TV Review: ANIMAL KINGDOM: Season 2, Episode 5: Forgive Us Our Trespasses [TNT]

Animal Kingdom Forgive Us Our Trespasses Review

TNT’s Animal Kingdom, Season 2, Episode 5, Forgive Us Our Trespasses broke us into a new Cody regime. Baz (Scott Speedman) pulled off a complicated job with a determined group of brothers that did not include Craig (Ben Robson). Meanwhile, Smurf (Ellen Barkin) had a forced face-to-face with her new nemesis.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses boasted a genius Church job. Baz really had a solid plan. You would think it would be easier to orchestrate smash and grabs for the fast cash this family requires. Instead, this season shows that the family can execute intricate jobs when they remain focused on the details. J (Finn Cole) pried his way into the group with relative ease. Maybe he really does want to learn, or not to be a liability. The more he learns, the more he can use against any one of them, urban warfare skills included. If Baz is smart, he will continue to be skeptical of J.

J has now endeared both Smurf and Baz to him with two acts of lunacy and courage. They both trust him because he has skin in the game. Yes, real skin was peeled off in his effort to show his commitment to the Cody clan. While the job was successful, there were a gazillion hiccups along the way that will undoubtedly come back to haunt them. One of those hiccups being Craig!

What is wrong with Craig? He is  purposeless. He is obviously not content with being the muscle of the group. But my question is why not? Baz is tactical. J is creative. Deran (Jake Weary) is ambitious. Being the tough one is just as essential to any unit. Pope (Shawn Hatosy) has crazy and unpredictable covered, but Craig aimed to snatch that badge in Forgive Us Our Trespasses. His recklessness almost cost them the job, and will most certainly come back to bite them because that skirmish in the parking lot was not for nothing. Now, Craig is homeless, broke, intoxicated, and arrested, while the other brothers enjoy in their booty.

Speaking of which…the love scene between Pope and Amy (Jennifer Landon) was definitely as Amy put it, “special”. Of course, Pope is no ordinary person, so his love would not be ordinary. He was imprisoned for a major part of his young life. So, the moment felt teenage and insecure. The scene was tender, almost chaste, but mostly awkward. It was made more awkward due to our knowledge that Pope was violating Amy’s trust and her faith. Perhaps that was the point of the weirdness.

Maybe we are not supposed to feel comfortable with this relationship at any moment.  Laura Innes directed Forgive Us Our Trespasses, and Emmy Rossum Broken Boards, two episodes that captured the unsettling feeling of this conflicted romance that Pope is pursuing with a woman who is neither Smurf nor Catherine. Also, both directors tackled the awkward, and difficult to stomach situations, like robbing a church, coming out to your parents, or this special sex scene that evoked every feeling besides romance (and I’ve seen He Got Game). Everything is upsetting because all the pieces are being reset.

Smurf was dealing with her own issue in Forgive Us Our Trespasses. Javier, played by Alex Meraz, seems determined to put Smurf in her place, whether that be on her knees begging or in the ground rotting. We watched the perpetually pouty and the perpetually angry face off in the wilderness. A fitting place for the exchange given Javier is prone to savage violence. Smurf only showed a bit a fear, and that was clearly enough for Javier to know he could demand anything. If we know Smurf, there is no way she will relinquish any control to Javier. As far as she is concerned, her debt died.

Javier and the tapes are the new “ticking time bomb” in her life. So, when will Smurf admit she needs help and ask the boys to assist her with this threat. When she called this time, no one answered. That had to hurt. J has become her only shield, and Smurf is certainly training him up that way. Can a teenager handle a group of practiced thugs? Forgive Us Our Trespasses showed that, even while fractured, the Cody family can accomplish massive feats, but one Cody all alone can not handle the boogeyman or feeling discarded. Javier claims he was discarded. Look what he has become.

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