u/Optimal-Pen-3226

Young Smurf is genuinely one of the most vile, selfish, emotionally manipulative characters I’ve ever seen on television. Demonic, evil, inhumane, foul mouthed fish wife, selfish, lying, insensitive toad of a woman. And I need to get this off my chest because WHAT is she doing to Julia???

First of all, the high school situation. Pope and Baz are stealing computers, and instead of dealing with HER CHILDREN, she IMMEDIATELY blames Julia for it like she’s some kind of scapegoat. Julia had NOTHING to do with it. Not only that, she fully excuses Pope like he can do no wrong. It’s disgusting.

Then when Pope gets expelled, what does she do? Does she take accountability? Does she deal with her son? NO. She straight-up lies and flips it onto Julia instead, claiming Julia got expelled. Like what kind of twisted, manipulative parenting is that???

And don’t even get me started on the job scene.

Julia finally gets her first job. FIRST. JOB. At a clothing store. A normal, healthy step forward in life. And instead of being even remotely proud, Smurf shows up and completely DEMOLISHES her. No pride, no encouragement, nothing. Just insults, guilt-tripping, and making everything about herself like always. It’s like she can’t stand Julia having even ONE independent moment. And the fact that she had the guts to tell her that she always worked her whole life? That's utter horseshit.

And then she pushes her into stealing a car.

A CAR.

And the worst part? Julia actually says yes. That’s how deep the manipulation goes. That’s how trapped she is in Smurf’s control.

I swear, watching this woman operate is infuriating. Every time Julia tries to be her own person, Smurf drags her back down into chaos, crime, and emotional abuse while pretending it’s “family” or “life lessons.”

I’m genuinely losing my mind watching this woman destroy her own daughter piece by piece.

My thoughts:

My dislike for Deran keeps growing and I hate saying that because I genuinely rooted for him before. But he keeps taking shots at J every chance he gets. The bowling alley argument annoyed me SO much. Deran acting morally superior because J bought it with Smurf’s money??? Brother… your bar was funded by stolen money too 💀 You literally rob people for a living. The hypocrisy was unbelievable.

J continues to make me feel 50 different emotions at once. I still feel bad for him because no matter what he does, someone in the family eventually blames him for everything. But at the same time, he’s becoming colder and more detached every season. You can really see Smurf’s influence all over him now.

The flashbacks are getting genuinely disturbing. Watching Smurf slowly groom Pope and Julia into crime as CHILDREN is awful. The speeding scene shocked me because Julia was clearly scared (which is completely normal for a kid??) and Smurf basically tells her to toughen up instead of comforting her. That scene said everything about her parenting style. Vulnerability is treated like a weakness in that family.

And honestly, Julia’s whole story just keeps getting sadder the more we learn. It really feels like she was emotionally failed by everyone around her from a young age.

Pope this season is heartbreaking to watch. He seems completely lost without Smurf, even though she damaged him so badly. The visions, the emotional crashes, the dissociation… Shawn Hatosy is acting his ass off. Pope feels like someone whose entire identity collapsed overnight and now he has no idea who he is anymore.

Also the heist in episode 6 kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thoughts:

Smurf is the worst mother I've ever seen on television. At first I thought she was just manipulative with a caring side underneath, but after finding out she had Baz killed?? HER OWN SON?? And admitting it so casually?? Yeah no. This woman treats her children like possessions. If they stop orbiting around her, she turns on them immediately.

Pope continues to be the character that emotionally destroys me the most. Shawn Hatosy’s acting is unbelievable. The scene where he crashed out after everything happening with Lena genuinely hurt to watch. I know Pope has done horrible things, but there’s something deeply sad and lonely about him that keeps making me feel for him. His voice and quietness weirdly soothe me too and I hate that this show has done this to me 😂

Losing Lena clearly messed Pope up badly. You can tell she represented something innocent and grounding for him. Every scene involving those two is sweet but also deeply uncomfortable because of the Catherine situation hanging over everything.

J keeps making my feelings flip flop every episode. Sometimes I feel awful for him because the entire family scapegoats him for things that genuinely aren’t his fault. Craig attacking him over the cartel situation made me so uncomfortable because J literally didn’t know. But THEN J goes and leaves Morgan drowning in the river or abandons Nicky emotionally and I’m sitting there like: “I don't know what to think anymore".

Deran honestly might be the one I root for most at this point. He seems one of the only brothers who truly understands how toxic and suffocating the family is. Him wanting a life outside of Smurf’s control makes complete sense to me. Also yes, I’m still invested in him and Adrian 🌚

Also I’ve JUST started seeing young Smurf in the flashbacks and the haircut scene felt like the official birth of Young Smurf™. You can already see the foundations of who she becomes starting to form.

Can't wait to watch more season 4!

I genuinely cannot believe how addicted I’ve become to this show considering I was struggling through stuff like Peaky Blinders and Vikings recently. THIS is the pacing I needed all along because every episode feels like chaos waiting to explode.

My thoughts so far (episodes 1-3):

Smurf is genuinely terrifying but also weirdly hilarious sometimes. The scene where the boys basically declare independence from her and she throws a full emotional tantrum had me CRYING 😭 She acts like the entire family owes her complete devotion forever. Every argument in that house feels like psychological warfare.

Pope continues to mess with my emotions the most. His bond with Lina is actually sweet and protective on the surface… but then my brain immediately goes: “YOU KILLED HER MOTHER.” So every wholesome scene with him feels cursed underneath 😭

I'd like to talk about Shawn Hatosy for a moment because I find his voice and the way he talks weirdly soothing?? Which is insane considering Pope is one of the most emotionally terrifying people on the show 😭 The calm/soft delivery mixed with the intensity underneath it has me emotionally confused every episode.

J is frustrating me now because he’s becoming more and more like Smurf. Early on I felt so sorry for him, but now he’s doing dirty work for her and getting deeper into manipulation. The fake hostage/criminal act at the bar was insane. He’s way smarter and colder than I first thought.

Baz has fallen HARD in my rankings. At first I thought he was the decent/stable one, but he keeps showing how selfish and aggressive he actually is. The scene where he exploded at Lina over the TV volume and threw the remote genuinely shocked me. It was scary seeing how fast he switched.

The meltdowns in this family are honestly one of the best parts of the show 😂 Every argument turns into screaming, emotional breakdowns, guilt trips, or someone storming out. These people are EXHAUSTING and I cannot stop watching. 🌚

So I finally started Animal Kingdom and I wasn’t expecting to get this invested this quickly, but I’m already 3 episodes in and fully locked in.

A few thoughts so far:

- J (Joshua) losing his mum Julia and being sent to Smurf feels so heavy. He’s so quiet, and reserved and I honestly relate to him a bit. I just want to give him a hug because he’s basically dropped into this chaotic family with no warning.

- His uncles are… a lot. They’re not exactly warm or welcoming at all and they treat him pretty harshly. I know that’s kind of the point but still 😅 Baz seems like the only one who’s even slightly on his side, so I’m clinging to him for now.

- Everyone is weirdly attractive (not even gonna lie). Baz and Pope especially stand out for me.

- Smurf is fascinating but also really unsettling. I like that she’s “family-oriented” in her own way, especially with J, but something about her feels off. Like she has a much darker side underneath all the care.

- The funeral scene really stuck with me. No one seemed emotional at all about Julia, which felt cold and kind of disturbing. Makes me think there’s a lot of history there we don’t know yet.

- Catherine calling out Smurf about Lina (“you turn on her the second her boob grows”) was WILD and made me instantly suspicious of Smurf’s past.

- The tension in general is really well done. Like when Pope and Deran clash while J is trying to help with their schemes… you can feel how unstable everything is.

- The first job (stealing watches) was actually really fun and fast-paced, which surprised me because I thought it would be slower overall.

Overall I didn’t expect to like this as much as I do. It’s kind of addictive already and I feel like I’m reading between the lines of everything everyone says.

Anyone else feel like Smurf is way more dangerous than she looks this early on? 👀

I don’t know if it’s just me… but it feels like a completely different show.

I've had plenty of issues throughout seasons 1-7 but I still enjoyed them overall. There was something about the tone and consistency that kept me invested, even when certain storylines got frustrating.

Season 8 though? I’m really struggling so far.

Did anyone else feel this way when starting Season 8? Does it pick up again, or is this pretty much the new tone going forward?