Spoilers for all six seasons of Animal Kingdom. “Saddest” is subjective, so this ranking weighs the strength of a character’s bonds, betrayal or constrained choice, the effect on survivors, and whether an exit resolves or deepens a long-running arc. Deaths are not automatically sadder than departures, and shock alone does not determine a place. The series does not have an established consensus ranking; this is an editorial one. The story-supported entries below focus on consequential losses rather than filling all 15 places with unverified events.
Why these losses matter in Animal Kingdom
The Cody family treats loyalty as both a bond and a weapon. That makes its losses unusually difficult to separate: one person’s death can expose an old betrayal, rearrange the family’s hierarchy, and leave survivors carrying guilt as well as grief. Executive producer John Wells connected Catherine Belen’s death to Baz Blackwell’s, saying their consequences push the story toward a fight over who will take Baz’s place. He also noted that the series is based on David Michôd’s 2010 film, in which Baz dies early; the character lasts much longer in the television series. Entertainment Tonight, June 1, 2018.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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| 1 |
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Animal Kingdom: The Complete First & Second Season | $34.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Animal Kingdom: The Complete Third Season | $29.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Animal Kingdom: The Complete Fourth Season | $29.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
![Animal Kingdom: Season 6 [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mXQRrKe+L._SL160_.jpg)
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Animal Kingdom: Season 6 [DVD] | $26.88 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Animal Kingdom: The Complete Second Season (DVD) | $24.93 | Buy on Amazon |
The 15 saddest deaths and departures
1. Pope Cody — the finale’s hard-won release
Pope’s death in the series finale carries the weight of both his violence and his history with Julia. Showrunner Daniele Nathanson described the ending as accountability for a killer, while also seeing a measure of peace in his freedom from Smurf and from what he did to Julia. That combination places him first: his exit is not simply a final shock, but the close of a long arc shaped by harm, dependence, and guilt. Nathanson was explicit that Pope did not die by suicide. Her account says he had been shot at, removed a tracker, and was losing blood; she tentatively described the final cause as “heart attack/heartache,” so the exact medical cause should not be stated more definitively. TVLine, August 28, 2022.
2. Julia Cody — a life shaped by abandonment
Julia’s story is a departure, not a confirmed death. Her absence from the family begins with abandonment and becomes one of the wounds that shadows Pope and J. It ranks this high because the loss is prolonged: the family’s separation from Julia does not end in a single scene, and its consequences remain embedded in the choices and guilt of the people left behind. Calling it a death would erase the distinction between a disappearance from the family and a confirmed fatal exit.
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3. Smurf Cody — a requested death that changes the family
In season four, Smurf is diagnosed with terminal skin cancer. In “Ghosts,” she plans not to survive a final heist; Pope rescues her, and she asks him to kill her. He refuses, and J shoots her. The death is painful partly because it is entangled with choice: Smurf asks for an end, but the final act falls to J, while Pope is left with the refusal. It also removes the family’s central force and makes the boys’ lives without her the story’s new terrain. Wells said that shift in family dynamics was part of the reason for the exit. Entertainment Tonight, August 7, 2019; TV Insider, August 13, 2019.
4. Catherine Belen — the first loss that sets later grief in motion
Catherine dies at the end of season one, but the emotional reach of her death extends beyond that moment. Wells explicitly linked it to Baz’s demise and to the succession struggle that follows. Catherine’s loss therefore matters not only through her own bond with the family, but through the consequences it helps unleash. It is an early rupture whose effects widen as the series continues. Entertainment Tonight, June 1, 2018.
5. Barry “Baz” Blackwell — the death that leaves a power vacuum
Baz is shot at the end of season two. His death is confirmed in the season-three premiere after doctors fail to resuscitate him. That confirmation turns the loss into a family crisis: Wells described the resulting succession battle and the way Baz’s absence changes the Codys’ roles. His death ranks above a purely shocking exit because survivors must contend not only with grief but with the power vacuum he leaves behind. Entertainment Tonight, June 1, 2018.
6. J’s place in the family after Smurf
Smurf’s death makes J the person who fires the shot after Pope refuses. That act is a consequential departure from the role of outsider he once occupied: he is now implicated in the family’s most intimate and defining violence. The pain here is not a separate confirmed death, but the change in what J has done and what the surviving Codys must live with. It belongs in a ranking of departures because the family’s old structure cannot return unchanged.
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Pope’s finale is a death, but the long arc behind it includes a less visible loss: his freedom under Smurf’s influence. Nathanson described his ending as release from Smurf as well as from the burden of what he did to Julia. That history makes his final peace feel earned only in the bleakest sense; the freedom arrives at the end of his life, after years of damage.
8. Baz’s future as a Cody successor
Baz’s death also ends the possibility of his taking a lasting leadership role in the family. Wells tied the exit directly to a struggle over who would rise in Baz’s place. This ranks below the death itself because it is the loss of a future and a position, rather than a separate character death—but it captures why the family experiences his absence as a destabilizing event, not only a private grief.
9. Catherine’s place in the family’s story
Catherine’s death closes her own story while leaving the family to absorb its connection to Baz’s later death. The two losses are intertwined in the show’s consequences, so remembering Catherine only as an isolated season-one event understates her importance. Her absence becomes part of the chain that shapes the family’s next struggle.
10. The Cody family’s life before Smurf’s death
Smurf’s exit removes the person who had organized the family’s criminal life and its emotional rules. Wells said the story was designed to explore the boys without her. That makes the loss structural as well as personal: the survivors are left without the authority around which their roles had formed.
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Nathanson connected Pope’s ending to what he did to Julia. His death closes the possibility of any later repair between them, giving the finale a deepened sense of regret. It is not a substitute for Julia’s own departure; it is the consequence of a relationship that remains central to Pope’s burden.
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12. J’s innocence about the family’s violence
By the time J shoots Smurf, he is no longer simply the young relative entering a dangerous household. The act makes him part of its violence in an irreversible way. This is an interpretive departure rather than a separately documented death, and its sadness lies in how far the family has drawn him into its logic.
13. The brothers’ shared future after Baz
Baz’s death reshapes the Cody family’s roles and triggers a struggle for succession. That shift places pressure on the surviving family members’ relationships: the loss of a shared figure becomes competition over who can occupy the space he left. Its sadness comes from what the death does to the living, not from a claim that every survivor reacts in the same way.
14. Pope’s dependence on the family that harmed him
Pope’s story makes his eventual release from Smurf especially complicated. The person who shaped his life was also a source of control, and leaving that relationship comes only with his own death. This is another facet of his departure, ranked separately only to recognize the long history behind the finale rather than to imply a second event.
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15. The family’s ability to keep its old shape
Across the verified losses, the Codys cannot return to the arrangement they knew. Catherine and Baz’s deaths drive a succession conflict; Smurf’s death forces the boys into a future without her; Pope’s ending closes a life marked by violence and guilt. The final entry is therefore a collective absence: the family’s old configuration is gone, even for those who remain alive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the ranking
The first five entries are distinct, story-supported deaths or departures. The remaining entries describe the consequences and relational losses that those exits create, rather than asserting a further list of independently verified character deaths. This distinction matters because a ranking should not turn every change in a family’s future into a literal death. Wells also described the series’ recurring departures as part of its crime-world realism: “It’s the animal kingdom, so every couple of years someone is going to leave the show — either one the characters is going to get killed or arrested permanently to keep it realistic.” Entertainment Tonight, August 7, 2019.
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