Here's Why You Won't Be Seeing Ellen Barkin on 'Animal Kingdom' Season 5

Jul. 6 2021, Published 9:32 p.m. ET

Since TNT's drama sequence Animal Kingdom debut in 2016, viewers straight away changed into lovers of the tight-knit southern California family who lives speedy and commits crimes.

Audiences could not help however take a liking to the ballsy no-filtered circle of relatives matriarch Janine "Smurf" Cody, played by means of Ellen Barkin. IMDb customers had been in an instant hooked, calling the show "Sons of Anarchy meets Point Break" and the "Best Show on Television."

For 4 seasons, audiences watched as Smurf pretty much ran the show when it came to her circle of relatives's illegal activities such as armed theft, again door negotiations, and epic beatdowns.

However, the Codys will likely be without their mama bear in Season 5.

What happened to Smurf on 'Animal Kingdon?'

In Season 4, Episode 3, Smurf learns that she has melanoma, which has spread to her lymph nodes and bones.

For the first time, she is staring death in the face, and as anticipated, Smurf desires to cross out on her own terms.

In the penultimate episode of Season 4, Smurf starts a gunfight this is meant to end her life. However, Pope (Shawn Hatosy) saves her, prompting Smurf to ask him to end the activity.

She threatens to shoot him if he does not pull the trigger. Fans have been utterly shocked when her grandson "J" (Finn Cole) fires the shot that may finish her life as a substitute of Pope.

So, why did Ellen Barkin leave 'Animal Kingdom?'

When Smurf was once shot and killed, fans wondered if this was once the plan all alongside or if one thing else used to be at the back of Ellen's departure. In an evidence of why Smurf died on Animal Kingdom, government produce John Wells talked with Entertainment Weekly.

"A big part of the challenge on any show is to try and keep it feeling real for the audience in the sense that it's still fun to watch because you don't know exactly what's going to happen," he stated. "Going forward, the Cody family will now have to find their way without their mother's guidance."

It would seem that Smurf was killed off to shake up the show and stay audiences on their toes. At the end of the interview, John also made it seem that Ellen used to be on board with having to depart Animal Kingdom.

"She comes from the movies where you normally do three months and then you're done, so she was surprised it lasted this long," he added. "But she understood and thought it was a really good story, and she was really excited when we shot the scene. It's a great final Macbeth moment."

Well, it sort of feels that Ellen was too overjoyed about her departure from 'Animal Kingdom.'

Ellen spoke out on social media following her surprising departure and hinted that she was once no longer onboard with the resolution to kill off her persona.

"Next episode Smurf’s will is opened. She left her boys a hit TV show. Carry on Codys... well, maybe not all Codys," she tweeted.

A few months later she tweeted once more, and this time immediately at TNT.

"Looks like TNT is purging themselves of lots of female leads. But just you wait, I've got a theory," she wrote. Ellen seems to have some type of bitterness in opposition to the network and what happened to her persona, so possibly she did not need to leave Animal Kingdom finally.

Smurf was the glue that held the Cody family, so it will be interesting to see her boys in motion without her.

Watch Animal Kingdom on TNT at Nine p.m. EST.

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