TV Review: ANIMAL KINGDOM: Season 6, Episode 12: Exodus [TNT]

Animal Kingdom Exodus Review

TNT‘s Animal Kingdom: Season 6, Episode 12: Exodus TV show review. In Exodus, the Cody clan gathered all the pieces for a hasty exit from their criminal enterprise. Even as they worked together to organize an escape, their individual paths were clearly marked. Of course, in planning his own exodus, J (Finn Cole) was a step ahead of everyone.

Clearly, J graduated from the Smurf School of Manipulation with honors. With a chilling mix of lust and fear, he wrapped Penny (Stevie Lynn Jones) around his finger. He convinced his girlfriend to risk her freedom on a felony to assist in his plan to screw over his uncles. Obviously, J has been about the long game from the start. Also, Deran (Jake Weary) never fully trusted J, but It amazes me that he would drop his guard here. Where is Deran’s usual pesky skepticism? J’s recent machinations are only proving his ilk. He is a liar and a thief, and never for the family that betrayed his mother. Since Season 1, J’s agenda was clear: use them, burn them, squirrel away and get away, and it appears this sort of thinking is in his blood.

Flashbacks

The flashbacks in Exodus began to form the true picture of the Cody clan as we know them. Julia (Jasper Polish), Baz (Darren Mann) and Young Pope (Kevin Csolak) each felt the full effects of Janine’s (Leila George) favor and disdain. Julia got caught skimming and Janine seized the opportunity to reshape the family structure.

If there was a doubt about Smurf’s incestuous undercurrent in affection, Exodus cast that doubt away. “She likes him like that”. Julia said it out loud, which meant that Baz and everyone were just willfully blind after that. Janine was a predator, but the things is, only her daughter would or could challenge Janine on her behavior. Smurf, the “matriarch” we saw later, had to make sure that there was only one woman in her boys’ lives. Julia’s theft simply justified Janine to oust her without looking like the jealous wolf mother afraid to compete with her own daughter for affection.

Best-Laid Plans

Pope (Shawn Hatosy) loved his sister. We know that Julia haunts Pope’s memory, but in Exodus, we began to see the direct connection to the deep well of emotion belied by his icy exterior. When he was young, Pope seemed like an exposed nerve – tender. His thoughts in prison continue to dwell on Julia’s fate, and also on not being “tough enough” to save her. Things are different now. He is arguably the toughest of them all.

Except, something was off. Pope was unusually talkative. In acquiring his transfer, the confessions seemed to bubble up to the surface. The incredible level of detail he was willing to give of his deeds was disturbing, even foreboding. It seems his incarceration has made him more than the usual numb, but rather reckless. He got the transfer but what is it really going to cost? Since Deran and Craig (Ben Robson) are not paying enough attention to detail, Craig’s planning weddings, nothing about this escape plan feels solid.

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