‘Animal Kingdom’ Season 6, Episode 8: ‘Revelation’

OK, so things looked bad for Animal Kingdom’s Pope in Sunday’s episode. Like, real bad.

First, the telltale cereal box combined with security footage tipped him off to the fact that someone had been in the house. Then, after being punched a coupla times, Taylor folded like a house of cards and admitted that his “mom” was Detective Thompson. Finally, Pope confronted the cop and was chagrined to learn that — ruh-roh — she didn’t want a payoff, she wanted to bring Catherine’s killer to justice.

But there was good news for Pope, too. As Thompson pointed out, he could murder her if he felt like it. “Why not? They can only fry you once.” Cornered, Pope went home and filled in Deran and J, ruining their nitrous-oxide buzz with the revelation that a cop was aware that he’d killed Catherine. Which was the first that they’d even heard about him having killed Baz’s significant other, much less that he’d done so on Smurf’s orders.

IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS | Deran and J had nitrous oxide on hand in “Revelation” because, off a tip from Tommy, they’d stolen $30k in silver coins from a dentist’s office. Tommy, eager to be one of the gang, had also lifted… a box of dentures. When not engaging in that petty smash-and-grab, J gathered intel on Penny’s husband and learned that he was coming home to stay.

After a trip to the zoo with Nick, an anxious Renn lunged at Craig, and before you could say, “Wait, is this happening?” they were not only getting it on but getting high. As in deliriously high. Before the day was over, they’d won big at a high-stakes game that involved Craig getting smacked repeatedly, Renn had stolen a lottery-ticket display from a convenience store, and Nick’s daddy had awakened in a strange woman’s apartment to find that his babymama had left to score.

Oh, and in 1992, Smurf arranged for Pope to walk in on Julia and Baz acting anything but brotherly and sisterly toward each other. Though after Andrew freaked out and ran away, he returned, by then Baz had hit the road rather than play by Smurf’s rules. Poor Julia tried to insist that he loved her, only to be informed by Janine that “he’d stick it in a snotty Kleenex if he thought it was still wet.” Charming… as… ever.

So, do you see any way out for Pope? Off his revelation about Catherine, how glad is Deran that he got Adrian out of the country? And WTH is to become of Craig and Renn?