wants, and he wants to do it on his own terms as a power player. That means not factoring in Smurf if at all possible to some of his transactions and jobs.
Another reason why Jay could clearly be out to hurt her has a little bit of something to do with the constant scheming. Earlier on in the episode, J found himself interrogated by a detective over what happened to Morgan, and also the fact that he was apparently close by at the time in which she was killed. This was enough to rattle J, and that led to a conversation between him and Smurf where she offered to try to help him make the problem go away. She did just that, but what J (potentially) didn’t realize is that Smurf is the person responsible for the problem being there in the first place. This was all a setup on her part to make sure that J didn’t drift too far from who breads his butter and she continued to have some sort of power over him. This is one of the reasons why Smurf is brilliant. After all, she is a survivor and she always finds a way to make the next move before someone else possibly can.
If there is a reason to think that Smurf could actually die, and Ellen Barkin could actually leave the show, it has a little bit of something to do with all the flashbacks we’ve been getting as of late. Why are we getting to see so much of Smurf’s pass all of a sudden? It’s possible that whatever is happening to her is tied somehow to that, and this is going to be something that we see and explore a little bit more as the season goes along. For the time being, it’s just too early to really say anything for sure. We need some more evidence, but our radar for possible theories is, at this point, through the roof. (Another one is that Smurf intentionally collapsed to get attention to herself, and try to make it seem like she is not exactly fitting of company at the moment.)
One easy conclusion to draw: Maybe Smurf just took too much oxy.
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As for what else is going on…
It’s pretty clear that Craig wants to move forward with a new job at the behest of Frankie. But, it’s also clear that everyone else should be a little bit nervous about the idea of working with her. She’s just got one of those faces where it’s almost impossible to know what she’s thinking, and all of a sudden, she wants to rope all of the Cody’s into the equation.
Meanwhile, Adrian is continuing his own undercover operation as a snitch for the cops, one that’s going to eventually make Deran very nervous. After all, Adrian did give up his name in the investigation! It’s not something that seems like it’s going to put Deran in big trouble right now, but you can’t really rule out anything down the road.
Getting back now to our good pal Pope, he did end up spending a good bit of time with Angela near the closing minutes of the episode. Smurf tried to send her away, but Pope was going to let her in and offer her a couch to sleep on for a little while. She was recently out of prison after being there for years on a breaking-and-entering charge, and it’s pretty sure that she’s bad news. However, she doesn’t want to look like she’s necessarily bad. Take, for example, using the money Smurf gave her earlier on in the episode for “pizza” at the end.
CarterMatt Verdict
If you love Animal Kingdom, this episode certainly brought almost everything that makes this so great. You had another strong character-focus story, but also beyond that just some fascinating questions to ask from here on out. Meanwhile, the Smurf cliffhanger is absolutely one that should leave people shouting for a little while. (For the record, if Ellen Barkin does leave, we don’t think it’s going to be so soon.)
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Then all you have to do is visit the link here, since that’s where you can get some more details for what’s coming up. The synopis does give away a little bit when it comes to the Smurfs storyline. (Photo: TNT.)