[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for all seasons of Animal Kingdom.]

It’s going to be an Animal Kingdom summer. The hit TNT series, which originally ran from 2016 to 2022, has experienced a resurgence following the release of all six seasons on Netflix on June 1.

The gritty crime drama, which followed the dysfunctional Cody family, was filled with twists and turns. With Smurf Cody (Ellen Barkin) running (and sometimes ruining) the lives of her four sons—Baz (Scott Speedman), Pope (Shawn Hatosy), Craig (Ben Robson), and Deran (Jake Weary)—you never knew what would happen next.

Now that Animal Kingdom, which was executive produced by ER and The Pitt‘s John Wells, has gotten a second wind on streaming, you might be wondering if there’s more life to Animal Kingdom beyond Season 6. Let’s take a look back at Animal Kingdom’s ending and the potential for Season 7.

How does Animal Kingdom end?

Animal Kingdom’s series finale, which aired on August 28, 2022, ended like a great Shakespearean tragedy. The remaining Codys (Baz died in Season 3 at the hands of a hitman on Smurf’s orders) attempted to break Pope out of jail, but not every Cody was on the same page.

J (Finn Cole) turned his back on Deran and Craig during a shootout with the cops. Aside from his own personal issues with his uncles, J wanted to destroy Smurf’s criminal empire from the inside and seek justice for his mother, Julia (Scarlett Abinante), Smurf’s only daughter, who died from a drug overdose in the series premiere.

Craig and Deran later held up a convenience store to steal some cash and essentials. The store’s owner shot and killed Craig. In his brother’s final moments, Deran promised Craig he would be a father figure to his son.

Before he was the badass Dr. Abbot on The Pitt, Hatosy’s best-known TV role was the volatile and complicated Pope Cody. Pope survived the initial police shootout but was mortally wounded. He had finally reached his breaking point after years of criminal behavior and Smurf’s relentless psychological warfare. Pope confronted J about setting him and his brothers up with the police but ultimately let his nephew live. Content with dying, he then lit the Cody house on fire and laid down to die as the place burned to the ground.

While it seemed like J could have been the one to break the Cody cycle of crime, he proved to be Smurf’s grandson after all. When his girlfriend, Penny (Stevie Lynn Jones), wouldn’t run away with him, he set up a fatal drug overdose by poisoning her cocktail. J understood that he couldn’t leave her behind with all the information she had about him. The last moments of the Animal Kingdom series finale featured J completely alone at a tropical location.

What happened to Smurf?

The Cody matriarch didn’t make it to the final season because she was killed off in Season 4. Even though she was involved in dangerous heists, it was her terminal skin cancer diagnosis that had Smurf truly scared. Determined to control her own mortality, Smurf decided she wanted to go out in a blaze of glory during one last heist.

Her son, Pope, couldn’t let his mother go like that. He saved her from being killed in a gunfight, which led to her unleashing her fury on her sons. She begged Pope to kill her, but he refused. When Smurf pulled a gun on Pope (she even grazed his ear with a bullet) to force him to shoot her, it was her grandson, J, who ultimately pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Showrunner John Wells told Entertainment Tonight that there were “endless conversations” about who would ultimately kill the legendary Smurf. The main actors even lobbied for their characters to be the one to perform the execution.

“They understood at the moment that Smurf was committing suicide because she didn’t want to die [in a hospital bed], so it’s not a murder necessarily, but it’s who had the courage to actually do what she wanted done,” Wells explained. “The ramifications of that and the recriminations for the future were going to become major story points for next season. There’s already quite a bit about that in the final episode, but it’ll be something that propels us into next season substantially.”

Is there going to be an Animal Kingdom Season 7?

As of right now, there are no plans for Animal Kingdom Season 7 or a spinoff series, but it hasn’t been ruled out.

Eddy Chen / TNT / Everett Collection

“John [Wells] knows how much we love him and love working with him,” TNT’s former general manager Brett Weitz told Deadline ahead of the final season. “In our jobs, you want to nudge the creators, you don’t want to force them into a decision. So, when he’s ready and he feels like there’s a natural evolution to that show or spinoff, not only is my door open, but there’s probably a slot on the air for him to do that. He could do no wrong in my books.”

With Deran and J still alive, there is an opportunity to continue the Cody family story. Executive producer Daniele Nathanson revealed after the series finale that she believed Deran would elude the police and ultimately reunite with his love Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark), who Deran sent away at the end of Season 4.

“This is 100-percent what I believe happens,” she told TVLine. “I believe he hooks up first with Renn, discusses what they’re going to do with [her and Craig’s infant son] Nick, and he also reaches out to Adrian. They can form some type of family unit.”

Would you watch a seventh season of Animal Kingdom? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Animal Kingdom, All Seasons, Streaming Now, Netflix