Deran Cody’s Off-Screen Ending After the “Animal Kingdom” Season 6 Finale
With TNT’s Animal Kingdom coming to end after six seasons, a bunch of fans were left disappointed due to how Deran Cody’s storyline was handled. Turns out, he did get to reunite with his “husband” Adrian, but it all happened off-screen. Sigh!
Even though I enjoyed the Animal Kingdom series finale, titled ‘Fubar’, I have to say that I didn’t like how the writers didn’t show Deran Cody (Jake Weary) get a proper ending. Deran’s entire narrative arc was developing toward him heading to Indonesia and reconnecting with Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark). Fans were waiting for those two to finally meet after Deran forced Adrian to run away from the US to keep him safe during the finale of season 4.
Season 5 involved Deran trying and failing to really move on from Adrian. So, of course, with the last season having the Cody men planning what they were going to do after leaving the US, fans were excited for the inevitable Deran x Adrian reunion, especially when the writers made it a point to have Adrian’s name pop up a bunch of times. We got an entire little scene where Craig told Deran to find a way to get back with Adrian because being with him made Deran the happiest.
However, ‘Fubar’ had no such reunion. What we got was Deran leaving Craig after making a promise to look after Renn and Nick. We never got to see Deran contact Renn to tell her about Craig’s fate or being successful at tracking down Adrian. Deran simply walked away somewhere, after leaving Craig on a cliff, forcing the fandom to speculate how things went for the show’s queer male lead from that point onward.
Many fans, including myself, theorized that Deran would indeed be able to escape the authorities and leave the US. He would also be able to contact Renn and make good on his promise to look after Nick. Deran would also, somehow, make his way to Indonesia to be with Adrian.
Turns out, the fan speculation had merit because all of that happened according to what EP Daniele Nathanson told TVLine. Deran keeps his word to Craig while being with Adrian. Apparently, Deran, Adrian, Renn, and Nick will be able to form some kind of new family unit.
I mean, I’m glad that Deran and Adrian found their way back to each other, but it would have been nice to see it all play out onscreen. Frankly, a simple scene where Adrian opened the front door to his house and comes face-to-face with Deran would have sufficed. It’s just that fans, who stuck with this show for six seasons, deserved something.
Anyway, I decided to take matters into my own hands to provide a, hopefully, satisfying ending for the passionate fandom. So, below is a video of me showing Deran going to meet Adrian and how the two reconnected. As far as my opinion goes, Deran and Adrian can never stop loving each other, even if they need to address certain issues in their relationship.
I tried.
What did you think of what Nathanson shared about Deran’s storyline? Are you glad Deran x Adrian happened even if it was offscreen?
Let us know.
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For those asking, here’s the video (with different music) on The Geekiary’s TikTok account.
@thegeekiary Fixing the #Deran and #Adrian Ending After What Happened in #animalkingdom Season 6 #Finale …#deranxadrian #derancody #lgbt #lgbtcouples #fanart ♬ original sound – The Geekiary
Author: Farid-ul-Haq
Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.
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I don’t watch Animal Kingdom, still unless a show is based on a book, if something doesn’t happen on screen it simply isn’t canon. In the end canon is always all that matters.
Good try but, plain and simple, the show should have provided a better ending – the one where J STAYS in the pool!!!
True, I think Pope should have killed J for how he double crossed all of them and set them up to die!
Personally I see the ending as them all finally getting “what they deserve” (you know that family motto quote). Craig doesnt get his happy ending with Renn, Daren doesn’t get his happy ending with Adrian. They were violent criminals and karma got them in the end. Pope has always had a theme running through his character that he was seeking redemption and didn’t like who/what they were or the things smurf forced him to do, to me he did get part of his happy ending, he redeemed himself of his sins against his sister by allowing her child to live and admitting they’d all done nothing to help her and contributed to her death. He also finally gets an escape from all those demons he was battling although it was through death and not healing, so he in my opinion got half his happy ending, half his comeuppance. Jay, the victim seeking revenge and boy did he get it. But again it was bittersweet and clearly not fully enjoyable, he’s now alone, completely. I’m left wondering does he know the fate of Craig and Daren or is he left now hiding out from retaliation from them. If i’m going down the fan fic route, Daren is captured and does time for all the crimes with the judge going harshly on him because he’s the only around to punish for the decades of crime the family have comitted. Adrian and Renn live their happy ever afters finally free from the Codies and all their drama, pain, and danger.
whoaa