ANIMAL KINGDOM, the TNT series, is wrapping up with season six and it's been a ride and then some.
Last night, failed father Craig (Ben Robson), now back on the drugs and feeling smaller than ever, got greedy regarding a heist the brothers and their nephew J pulled off. Craig wanted to whine like he always does and brothers Deran (Jake Weary) and Pope (Shawn Hatosy) weren't having it nor was nephew J (Finn Cole). It all came to a head with Deran and Craig coming to blows repeatedly.
As they did so, it was hard not to think of the scene between Deran and J earlier this season, when they were talking about the heist (the one they pulled off tonight) and Deran wasn't sure they could count on an inside guy, would someone really turn on their own brother? Yeah, J replied without giving it a second thought.
A lot's happened over six seasons, including losing a number of major characters. Scott Speedman's Baz was the first to go. He challenged Smurf (Ellen Barkin) and she put him down. Smurf herself died near the end of season four. Leila George was already playing Smurf in flashbacks -- and has continued to do so. This season, it's hard to imagine anyone other than George as Smurf which is really saying something because it's a complex role.
ANIMAL KINGDOM truly believes it is a dog-eat-dog world and that power is a zero-sum game; in fact, that happiness is a zero-sum game.
The family works together on heists and robberies but they don't really work together. You saw more teamwork and love with the crew in BONNIE & CLYDE than you do in the family of the Codys. And maybe that's a reflection of the time period the show was created in. Democrats in Congress couldn't get it together to save ROE V WADE. Barack Obama ran for president on many broken promises including that codifying ROE into law was the first thing he'd do as president (he told Planned Parenthood that in 2007). Once elected, he stated it was no longer high on his priorities. If he'd done what he said he'd do, the Supreme Court would not have been able to overturn ROE. If the Democratically controlled House and Senate had swung into action in May and June of this year, ROE still could have been turned into law. Instead, they did nothing and pretended that they had no choice.
They had choices. They could have pushed the vote through the Senate. Joe Biden could have had a come-to-Jesus talk with Joe Manchin the way Barack had one with Dennis Kucinich when Dennis said he wasn't voting for ObamaCare and Barack knew that they had to have Dennis' vote so Barack got on the plane with Dennis and, when the plane landed, Dennis was voting for ObamaCare. They offer the pretense of being powerless but it's just another con game.
In this environment, where we're lied to and disrespected, rooting for the Codys to rip off the Coast Guard or a bank or some wealthy entertainer Some gangster double crosses J and we're really not all that bothered when the gangster is dead.
When a society is rendered invisible and powerless, it's easy to get them to root for violence and vigilantism.
The show's always been well acted and well written. Along with the regular cast,
JD Walsh, Laura San Giacomo, Denis Leary, Emily Deschanel, C Thomas Howell, Dichen Lachman and
Daniella Alonso
have also delivered strong performances over six seasons.
As the series barrels to a conclusion, it will be interesting to see whether upstart J really did know better than Smurf. That's been the dynamic since the show started. His mother Julia (Pope's twin) died before the series began and he's been determined to extract something from the survivors -- most of all Smurf. He's now pretty much dismantled everything she created and replaced it with a new system he controls -- the fence, the attorneys, the properties. Can he do better?
And will better be better for all or just for J?
That scene with Daren had real implications. As written, J has always been in it for himself. Finn has watered down the performance (or, more likely, isn't up to the acting demands) but J has always been the one who destroyed from within.
How does that play out with the others?
Pope is the most conditioned to loyalty. When Smurf (Barkin) pointed the gun at him in season four to get him to shoot her and kill her (she was dying from cancer), he wouldn't. J jumped in without hesitation and did the deed -- he's long been gunning for Smurf. Craig? He's really only loyal to himself. He's already written off his infant son now that the mother refuses to give in to his demands. That's the son, please remember, that Craig used to trap his brother Deran into not leaving the country.
As season four wound down, Smurf went gunning for Deran's boyfriend Adrian. Deran protected him and the two were going to leave the country to escape the feds and move to Australia where they could surf. But then Craig played the I'm-a-daddy-and-you-have-to-be-here-for-your-nephew card. Deran's loyalties were played on and he stayed. That was the worst decision of his life. He's found no personal happiness since Adrian left and now Craig, his older brother, is beating him?
In the animal kingdom, survival is the only rule and that's been the way J has played it. Unlike Craig, he hasn't kidded himself about it. But things can change and the one at the top of the chain can be toppled. It could be Pope in a rage realizing he's gone to prison for his family and done anything for them and everything but no one appreciates it. It could be Deran realizing that he sacrificed in vain. It could even be Craig in a rare sober moment. But, from the start, this has been leading up to J seeking revenge and bent on destruction.
Like Rebecca, we'd love to see Deran and Adrian reunited at the close of the show but the reality is that the road the Codys choose really doesn't have an off ramp to happiness -- just like the road Congressional Democrats have selected doesn't end with good mid-term results.
Results might be better if people could be honest. With that in mind, HULU and NETFLIX. HULU's problem is that it has no new content to offer.
Last month, Ty counted 12,457 e-mails complaining about HULU's layout and how they don't offer a page with what's new.
That's because very little actually is.
This is not a new development. Over ten years ago, we were addressing that reality. We were noting that HULU produced very little content itself so, in the summers, it was dependent upon USA's IN PLAIN SIGHT. (We noted that many times, here for the first summer they had to do without even IN PLAIN SIGHT.) You do grasp that the program has now been off for ten years, right?
We warned that they were going to need to step up the program. It appears they tried briefly and then gave up.
It's nothing these days and it will get worse over the next few years as NBC and others pull their programs from the streamer. They had years and years to plan and they did nothing. When they had a program worth watching (DIFFICULT PEOPLE), they didn't try to grow it, they just let it run for three seasons. They have nothing to offer. And now that shows they did have streaming rights to (but that aired on television) -- LOVE, VICTOR -- are going over to DISNEY+ there is less and less of need for HULU. Some might argue that it's good for live TV. Do those people hate PBS? You get PBS with YOUTUBE TV, you don't with HULU.
HULU is most likely going to be phased out and shut down by the end of the decade. And why not? It's got nothing to offer.
Which brings us to NETFLIX. We'll note this report:
Jane Campion fears that Netflix’s new strategy after facing a loss in subscribers will result in the streaming giant being “more picky” about the projects it decides to fund.
“I do think they’re going to be more picky about other projects or, maybe, what’s sad is not taking risks on people without names,” Campion told the BBC in a recent interview.
Campion, whose 2021 Western “The Power of the Dog” garnered 12 nominations at the Academy Awards, believes that established filmmakers such as herself will likely be fine. However, she thinks the new strategy may hurt the prospects of up-and-coming filmmakers.
“I don’t think it would be hard for me if I wanted to do something because I’ve established a relationship and they’re incredibly loyal,” she said.
NETFLIX does not have one problem, it has multiple problems. Such as?
Subscribers have decreased. They've been decreasing all along but that used to be offset by the number of new subscribers they had.
New subscribers plateaued some time ago.
What's NETFLIX to do?
For starters, stop acting like members of Congress with their heads up their butts.
There are certain things they are doing that are driving lots of people away.
For example? One group is leaving because they don't feel the family is acknowledged or honored. If NETFLIX wants to keep those subscribers, it needs to program for them and to satisfy them. Most are not going to be bothered that all NETFLIX programming doesn't fit their own needs as long as some does. That means standing by family shows. That means finding their own YELLOWSTONE. It probably means less heavy promotion of shows about bondage, for example. There are times when NETFLiX seems to feature nothing but fetish shows. Why is that? Because that's what they're promoting on their home page.
We would argue that Melissa McCarthy's new show (GOD'S FAVORITE IDIOT) and Mike Meyers' new show (THE PENTAVERATE) both have wide appeal. But they're not promoted on the main page. They're treated as after thoughts. And NETFLIX needs to rethink promotion. The same trailer every time we hit the home page is not cutting it. You should have three trailers for every project and you should alternate them. The trailer for Mike Meyer's program sucked. We almost didn't watch it as a result. Now some might have liked it but there's a reason film studios have multiple trailers ready to promote their films.
If the offerings with wide appeal got a little more promotion, than some of the ill will from those who don't feel NETFLIX is programming for their families would go away.
The second big group is the group NETFLIX knows exists but now chooses to ignore.
SENS8 was a fan favorite. NETFLIX ignored that and axed the show. The outcry was so great, NETFLIX commissioned a film to wrap things up.
NETFLIX likes shows that last three seasons. Their subscribers do not. They want shows that last longer. And the big shows on NETFLIX have tended to be GREY'S ANATOMY, NIKITA, CHARMED and others with many seasons of episodes. Binge watching is a NETFLIX trend and, no, a three season show (with ten episodes a season) isn't really something you're going to binge.
NETFLIX's decision to axe shows is not sitting well with the people paying for the service. We heard non-stop complaints on Friday when we were speaking to a group of people (about the wars) and NETFLIX popped up. It was the one thing that united the crowd. Why is GRACE AND FRANKIE ending? Why did NETFLIX axe this or that? People aren't happy.
In the past, NETFLIX was aware of this group of people. These days, it just ignores them. Do they want them to go away because we heard from a lot of people that they were going to stop subscribing.
If you want subscribers, you have to give them product to watch. HULU can't. All this time later, HULU can't. It really only carries the programming of others plus the tiny handful of shows (like A HANDMAID'S TALE) that they make themselves.
NETFLIX has a ton of product. It's problem is that most NETFLIX subscribers don't know about it, that when it is promoted, it's promoted poorly and that the programs subscribers love keep getting cancelled.
