Animal Kingdom is a crime drama show on TNT that airs on Tuesday nights. It based off a 2010 Australian film of the same title and premise and is currently airing it's second season. The story follows 17-year old Joshua "J" Cody as he is slowly inserted into his estranged family's life of adrenaline-pumping crime and the chaos that ensues.

Following the overdose of his mother, J phones his estranges grandmother Janine "Smurf" and is soon taken into her home she shares with his uncles. According to neighbors, J's mother had been desperate to keep her son away from the family but J remains in the dark as to reasons why. He meets his uncles; Baz, an egoistic married father who acts as the leader of the brothers, Pope, a disturbed ex-con who just came home after jail time for a few years, Craig, a drug-addict who will eventually will steal J's high school girlfriend despite the obvious age difference, and Deran, a closeted gay man with dreams of owning his own bar after a rocky childhood. Smurf leads the family as a godfather-esque mother who can make a mean meatloaf but will come after you with a taser if you don't work her way. J is slowly brought into a life of crime after being found trustworthy and now must learn his family's business if he wants to keep good ties or choose to stray and face the consequences.

The key to what makes this show so good is the detailing. The ideas of "jobs" the boys pull are very thought out. They pull big jobs and steal from a church and then must deal with the morality of the entire situation. They also pull smaller stunts like stealing from a food truck and learn the hard way that even though it may look like a dirty food truck that sells Molly on the side, they may very well have guns. Yes. they may also shoot you with them if you try to take their money.

The relationship between the boys and their mother is very complex. If you have knowledge on living and associating with an abusive family, you very well know that it can be a game of chess and every move you make can be a minefield. This show is one of the few shows where you can actually see that but also mixed with guns and thousands of stolen dollars. The boys each have their own reasons for their relationship with their money. There's a constant struggle between choosing to stay and leave. There's a strain between keeping the lifestyle and making Mom proud and then leaving to start your own choice.

This show is definitely a top choice! If you're a Breaking Bad or general crime genre fan you'll definitely want to check this out! All the elements flow together to make this show definitely worth watching and one that will keep you on the edge of your seat and something to binge like an addict.