WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Animal Kingdom season 5 that may influence your enjoyment in discovering the plotlines. Read at your own risk.
A different Animal Kingdom season 5 is returning to TNT in 2020. Following the shocking events of the most recent season finale, the creative team of the crime drama series has confirmed that there will be crucial changes coming up in the next season.
Speaking with Deadline, executive producer John Wells said that Animal Kingdom season 5 would explore "how our characters were formed by Smurf," who was unexpectedly killed off in season 4. The next stories of the series will unpack a lot as the show will deal with how much the absence of the central character, played by Ellen Barkin since season 1, will greatly affect the lives of the sons she has left behind.
Wells and the writers of Animal Kingdom received some backlash for deciding to kill off Barkin's character. Even Barkin was reportedly not pleased with the fact that she has been cut out of the show.
But the showrunner defended that the decision was necessary for Animal Kingdom season 5 to tell fresh stories. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Wells said that the nature of the show is that not every character will survive. It is titled Animal Kingdom after all.
Wells is also suggesting that Animal Kingdom season 5 could go back in time and tell stories of a younger Smurf to connect this with the present.
"We had told the Smurf stories in the present that we wanted to tell but what we were really interested in is how did she get to be Smurf?" Wells said. "We came to the realization that the thing that would shake the family up most is if Smurf wasn't there to hold them together anymore."
Meanwhile, the showrunner also said that despite reports of Barkin's displeasure, the actress was surprised to have lasted four seasons in the show. Wells said that Barkin understood why Smurf needed to die in the season finale of Animal Kingdom season 4 and she was excited to film her final scene.
TNT renewed Animal Kingdom season 5 in July or a month before the big twist in the series finale was unveiled. The series is expected to return in TNT's summer schedule in 2020. The show also stars Shawn Hatosy (as Pop Cody), Finn Cole (as J Cody), Ben Robson (as Craig Cody), Jake Weary (as Deran Cody) and Emily Deschanel (as Angela).
