A 17 year old named Joshua "J" Cody moved in with his freewheeling family members in South California. He didn't have much of a choice when his mother died from a heroine drug over-dose. The household is run by Janine "Smurf Cody" and Baz by her side. Baz calls the shots. The "family" includes a guy named Pope, the eldest of the Cody boys, then comes Craig - the middle child. Lastly, Deran, the "baby" of the family.

The series premiered its first two episodes on June 14. IMDB has it that the Pilot was a success as well as episode 2, titled "We Don't Hurt People." According to Entertainment Weekly, TNT's "Animal Kingdom" is full of neon lights, drugs, sunny beaches and violence.

It starts with Josh's family. A scene takes place where paramedics show up at the apartment. He is sitting down with a blank look on his face while the woman dies from the overdose. When she died, "J" picks up the phone and called his grandmother (Ellen Barkin) and asked if he can live with her.

Leaving his old life behind, he was welcomed with a pool, nice cars, television sets and money inside the new house. That's where he is staying. Until he finds out his whole family are criminals. They've been doing robbery stunts and his grandmother wants him in on the game too. But this is just the beginning of J's journey as he is faced with turmoils in the household. But above all the chaos, he finds comfort in his girlfriend, Nicky. Soon, it was revealed that she's going to get dragged into the criminal world as well.

"Animal Kingdom" will have only ten episodes this year and is being led by Finn Cole, as J.