Others may not have liked this episode as much because it didn't have exciting action scenes, no heists etc. but I loved the character development that we had in this episode. I will break it down by character:
Craig - Normally he is my least favorite brother because he is constantly messing up and his druggie nature is not that appealing to me, but I really liked the scenes with Smurf and with his surfer "buddies" as they showed us one of the rare times a Cody sees both the consequences of his actions and he realizes how much Smurf hid from her boys.
Pope - He is the most disfunctional of the brothers, yet I actually feel for him the most. I appreciated his scene with Billy which was both tense and funny, establishing that Billy really enjoys messing with Pope, did you see the face the incredibly immaculate Pope makes when Billy says that he's essentially going to bathe in the pool? I liked the scene where Pope confronts Mia showing once again why he is the scariest Cody of them all and the moment with Lena where he breaks down because he is trying to take care of her but he feels like he is failing. Pope has some really human moments in this episode that make me appreciate the complexity of his character.
Daren - I enjoyed the moments at the bar with Billy, especially when he casually says he's gay given how terrified he was to do that with his family. I also enjoyed his moment with Jay. This scene showed just how stymied the boys' growth was due to Smurf and showed that Daren might finally be accepting Jay. Daren has changed a lot over 2 seasons, but this episode shows how far he still has to go.
Nikki - I've never liked Nikki and I still don't, but I felt bad for this girl who feels so unloved and unwanted, even by her own father, which is why the ending when Jay hugs her you can tell she was craving that compassion.
Smurf - This episode didn't develop her character that much. It reaffirmed that Smurf is not someone you mess with and that she was and still is 10 steps ahead of everybody.
Jay - This episode reinforced how different he is from his uncles and why Smurf left him "in charge." She knew she could control him more than his uncles, but he is also smarter than them when it comes to the business. Jay is such a layered character that we don't really get to see much of his internal struggle.
Like I said, not a lot of action in this episode, but I really liked how it gave each character more depth, hence my high rating. Also, in response to the other review regarding the sex scene between Daren and another guy, I actually appreciate that Animal Kingdom is not afraid to go there. If it was rare for the show to have a sex scene, I could understand why someone would think it was "too much" but it's not rare and this scene was no more intense than any of the other sex scenes we've seen with Craig, Baz, Pope and Jay, so I really like that the producers are treating Daren the same as the other guys.
Pope - He is the most disfunctional of the brothers, yet I actually feel for him the most. I appreciated his scene with Billy which was both tense and funny, establishing that Billy really enjoys messing with Pope, did you see the face the incredibly immaculate Pope makes when Billy says that he's essentially going to bathe in the pool? I liked the scene where Pope confronts Mia showing once again why he is the scariest Cody of them all and the moment with Lena where he breaks down because he is trying to take care of her but he feels like he is failing. Pope has some really human moments in this episode that make me appreciate the complexity of his character.
Daren - I enjoyed the moments at the bar with Billy, especially when he casually says he's gay given how terrified he was to do that with his family. I also enjoyed his moment with Jay. This scene showed just how stymied the boys' growth was due to Smurf and showed that Daren might finally be accepting Jay. Daren has changed a lot over 2 seasons, but this episode shows how far he still has to go.
Nikki - I've never liked Nikki and I still don't, but I felt bad for this girl who feels so unloved and unwanted, even by her own father, which is why the ending when Jay hugs her you can tell she was craving that compassion.
Smurf - This episode didn't develop her character that much. It reaffirmed that Smurf is not someone you mess with and that she was and still is 10 steps ahead of everybody.
Jay - This episode reinforced how different he is from his uncles and why Smurf left him "in charge." She knew she could control him more than his uncles, but he is also smarter than them when it comes to the business. Jay is such a layered character that we don't really get to see much of his internal struggle.
Like I said, not a lot of action in this episode, but I really liked how it gave each character more depth, hence my high rating. Also, in response to the other review regarding the sex scene between Daren and another guy, I actually appreciate that Animal Kingdom is not afraid to go there. If it was rare for the show to have a sex scene, I could understand why someone would think it was "too much" but it's not rare and this scene was no more intense than any of the other sex scenes we've seen with Craig, Baz, Pope and Jay, so I really like that the producers are treating Daren the same as the other guys.
