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Julia, Catherine, Pope, Baz and Smurf each show a different cost of being tied to the Cody family: exclusion, intimate violence, inherited damage, a struggle for power, or a legacy built on control. This is an editorial selection, not an official ranking. “Tragic” describes lives shaped or damaged by the Codys and their criminal world; it does not mean every person on this list is innocent.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Animal Kingdom: Complete First Season S1 (DVD) | $18.20 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Animal Kingdom: The Complete First & Second Season | $34.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
![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 |
| 4 |
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Animal Kingdom: The Complete Second Season (DVD) | $24.93 | Buy on Amazon |
Why the Cody family creates so many tragic stories
The official character descriptions frame the Cody household as a knot of affection, fear, resentment and competition for control. That tension reaches people both inside and outside the family. In the five arcs below, the tragedy takes different forms: Julia’s exclusion leaves a family wound; Catherine becomes caught in rivalries; Pope is shaped by a violent family system but remains responsible for his choices; Baz’s death disrupts the family’s leadership; and Smurf both suffers loss and helps create the damage around her.
The series is complete. TNT announced season six as its final season, framing the last chapter around the Codys confronting their past through revenge, betrayal and long-buried violence: TNT’s final-season announcement.
#1 Best Overall
Five tragic characters in Animal Kingdom
1. Julia Cody: the absent daughter whose loss brings J into the family
Warner Bros. identifies Julia as Smurf’s estranged daughter and Pope’s twin sister. After Julia dies of a heroin overdose, her son J is taken in by the Codys. Her death is therefore not only a personal loss; it is the event that brings J into the family and makes Julia’s absence a lasting wound in its story. Warner Bros.’ character descriptions establish those relationships and the circumstances of J’s arrival.
Julia’s tragedy is defined by exclusion and its consequences. The available official description supports that she was estranged from Smurf, but it does not establish every detail of her youth or assign each relative a precise share of responsibility. Her story is most powerful when kept to what it shows: the family’s rupture predates J, and he enters the Cody household through his mother’s death.
2. Catherine: caught in the family’s intimate rivalries
Catherine’s relationship with Pope unfolds amid the pressures created by Baz’s relationship with her and Smurf’s influence over Pope. An interview with Shawn Hatosy discusses Catherine as Pope’s love and the family dynamics surrounding those relationships: Entertainment Tonight’s interview with Hatosy. Catherine’s story turns those intimate rivalries into violence: Pope kills her, as reported in Entertainment Tonight’s season-one coverage.
Her fate is tragic because personal attachment becomes entangled with the Codys’ manipulation and violence. But the family pressures around Pope do not make him a passive instrument: he commits the killing, and Catherine bears its consequences.
3. Pope: shaped by the Codys, accountable for his violence
Warner Bros. describes Pope as the eldest and most volatile Cody son. He can be ruthlessly violent, yet tries to resist dangerous impulses and keep the family together. That contradiction makes his arc one of the show’s clearest studies of a person shaped by a family system without being absolved by it. The Catherine storyline is the sharpest example: the pressures around Pope matter, but his responsibility for killing her remains his own.
Pope is tragic not because he is harmless, but because the family’s control and violence are bound up with the person he becomes. His attempts to resist those impulses coexist with the harm he causes.
Rank #3
4. Baz: a central figure who cannot escape the Cody power structure
Baz occupies a central place in the family’s structure, and his death leaves a leadership void, particularly while Smurf is in jail. Executive producer John Wells discusses that consequence and distinguishes the series from the 2010 film that inspired it: Baz dies early in the film, while the television adaptation keeps him in the story longer. That is a difference in adaptation, not the chronology of the TV plot. Wells’s comments are reported in Entertainment Tonight’s interview coverage.
Baz’s tragedy lies in his proximity to the family’s power: he is important to it, yet cannot simply step outside its rivalries and violence. His death changes who can lead, exposing how much of the Cody household depends on the struggle for control.
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Warner Bros. describes Smurf as a manipulative matriarch with a warped emotional hold over her sons. They fear and resent her while continuing to seek her approval. Interviews report that she dies in season four, while later flashbacks explore how she became Smurf. Her arc is tragic in part because the family she holds together is also marked by loss and damage.
Smurf’s suffering does not erase her role in shaping that damage. Her manipulation is part of the family’s tragedy, not an excuse for it; the evidence supports describing her conduct and relationships, not diagnosing her or treating her as blameless. Warner Bros.’ character descriptions provide the basis for her role as matriarch.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What makes these five arcs different
| Character | Connection to the Codys | Kind of tragedy | Agency and responsibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julia Cody | Smurf’s estranged daughter and Pope’s twin; J’s mother | Exclusion, loss and the family wound that brings J in | The cited official description establishes her estrangement and death, not a full account of her choices or her relatives’ responsibility. |
| Catherine | Pope’s love, caught in a rivalry involving Baz and Smurf’s influence | Intimate attachment overtaken by manipulation and violence | Pope kills her; pressure around him does not remove his responsibility. |
| Pope | Smurf’s eldest and volatile son | Inherited family damage and struggle against violent impulses | He is shaped by the family and also commits serious harm. |
| Baz | A central figure in the Cody family’s power structure | Violence, death and the leadership void that follows | His importance to the family structure is documented; his death alters its leadership. |
| Smurf | Matriarch and source of her sons’ emotional dependence and resentment | Loss alongside the legacy of a family she controls | She experiences loss, but also manipulates and helps shape the family’s damage. |
The table is an editorial comparison of proximity to the family, personal agency, consequences and type of tragedy—not an official TNT ranking.
Why the finale makes these stories feel connected
TNT framed the final season as a reckoning with the Codys’ past. That framing brings the five arcs into focus: Julia’s absence precedes J’s place in the family; Catherine’s death shows the cost of private rivalries; Pope embodies the tension between inherited damage and accountability; Baz’s death exposes the family’s dependence on power; and Smurf’s legacy reveals how control can bind relatives even as it harms them. The show’s ending is therefore not simply a tally of losses, but a confrontation with the violence and relationships that produced them.
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