How Did ‘Animal Kingdom’ Season 3 End? Finale Recap Before Season 4 Premiere

When “Animal Kingdom” Season 4 premieres on TNT, J will be on a mission to take down Smurf once and for all. The Season 3 finale left viewers with many questions about what’s next for the Cody family.

Now that Smurf (Ellen Barkin) has admitted to being responsible for Baz’s (Scott Speedman) death, J (Finn Cole), Pope (Shawn Hatosy), Craig (Ben Robson) and Deran (Jake Weary) realize she can’t be trusted.

Before tuning into the Season 4 premiere of the TNT drama, take a look back at how “Animal Kingdom” Season 3 ended.

Last time viewers saw the Cody boys, Smurf convinced a spiraling Pope to move back home, and J was working on a way to set up a future that didn’t involve his family.

After being released from prison, Smurf was eager to get her hands back on all of her properties and had Pope drive her Morgan’s (Laura San Giacomo) house. However, she was unaware that J already killed the attorney after they stole three of Smurf’s properties.

Pope and Smurf searched Morgan’s home but realized she didn’t skip town. The two then went to pick up some paperwork, which revealed Morgan sold Smurf’s properties to holding companies that have the same initials as Deran, Pope and Craig.

Smurf and Pope tracked down the notary Morgan used to sell the properties but learned the man was an Alzheimer’s patient, whose notary stamp was stolen. Although they left empty-handed, Smurf noted J and Julia used to live two blocks from the assisted living facility.

Smurf later received a call informing her of Morgan’s death and confronted J with the information she learned about her properties. Although J denied betraying his grandmother, Smurf noted that Morgan was smart and wondered if J was just as smart.

J was later seen handling business on his newly stolen property, while Mia (Sohvi Rodriguez) took a trip to Mexico and killed Lucy (Carolina Guerra).

Elsewhere, Pope spiraled out of control and landed on Amy’s (Jennifer Landon) doorstep. Pope poured out his emotions to his ex, while Smurf gave away her properties to Deran, Craig and J.

However, she also gifted the teen with a watch that was meant for Baz. The watch had the words, “For My Very Smart Boy” engraved in it.

At that point, the Cody boys believed they had a chance at leading independent lives. Deran planned to build a life with Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark), and Craig was ready to forge a new criminal partnership with Frankie (Dichen Lachman).

As the episode came to a close, Adrian was arrested trying to board a flight with drugs in his surfboard, seemingly ending his surfing career. Once all was quiet at the Cody home, J whispered to a sleeping Smurf that he was going to take away everything and everyone she has ever cared for.

After J exited her room, he and Pope had a tense staredown in the hallway before the two eventually went their separate ways.

“Animal Kingdom” Season 4 premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT on TNT.