Animal Kingdom 5×3 Review: Freeride

‘Freeride’ showed the Cody men tackle their first major job after Smurf’s death. We also got some very interesting scenes involving Joshua, Pope, and Deran.

Let’s get the job out of the way. I liked how the Codys worked together to find the crashed plane that Pete told Joshua about in the previous episode. Deran’s clearly concerned about stealing from the Cartel. However, with his brothers siding with Joshua, he had no choice but to go along with it. Will such a decision come back to bite the Codys? I do think so. Let’s hope they can survive the experience because according to Deran, the Cartel could kill them.

Of course, the job didn’t go as smoothly as planned. With Pope waiting for them at the rendevous point, Joshua, Craig, and Deran found a dead body in the crashed plane. Also, Deran was quite disappointed about how there wasn’t any money to be found alongside huge stacks of drugs. The men also got attacked by two other people wanting the loot for themselves.

The action sequences in ‘Freeride’ were impressively filmed. We saw Joshua, Craig, and Deran perform some cool stunts as they biked through the hillside and even did a bit of rock climbing to get to the crash site. I really thought Craig was going to get injured near the end of the chase sequence. But he didn’t. Yay!

With the job completed, it was time for the Cody men to talk about some of their feelings. Even though Joshua’s clearly vying for the top position, Deran and Craig had other plans. Those two are just unable to trust Joshua (and with good reason). I enjoyed the scene where Pope revealed that Joshua owned a bowling alley, a laundromat, and a condo. Joshua got all of those things by stealing from the family. Joshua tried to dodge the situation by stating he stole from Smurf, but Deran quickly shot that point down by stating Joshua stealing from Smurf was the same as stealing from his three uncles.

Now, while I’m all in for more drama between the Codys, frankly, Deran and Craig should consider cutting their young nephew some slack. Yes, Joshua’s been lying to them. However, he’s also the only one who is similar to Smurf when it comes to finding jobs, laundering money, and keeping the accounts in check. Deran and Craig, even though they want to lead the family, can’t fulfill the responsibilities accompanying such an important role. They are definitely kinder than Joshua (which is a good thing). But being kind won’t help the Cody family survive, especially with Pamela closing in.

With Deran and Craig getting tired of Joshua, I liked how Pope reached out to inquire how Joshua coped with Julia’s death. While Smurf brought Joshua into the family after the death of his mother, things aren’t the same for Pope. Becoming part of the family business gave Joshua a sense of purpose that helped him get over his mother’s death, even if said purpose included taking everything from Smurf. But unlike Joshua, Pope’s basically rudderless after Smurf’s death. He doesn’t have anyone to turn to. Who is Pope without Smurf? That’s a question I’m looking forward to finding the answer to.

Due to Pamela giving young Pope a sense of structure in her house, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pamela ends up doing the same thing for an adult Pope. Will she manipulate him to stand against his brothers and Joshua? I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.

Coming to Craig, we got to see him have an argument with Renn again. Those two are in dire need of sitting down and having an adult discussion. They have a baby to raise and they should be on the same page. Personally, I’m with Craig. Renn shouldn’t be dealing drugs from their house. However, I didn’t like Craig telling Renn to pause her business to look after Nick. That’s not the type of woman he fell in love with and he should accept that already. As a businesswoman in her own right, there’s no way Renn will stop supporting herself and Nick. She’s not going to be entirely dependant on Craig even if he wants her to because he’s worried Renn’s job could get her arrested.

As for the flashbacks in ‘Freeride’, Smurf decided to rob Marcus’ house after reuniting with Manny and Jake. It’s clear Jake’s still in love with Smurf and she used that to get him to drive her and the kids to Oceanside after having an argument with Pamela. I do think Smurf and Pamela mended things down the line. I say this because why would Smurf leave everything to Pamela if they never became friends again, right?

Having said that, what if leaving Pamela the majority of her belongings was a weird way to make her sons go after Pamela and her family? We already know Joshua’s okay with killing people. What if Smurf wanted the Cody men to become angry and to go to war with Pamela over Smurf’s will and play a role in Smurf getting her revenge from beyond the grave? I don’t know. I’m just sharing some of my theories.

And now it’s time for us to talk about our queer criminal disaster Deran. After burning Adrian’s stuff and lots of drinking, Deran turned to fill the hole in his heart by hooking up with a married couple. The morning after their encounter made it obvious that having a threesome didn’t do anything for Deran’s emotional state. Even though the two husbands were eager to hook up with Deran again, he couldn’t be less interested even if he tried.

The married couple found him again later at his bar and that’s when things turned ugly. I cringed at how the couple talked to Deran. For them, he was nothing more than a sex toy they wanted to use again. And we all know how Deran felt about being used. It was time for him to teach the married couple a lesson and I think he got the job done.

Deran demonstrated an impressive power move by creating a schism between the husbands during their second intimate encounter. Instead of allowing both of them to participate, he made one of the husbands (let’s call him Husband A because I don’t remember the couple’s names) stand back and watch. Such a move made Husband A feel uncomfortable and ask Husband B to leave Deran’s office. However, Husband B decided to stay with Deran as his spouse left, which later caused Husband B to realize his mistake after Deran was done with him. Deran even told Husband B to get out of his office because he wasn’t interested in him listening to anything he wanted to say.

It was an incredibly mean thing for Deran to do. But the writers made sure to show viewers why he did all of it. As I have mentioned already, Deran didn’t like being used as a sex object. Not only that, seeing the husbands in love reminded Deran of what he could have had with Adrian. We all know Deran and Adrian were ready to get married and perhaps even adopt a couple of kids soon. Due to growing up together as childhood boyfriends, Adrain’s the only one who really understood Deran and what he had to experience growing up as a Cody under Smurf’s rule. Even if another man does come into Deran’s life at this point, he wouldn’t get Deran and his family the way Adrian did. 

Deran wanted the husbands to feel some of his pain in hopes to gain some level of satisfaction out of it. Of course, it didn’t work. Deran’s still hurting. With Adrian fleeing to Indonesia, Deran’s lost a huge part of his life.

Also, the constant reminders regarding Adrian aren’t helping. Deran’s worried about the DEA agent snooping around and wanting Deran to share Adrian’s whereabouts. With Deran missing Adrian and also wanting him to stay safe in another country, let’s see which emotion wins. Will Deran succumb to his loneliness and have Adrian arrested so he can at least visit him in prison? I don’t know.

Some other thoughts and questions:

• I liked seeing Deran notice something was up with Pope. However, he should consider talking to his older brother instead of just noticing his behavior twice.
• Turns out, Joshua’s ex-girlfriend Nicky got married to a marine. Good for her. Similar to Adrian, being close to the Cody family didn’t do her any favors. The new girl, Natalie, better be careful because she’s crushing hard on Joshua.
• Pope remembering the rule of the animal kingdom, “One of them has to die so the other can live”, made for a very good scene. Someone give him a hug. Pope will even appreciate a pat on the head at this point.
• Smurf stealing from Marcus does put Pamela at risk. I think Marcus should be able to connect the dots due to Smurf and Pamela being friends.
• I was a bit worried about the Animal Kingdom season 5 premiere getting only 0.76 million live views and a 0.19 demo, making it the series’ lowest viewed episode. Thankfully, the ratings went up to normal for the second episode with 1.17 million live views and a 0.27 demo. Here’s to hoping the show continues to perform well. (via TV Series Finale)  

What did you think of ‘Freeride’?

Let us know.

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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