Animal Kingdom Season 4, Episode 3 recap: A fatal illness is diagnosed

In the third episode of Animal Kingdom Season 4, Smurf weighs the pros and cons of early death as the boys gear up for a risky job.

Ever wonder how Smurf was going to be taken out in Animal Kingdom? Did you assume she’d outlive her boys and die with the cockroaches in the aftermath of the Apocalypse? Well, that’s not happening.

I already assumed the reason for the sudden Smurf backstory was because she was going to possibly die this season, but now that theory’s been somewhat confirmed with her fatal skin cancer diagnosis and it’s a big risk on the show’s part. Either Season 5 is already a go and they’re planning some major post-Smurf stories, or they’re ending Animal Kingdom after this season. Can’t see Smurf on bedrest if they get another season.

Young Smurf

As mentioned above, these flashbacks are giving us a chance to see Smurf before she became the matriarch of the Cody family, an introduction to the beginning before it comes to an end. Most of the flashbacks revolve around her relationship with Colin, who comes off as her ideal mate.

They’re crazy separate and crazy together. Around him, Smurf could almost be mistaken for a lovestruck girl. In Colin, she’s found an equal.

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While laying out by the pool together, Smurf admits her fears of living past her prime to old age, comparing herself to a lioness at the San Diego Zoo that’s lived 10 years past their average lifespan and has to be fed chopped meat because she lost her teeth. Smurf doesn’t want to die old and frail with a pair of dentures in a glass beside her bed.

Colin, however, proves her wrong by literally giving her a reason to appreciate the living. He points a gun and fires, purposely giving her a near-death experience that confirms through her shocked relief that she does want to live, not die before 30 the way she claimed. The whole thing was a loose translation of- life is temporary, don’t carelessly waste it for pride.

Pope and Angela want a change

After the apparent suicide attempt with the cops, Craig and Deran agree that Pope shouldn’t be on the job with Frankie, but Craig is still worried about their brother and asks Deran to give him a job at the bar.

It’s about time Craig let his intelligence peek through that drug cloud it’s been buried under for 30 years. Pope is obsessive-compulsive and Craig wisely suggests hygiene maintenance around the bar, especially after the Health Department gave The Drop a “B” on their latest inspection. So, Pope becomes Mr. Clean and is outraged over the shriveled mouse he finds in the deep fryer, which isn’t important to the plot but I just wanted to include my favorite Pope moment of the week.

Outside of his new job, Pope spends most of his time with Angela, the woman of memories. More than half of her lines include the word, “remember”, remember when Julia did this? Remember when Julia said that? Angela may be here to honor Julia’s memory, but J has a different take on the woman who he sees as nothing but a lying junkie who ripped off his mother.

That being said, Pope sees a likeness in Angela that he shares, a desire to change. The childhood friends’ bond over their damaged souls, ending the episode curled up in bed together (not sexually) enveloped in shared comfort.

The job

In case anyone was wondering if that sculpture worth 800k to steal was worth it, it’s not. It looks like someone sliced a yule log cake and carelessly re-aligned them. On top of being incredibly overpriced, it’s larger than a school bus and takes up an entire room. They have no idea how to move it or even get it out of the building.

Frankie tells Craig to solve the problem like a puzzle and that’s exactly what he does. He breaks in the building and tags the sculpture, along with a bunch of other stuff, with chalk paint, knowing the owner will have it moved the following day. Sure enough, Craig’s newfound genius pays off again and the sculpture is scheduled to be moved, eliminating half of their workload so they can just hijack the moving truck and drive away. Easy peasy.

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Mia is still a hit-woman

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Mia was the one that shot Baz, but apparently, she’s still doing hits. She shoots Tupi’s cousin, Lencho, in front of his grandmother’s house because apparently their gang leader Pete Trujillo ordered it. This fact is never outright stated but it’s heavily implied.

Mia shoots Lencho in front of J, who is shocked. I don’t like Mia that much but there’s a brilliant moment where she puts J in his place by giving him a much-needed reality check, nudging him off his high-horse a notch. Their relationship is a two-way street, she does stuff for him and he has to do stuff for her, she’s done running errands for him like an employed wife.

Smurf’s diagnosis

Smurf is reeling. Death is closing in and she isn’t ready. After a stressful visit to the doctor, a visit she knows led to negative results, she drops by the harbor to buy a fish a man just caught for $100. Instead of killing it or throwing it back in the ocean, she has it placed on the pier and watches it struggle for breath. A sad power attempt to remind herself of who’s in charge.

In the end, she learns that she has melanoma and its spread to her lymph nodes and bones, meaning she’s had it for a while. Still holding the phone in her hand, Smurf looks over at her unsuspecting boys with an expression that almost looks like love. It’s too late to start being a good mom, Janine.

Don’t miss the next episode of Animal Kingdom on Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. EST on TNT.