TNT’s crime drama,Animal Kingdom,has drawn to a close following its six-season run. The crime drama debuted on TNT in 2016, equipped with a cast comprised of Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary, and Finn Cole. For a number of seasons, viewers joined these characters on countless intense adventures and gut-wrenching events. Despite what these characters brought to the series over the years, there is one member of the Cody family that’s influence has been largely overlooked.
Despite a late introduction toAnimal Kingdom,Julia Cody is one of the series' most significant characters. Asone of the few focal womenfeatured in the series, Julia is already a member of a very elite group. As a member of the Cody family, Julia’s influence withinAnimal Kingdomgrows exponentially. Even with a limited physical role throughoutAnimal Kingdom,Julia is undoubtedly one of the series' most overlooked stars.
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Julia’s introduction toAnimal Kingdomis only for a brief, fleeting moment. Despite never being met as an adult, Julia’s childhood and teenage years are central to the series. Her overdose leaves J (Cole) without a place to go, forcing him to call upon his estranged grandmother Janine, more commonly called Smurf (Barkin). By moving in with Smurf, J is introduced to his uncles: Baz (Speedman), Pope (Hatosy), Craig (Robson), and Deran (Weary), and their life of crime. This lifestyle is one thatJulia desperately tried to keep him away fromand flashbacks that depict Julia as a child show exactly why this is.
As a child, Julia was reluctant to partake in the thieving Smurf tried to instill upon her and Pope. As Julia aged, Smurf became threatened by Julia and her influence. Like J, Julia was incredibly smart and could have gone on to do well in school if Smurf hadn’t lied about her suspension and persuaded her away from school. Julia’s bond with Popeand romantic relationship with Baz,created a stronger hold on them that Smurf was intimidated by. Noticing how Pope and Baz responded to Julia, Smurf worried that Julia could break up the strong familial business she was working so hard to build. Logically, Smurf may also have been concerned that Julia’s influence would soon reach Craig and Deran.
ThroughoutAnimal Kingdom,Pope was frequently viewed as the outsider amongst his family. In the crime drama’s final season,Animal Kingdomproposes that Julia was the actual odd one out.AsAnimal Kingdomproved time and time again,Pope was often left behind by the rest of his family. Julia is no exception, having been manipulated and abandoned by each member of the Cody clan at least once. When given the opportunity, Baz loses his feelings for her and refuses to help her during a time of need. Pope tries to help but ultimately causes more harm. Smurf purposely abstains from helping Julia and willingly lies to her in an effort to keep her close.
Smurf’s awareness of the dangers that Julia’s presence proposed not only for her business but her connection with her sons, creates a form of tense jealousy between the two. There are several instances throughoutAnimal Kingdomthat craft their rigid relationship, but none best exemplify it quite like the series finale.InAnimal Kingdom’sseries finale,Julia is locked inside her family’s home after returning to steal some of their belongings to sell. Here, she is treated like an outsider by her family, especially given her pregnancy. In her final scene, Julia begs Pope to leave Smurf and the Codys behind to come away with her, only to be abandoned by him one final time.
Without Julia, the complexity of Pope’s character wouldn’t exist. Julia is arguably the onlyAnimal Kingdomcharacter aside from Deran, that genuinely cared about Pope’s well-being. She routinely tried to pry Pope away from Smurf and ask him to make his own choices, even though it was rarely successful. Caught between the two, Pope frequently tried to appease both Julia and Smurf, which takes a hefty toll on his character that isexplored extensively inAnimal Kingdom’sfinal season. In fact, the guilt that Pope feels about his decisions in regard to Smurf and Julia is what drives most of his actions not only inAnimal Kingdom’sfinal season but throughout the entire series.
It’s not often that a character with as little screen time as Julia becomes such a significant part of its respective series. However, both Scarlett Abinante and Jasper Polish make their recurring stints as Julia in seasons 5 and 6 count. It is through their performances thatAnimal Kingdomis able to create the tension between Julia and Smurf that crafted the environment J weasels his way intoat the very start of the series. For what first seems like an incidental death that will mean very little in the larger scheme of things,Animal Kingdommakes Julia a colossal addition to the narrative and its characters.
