What’s confirmed to happen in Animal Kingdom Season 5 so far?

Everything to know about the upcoming season of the TNT crime drama, Animal Kingdom.

After another long hiatus, Animal Kingdom Season 5 is almost here. Each season typically premieres near the end of May and in case you haven’t noticed, May is just around the corner. The last season of the crime drama featured the Queen of Oceanside herself, Smurf Cody finally meeting her demise at the hands of her grandson. After getting diagnosed with cancer, Smurf (Ellen Barkin) decided to end her life on her own terms and went out with a bang, begging someone to put her out of her misery.

J (Finn Cole) had been the one to pull the trigger, keeping the promise that he made. The season ended with the Cody’s briefly mourning her death before frantically reasserting their dominance over Oceanside. A decision strongly influenced by family friend Angela (Emily Deschanel).

For most fans, Smurf’s death wasn’t unexpected. The series had been building towards a future without her for some time but with that comes the unavoidable question of power. Smurf is the only reason why they were able to rule their little town. Without her, they’ll collapse, and everyone knows it. I’m guessing this will be a large part of Season 5. Power dynamics both in and outside the family.

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They’ll be on their own without guidance for the very first time and for them, a family conditioned to completely rely on one person, moving on will not be easy and it will be a slow process.

Behind-the-scene photos taken by the cast show Jake Weary (Deran) and Ben Robson (Craig) with the same facial cuts from Season 4 (from the ambulance crash), so the story will likely be picking up right where it left off. This means, there’ll be no time jump to help the characters cope with their loss.

Big with the flashbacks

Just because they killed her off doesn’t mean Animal Kingdom will ever let go of the rotting corpse. Smurf will be just as present in Season 5 as she was in the previous seasons, but it’ll all be set in the past. The upcoming season of Animal Kingdom will transition ever further into prequel territory while simultaneously keeping up with the present timeline.

In Season 4, we were introduced to a series of flashbacks meant to reveal important moments from Smurf’s past. I originally assumed they were part of a goodbye to the character, but they are here to stay, possibly making a full circle until the past meets up with the present. The actress who played young Smurf, Leila George is confirmed to return for Season 5, and joining her will be child actors Scarlett Abinante and Houston Towe who are set to play the young versions of Pope (Shawn Hatosy) and Julia. According to TVLine, the same way that Season 4 revealed the “creation” of Smurf, this season will explore the beginnings of Pope’s madness and Julia’s addiction.

"“[Pope] has a darkness that his mother seeks to manipulate instead of control, while Julia is already developing a taste for alcohol, thanks to their mother.”"

Maybe we’ll finally learn how they got the name “Pope” from Andrew. It’s also been confirmed that Rigo Sanchez, the actor who played young Manny will be returning as a series regular. The dynamics between them, Janine, Manny, and Jake (Jon Beavers) will be shifting as Janine decides that she wants to operate out of a little town called Oceanside.

Possible closure for Deran and Adrian (possible)

Last season, saw Deran and Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark) facing what seemed to be the end of their relationship. After a series of unfortunate, and violent events, Adrian ended up fleeing the country to escape prison time. The couple ended things on a pier where after a few tears, admitted their love for one another and ultimately parted ways. I’m not going to attempt to guess where the future will lead them because romance has never been a priority on Animal Kingdom, however, Adrian’s departure opens for a possible return.

David DeSantos who played Agent Livengood in Season 4 recently made a post on Instagram implying that he’ll be returning in a recurring role. Since Livengood was tied directly to Adrian and his drug charge, his reappearance could mean Adrian might be returning as well.

Either way, Jake Weary implied through a social media post that he will be having at least one sex scene this season. He posted a picture of a genital guard, something wore by actors when they film a nude scene. It could be a reunion or Deran engaging in casual flings to help him move on or just him walking around in the nude.

Animal Kingdom Season 5 will most likely return in late May.