Between his recent high-profile roles in Rescue: High Surf, Chicago P.D., and The Pitt, Shawn Hatosy has become the internet’s unlikely boyfriend in 2025. The actor from Faculty and Outside Providence has enjoyed newfound success 30 years after his career began, with arguably his most accomplished role coming in the TV adaptation of Animal Kingdom. Now that all six seasons of the crime drama are available on Netflix, Hatosy fans have a new series to binge this summer.
Animal Kingdom ran for 75 episodes on TNT from 2016 to 2022, with Hatosy giving one of his most memorable performances as the OCD-ridden Andrew Cody, the eldest son of a family of thieves who dominate the crime scene in coastal California. As underrated as it is bingeable, crime fiction fans and Hatosy crushers need to check out Animal Kingdom before it leaves Netflix.
- Release Date
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2016 – 2021
- Network
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NBC
- Showrunner
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Jonathan Lisco
- Directors
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Jonathan Lisco
- Writers
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Jonathan Lisco
What Is ‘Animal Kingdom’ About?
Backed by the sturdy bone structure of David Michod’s critically acclaimed 2010 Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom, the TV adaptation feels naturally cinematic. Inspired by the exploits of the real-life Pettingill crime family that built a crime syndicate in Melbourne, the movie focuses on Joshua Cody (Finn Cole), a 17-year-old grandson of a ruthless criminal empire, bonded by blood and the methods he uses to navigate a cut-throat underworld.
Although the TV adaptation is set in Oceanside, California, most of the characters remain the same. The crime family is run by matriarch Janine “Smurf” Cody (played brilliantly by Ellen Barkin), who delegates authority to her sons Deran (Jake Weary), Craig (Ben Robson), adopted son Baz (Scott Speedman), and Andrew “Pope” Cody (Hatosy). As Smurf encourages her grandson Joshua to join the family’s crime rackets, their fate partially lies in the hands of Pope, who returns following a three-year jail stint for bank robbery.
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Despite being a relatively faithful adaptation, Pope is much different in the movie than in the TV show. Ben Mendelsohn plays Pope in the film, who is a much more terrifying and psychotic son whose volatility becomes a liability for his family. In the TV show, Pope battles mental illness and crippling OCD that has him contemplating suicide at times in his life. As he returns to help his family keep the crime business afloat, Pope becomes a much more likable and sympathetic figure than his cinematic counterpart.
What Makes ‘Animal Kingdom’ So Wildly Entertaining?
Beyond the excellent source material adapted and expanded for television, Animal Kingdom weds a thrilling crime tale with a family drama that keeps viewers on edge throughout. The characters are written and played with emotional complexity that draws one into the Cody family and makes them care about their survival in a brutally unforgiving world. The early hook involves Joshua’s mother overdosing on heroin, prompting him to move in with his grandmother, Smurf, and do things that go against his moral core.
Seen through the eyes of Joshua, viewers walk with him on a razor’s edge of tension and paranoia as other family members treat him with a suspicious eye and worry if he will turn against them. The complex relationships between the brothers become more complicated as the series progresses through its 75 episodes, especially between Joshua and Pope. Far from an ordinary crime family drama, the blood feuds within the Cody family make Animal Kingdom a wildly different breed indeed.
But the most substantial reason to watch the show is the performances. Not only does Ellen Barkin sear the screen with her hyper-protective, quasi-incestuous mother who rules her criminal empire with an iron fist, but Hatosy gives arguably the most effective turn of his career. With six seasons and 75 episodes to get into Pope’s skin, grow, shed, expand, and contract his way toward salvation, Hatosy has never been better.
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Improvement from season to season is another reason Animal Kingdom is so bingeable. Season 1 boasts a 76% Rotten Tomatoes rating and Season 2 holds an 80%, marking a rare share that gets better over time. With an 88% Popcorn Meter score to boot, the series strikes a balance between artistic merits and broadly appealing entertainment.
Yet, despite its acclaim, the show is also underrated, with Seasons 3 through 6 failing to log RT ratings. Season 3 did earn a Saturn Award nomination for Best Action-Thriller TV Series, indicating that the lack of reviews had zero to do with the high-quality entertainment. Meanwhile, with an 8.2 IMDb rating for the entire series, Animal Kingdom has all the appeal of a must-watch TV series. Coupled with the sunny sights and relaxing environs of Oceanside, California, there’s no better destination to travel to this summer.
Animal Kingdom is available to stream on Netflix