TNT’s Animal Kingdom
6×10: “Clink”
Directed by Shaz Bennett
Written by Shukree Hassan Tilghman

* For a recap & review of 6×09, click here.
* For a recap & review of 6×11, click here.
Pope’s in a cell with someone who’ll be able to look out for him. The guy tells him: “Every man is his association.” But Pope is standoffish as usual, even if he’s been to prison before and knows the deal. At home, Craig and Deran chat about Renn moving to Texas with Nick. Craig’s not exactly enthusiastic about it. Deran packs up some things for Pope and Craig gives him money for Pope to use at the commissary. Things with the Cody family aren’t good right now. And in jail, Pope’s continuing to have a tough time making friends; just like on the outside.
Flashback to Janine putting her children to work for her, all the while she was taunting Julia over post-secondary education aspirations, like getting an education was against the grain of the family itself. It’s really no wonder that Julia ended up dead because with a mother like Smurf it was bound to happen in some way or another. Pope was still being weird around Julia when they were alone, incapable of reconciling all the different feelings for his sister.

The family has to deal with Pope’s legal issues. Problem is, Pope isn’t exactly cooperating with his own legal counsel. The lawyers mention Pope’s “mental health issues,” like a “documented history of being disconnected from reality.” They believe it might be useful in counteracting the supposed confession and plea from Pope. Another issue is that Amy’s involved, which is a surprise to the brothers and nephew, who had no idea about her. Lots of decisions for the Cody boys to make. When the boys are alone, J wonders if Pope might keep talking since he’s already apparently made a confession, however, Deran and Craig insist that their brother would never snitch on the family. Craig thinks they should break Pope out of prison: “We can‘t just leave him inside, man.” J says the real problems are Amy and Lena. Yikes! Craig and Deran don’t respond well to J’s comment. But they can at least dig into Amy somehow.
At the prison, Deran visits with Pope and insists there are friends inside. Pope says he doesn’t “need any friends.” He’d rather be left alone. Unfortunately, in prison, you need friends. Deran tells Pope they’re trying to get him out, yet big brother says he doesn’t want to get out. Pope’s resigned himself to whatever his fate will be now. He doesn’t want to go through a trial. He doesn’t care about having his confession tossed out. Neither does he want Amy nor Lena to go through a trial and have to testify in a court. Pope specifically doesn’t want Lena to see or hear about Catherine’s death. When Deran suggests they’re going to take care of Amy it makes Pope angry. Pope says that nothing can happen to either Lena or Amy. Plus, he tells Deran: “Don‘t come back.”

There’s another new job on the horizon with J working on details. But J’s also looking into Amy himself.
At the bar, Deran tells Craig about his visit with their brother. Their convo stops when Deran notices one of his boards gone and some other things taken/busted. Craig says this is people testing the Cody family “now that Pope‘s gone.” So, how will the Codys respond?
There’s also Craig continuing to stay off the wagon, resisting his pal Vince’s attempts to help him. That’s not good for him and it’s not good for the family, either. He even tries to drag Vince back down into addiction with him, tempting Vince with a baggie of coke. That won’t work on Vince, thankfully. Meanwhile, Deran goes at Tommy, asking if he’s the one who stole the board. Tommy mentions people talking about Pope, as well as the fact Adrian’s been gone and Catherine’s murder. “People are angry,” Tommy says. In prison, Pope’s got a watchful eye hovering over him, but that doesn’t sit right with him. He runs his protectors off to get some peace and quiet, and as soon as that happens he’s ambushed in the yard and shanked in the stomach. The news quickly gets to Deran that Pope’s okay, though. This sends Deran to go to see the Trujillos, and J goes to see Finnigan, the nephew of Pope’s cellmate.

Flashback to Janine visiting Baz at the house near the beach. She finds Baz having himself a good time, and Smurf loves a good party. She was just happy to see Baz with girls that weren’t Julia. She had no problem facilitating young people’s access to booze and drugs. At the same time, Julia and Pope were off doing work together and awkwardly talking. Julia tried to talk to her brother about the girl at the pool and his “first time,” but it didn’t go very far. Although after a little while, they went back to talking normally again. Julia tried to make it clear: “It‘s always you and me.” She didn’t want anything to change her relationship with him. We also see that Julia was taking a little cut of Smurf’s money for herself whenever she could manage it.
Vince and Craig go to a house where there’s a boxing ring in the backyard. Vince wants to help teach his friend there are better ways to fight personal demons than just struggling with anger and other bad emotions. They’re going to get into the ring together and fight. Craig talks and walks a good game, but Vince is no slouch, either. Both men pull no punches on each other. Soon, Vince is giving Craig a proper beating, though Craig continues to fight back, and he fights a little dirty, too. Craig doesn’t stop punching when Vince is down, so people have to jump in. Nothing can reach Craig at the moment. At least Vince can say he tried. “I am the bottom,” Craig says; he’s beyond the rock. And Vince warns him that “dying‘s the only thing at the end of that path.”
When J meets Finnigan the latter insists his people did everything they could, but it’s like Pope “wants to die.” Then we see J make a deal with Finnigan; “a more permanent one.” This is off the family books.

Deran goes to the Trujillos, who aren’t thrilled over the problems between their families and who were connected to Pope’s stabbing. He talks with Tina and it’s a tense conversation. She says there’s no price for respect, and after what Pope did there’s not much talking to be done. She knows the Codys have become a weakened family. People are already beginning to pick away at the family’s bones. No deal to be made with the Trujillos these days. Back at the house, Craig returns with his new wounds, and Deran tells him about Pope being stabbed. They talk about the crumbling family strength and how all the other criminals out on the streets see them as vulnerable. Deran suggests maybe it’s time Craig go join Renn and baby Nick in Texas. Maybe they all need to find a new place to go.

In prison, Pope starts a fight, so he’s taken to be forcefully medicated. He chooses to willingly take the drugs, else it be given to him anally with a suppository. But medicated Pope is a much different person, and he doesn’t like being that guy. Back at home, J insists they have time to change Pope’s mind, however, he also has info on where they’re keeping Amy. Deran doesn’t want to do anything to Amy, and Craig thinks they need to break Pope out of prison. Either option is a tough one. “It‘s not impossible,” says Deran. If they can find “a weakness,” they’ll be able to do it. But it also means running forever. J sees it as easy to replace Pope and keep doing what they do. Like Smurf says in the flashback, Craig repeats in the present: “It‘s a family business.” Can the Codys stick together long enough to accomplish such an impossible feat as busting Pope out of prison?