TNT’s Animal Kingdom
5×13: “Launch”
Directed by Nick Copus
Written by Daniel Nathanson

* For a recap & review of 5×12, click here.
* For a recap & review of the Season 6 premiere, click here.
We see young Janine slipping quietly into the house that she makes her own, the one that used to belong to Max. “Brass in Pocket” plays over this scene briefly as we see Janine making herself quite at home. In current day, Deran’s got Blaise and one of his pals working for him, setting them up with burner phones to get things done. Elsewhere, Craig and Frankie are getting prepared for their latest job, and she’s trying to help him detox from the drugs. He looks like he’s turning a corner, albeit not completely just yet. She’s mostly worried about the big job not going well.
More flashbacks of Janine trying to go big or go home with more jobs, and Jake was trying to tell her that wouldn’t be good. She was already seeing herself as “the Queen of Oceanside,” not thinking of all the other criminals who might take offence. Then there was the cops, bringing little Pope and Julia home after the former was shoplifting. This started her paying relationship with the cops, too. Jake realised Janine was sending the kids out to lift wallets, teaching them the family trade. And that just made Smurf push him away more. But again, we see more of Janine warping her children, plus she blamed Julia for not getting any credit cards or cash or anything else that day. What a horrible person.

Pope continues to be haunted by the memory of Julia, noticing his nephew put a picture of her up in his room. J says he wanted to do it earlier but Smurf would’ve just taken it done. Soon, the lads are all back together at the house, along with Frankie, and they’re gearing up for their robbery. They get moving and head out with everyone dressed for the part.
At the dock, Deran has a boat marked Leary Bros, a cleaning service. Pope, J, and Craig are locked inside a paper products truck where Frankie puts a shipping tag on the back, and they wait until someone comes to drive it away, while Frankie and Deran coordinate via text. The truck heads to the security gate, getting checked over thoroughly, and passes through without any trouble. When the driver checks the back the uncles haul him inside and J locks them in again, taking the wheel to drive the truck further into the shipping yard. They locate a sea can, then Craig and Pope take crates inside with them and J shuts them in while heading back to the truck. The uncles get working to cut through the container and into the one directly behind it, where the safe they’re searching for is located.

The Wizard himself on site and in the office while Deran and Pope make their way into the sea can containing the safe. On the water, Blaise and his boys are riding jet skis, a bit earlier than anticipated, though they’re definitely distracting the cops. So Deran moves his boat up to the pickup point. Craig’s rushing to get the safe open, but a forklift operator happens to notice all the billowing smoke from the sea can, and J makes a quick move to slam his truck into the forklift as a distraction. Craig and Pope get into the safe, quickly piling their bags full of cash. Outside, J’s drawn the attention of the Wizard, too. The Wizard goes to have a look at the sea can and the uncles knock him over, making a run for it. J nearly gets caught and shot, making a run for it as the Wizard shoots at him, which further gets the attention of the cops on the ocean nearby.
Craig and Pope get to the boat, and they head for the dock’s opposite side where J jumps into the water, picked up by his uncles. Yet the Wizard’s gotten a good look at the Cody family, yelling at them: “You‘re dead!” Plus there’s the ocean cops giving the boys chase under the pier, where the Codys end up in a game of chicken with them. The boys make it behind a barge, where they bleach the boat and ditch it, using scuba gear to escape below the surface. Craig keeps the motor running, sending the boat out to sea with the cops following.
The Codys have made away with $1.2-million from their latest haul. Frankie takes her cut, telling the boys “Smurf would be proud” of them all working together in harmony. Pope wants to keep up tradition, even if mom’s gone, and have family dinner after the heist. Everyone is feeling good and happy, though, if Animal Kingdom was taught us anything, happiness does not last long if you’re a Cody.
Another flashback shows Janine moving into the house where she’d live the rest of her life. Julia wasn’t so thrilled, though eventually gave into the pool, along with little Pope. Things were wonderful, for a time. Nowadays, the Codys are still in that house, still stealing, still making all the same bad moves and the all the worst mistakes.

Deran goes back to the bar so he can get things ready to reopen. He gives his main employee Tommy a wad of cash for “sticking around” through all the ridiculousness, but he’s also bringing Tommy a bit more into the dirty business fold to launder money through the bar, even if he’s not spelling it out. At the same time, Pope and J are going to pay Pete another visit, and they’re bringing guns. Oh, shit. Pete’s not excited to see any Codys, but he’s willing to talk. Pope quickly attacks Pete, stabbing him in the eye with a pair of pliers, making clear they’ll get their share of the money or Pete will continue to lose “pieces” of himself “until there‘s nothing left.”
At home, Deran and Craig are shocked by bloody-handed Pope returning. J tells them about the eye, which only shocks the brothers more. This is just causing more trouble. They haven’t even experienced fallout from their latest job, which you can bet will happen, and it won’t be pretty.

Flashback to Janine telling her kids she was having another child; Deran was on the way. We also see her introducing little Julia to addiction, getting her on the booze to help her sleep. Current day, J and Deran have a plan they’re explaining to Craig and Pope. They want to sell Smurf’s apartments and put the money into new businesses, helping them launder even more money. They’ve also got the bar now, and J’s bowling alley. New horizons, a family reunited instead of falling apart as they were at the beginning of Season 5. They even do Smurf’s toast before a drink. Janine’s legacy continues to warp them. They’re never going to give up this life.
In the desert, detectives have dug up the body of a young woman.
Remember Catherine? Holy shit. Pope has more troubling coming for him.