Animal Kingdom Recap: Season 6, Episode 5 — [Spoiler] Returns in Covet

Bless his sick and twisted heart, Animal Kingdom’s Pope doesn’t have a prayer of making it to the series’ finale unscathed. Or even just not further scathed.

In Sunday’s episode, which featured Baz calling Andrew Pope for the first time after the 1992 rectory robbery that left him feeling more sinful than usual, the present-day version of Shawn Hatosy’s character was reeled further in by Taylor, the kid who was, however reluctantly, in cahoots with Detective Thompson. Pope not only paid Taylor’s hospital bill when he was injured at the skate park, he moved the youngster into the garage of the Codys’ house and offered to make him a sandwich — a sandwich, for crying out loud!

What’s more, Pope had a chance encounter with lost love Amy (Yellowstone’s Jennifer Landon), while Thompson was learning from his former cellmate that he was always talking about Catherine. Where Pope had trouble was remembering that she was Baz’s wife, not his own. In other developments in “Covet”…

‘DON’T GO IN THE HOUSE’ | Craig and Vince’s friendship intensified after a botched 18-wheeler robbery. The chaotic approach to thievery wasn’t for Craig, he said, and if Vince was smart, it wouldn’t be for him, either. So grateful for the wakeup call was Vince that he built his pal a motorcycle, which has to beat a thank-you note any day. J and Penny’s affair intensified, too — to the point that he blew off Lark so much that he finally had to admit to her that he was seeing someone, and even with husband Noah home, Penny couldn’t resist J. (Getting it on on rather than in a car outside the apartment in which Noah was sleeping seemed pretty indiscreet to me, but what do I know?)

While all that was going on, Deran got himself “invited” to steal Eddie’s baubles Brock’s party by dressing up as a fire marshal and telling the singer’s assistant Hannah that the only way the bash could happen without permits was if he was on the premises that night. For his part, Craig gleaned intel by posing as a paparazzo, and J borrowed a septic truck that smelled as bad as it sounded.

So, your take on “Covet”? What is it about Penny that makes her so special to J? How thrilled were you when Amy turned up? And though he’s a killer, how awful is it going to be when Pope is finally busted for Catherine’s murder?