The premiere of season two of TNT’s Animal Kingdom is now less than a week away. Next Tuesday, May 30th, will see the Cody family return to the small screen for another Summer of high stakes action. With a new year comes plenty of new storylines. However, there are still plenty of loose ends remaining from season one.
One of the biggest arcs left open revolves around the death of Baz’s girlfriend Catherine. It was the show’s resident creepy guy, Andrew “Pope” Cody that was the one who killed her. He went to Baz’s home when he knew he would be out on “work”. After making her feel scared, Catherine felt her best bet was to make Pope feel wanted.
It was evident throughout the entire first season that Pope had a thing for Catherine for quite some time. So when she was willing to have sex with him, he surely was not going to pass up the opportunity. But he also knew he was there for another reason. So in true Pope fashion, he would place a pillow over her face to suffocate his “brother’s” girlfriend.
All of this went down in episode nine. So in episode ten, the season finale, Smurf led Baz to believe that it was Vin, Pope’s former cellmate, who took out Catherine. Pope and Baz would then head out to rough up Vin. But Baz would need to leave before the job was finished. As a result, Pope would finish the job by leaving Vin beaten but breathing at a hospital.
But that’s not what Baz believes happened. He is under the assumption that Andrew took out Vin for good. But Pope knew it was not really his former cellmate, so there was no real reason to kill him. This had fans asking, when will Baz learn the truth of what really happened?
At some point, the truth needs to come to the light. It will likely start with Baz learning that Vin is still breathing. That will be followed by him asking Pope why he did not finish the job. Eventually, it will come to light that it was truly the eldest Cody brother that took out the mother of Baz’s child. Oh, and let’s not forget that little tidbit of Pope and Catherine having some adult fun. That part of the truth will likely come out too.
But season two simply is not the right time. For starters, once that piece of information comes to light, either Baz or Pope is likely to bite the dust. Baz will be so outraged by this news, he will certainly look to kill Pope. The two do not really get along as is, so adding this on top of that will only set Mr. Blackwell over the edge.
And there is no way that Pope goes down without a fight. We have seen what he is capable of. He is not right in the head and certainly capable of committing some heinous acts. So taking out his “brother” would certainly fit into his character’s profile.
These two are too valuable to the show to kill one of them off in the second season. This is the type of arc that would be best served as a series long story. Have Baz pick up clues one by one as the seasons go by. It will help build some suspense, leading to the ultimate showdown between two factions of Codys.
It appears this second season will be taking the approach of the boys attempting to break away from their mother. We saw some of that from Pope in the season one finale. But if they are set to go against Smurf for a good portion of season two, they cannot be looking to kill one another as well.
Simply put, this is an end game type of angle. It is not a card you play early in the game. So while it would be great television to see Baz and Pope at one another’s throats, it needs to be saved for a few seasons down the road.
What do you think? Do you think the truth about Catherine’s murder should come out in season two? Should it wait for the season two finale? Or hold it back for even further down the road? Tell us what you think in the comments!