S05.E11: Trust the Process

[CheshireCat]

Quote

J and Pope take a road trip to clean up the aftermath of some family business that went sideways; Deran and Craig scout a new mark with the help of Frankie.

Air date: Sep 19, 2021

[Marley]

I guess something finally happened but I still think if it was a better actress playing Young Smurf it would’ve been more interesting.

The actor playing kid Pope seems good tho.

Why do they have to do this crazy almost impossible job tho? Why does the show keep pretending these guys are broke.

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Well well well!  Finally we at least get to meet Baz and his mother in the shots of the past making sitting through them for too many episodes pay off to a degree!  

J takes charge!  And all the boys were behind him, finally a team again.

Are the kids playing young Pope and Julia twins in real life?  I will have to google but this is the first time I noticed how much alike they are.  

[TooMuchRealityTV]

I did enjoy this episode. The show seems to have dropped a lot of the things that were dragging this season down like Pam, the pissing match for power and Pope's wanderings in the desert. So now the boys are back to what they do best. This show is the most fun when they are scheming as a team. They got to do that this episode. I liked that J took charge and there was no infighting about it. He was the best person for the whole cleanup thing. I also like the pairing of J and Pope. I have noticed some similarities between the two and I thought it was an interesting moment when Pope pointed out that J had a childhood and Pope and Julia did not. There was even some emotion in J's face when Pope said that, which we don't usually get from that character. It's just too bad we rarely get to hear J's feelings/thoughts. I think the last person J trusted, sometime gave glimpses of his emotions to, was Nikki and we all saw how that ended.

I still think they have wasted too much time on flashbacks. However, it seems like the ones in this episode did tie in somewhat. It certainly tied in to Pope telling J that he had no childhood. Also, it gave a little context as to how Pope became Mommy's hitman.

I hope the boys are prepared for what they are about to do. When they did the army base job they had Baz. He was probably the smartest in that crew. He was a master con and thief and now the boys are down Baz and Smurf. Might not be the time to pull a higher risk job than they usually pull.

[arachne]

So Andrew and I have one thing in common: we both like watching nature shows! (But that's it, really.) 

[Dowel Jones]

Shawn Hatosy directed this epsiode!

I thought there was going to be a twist at Janine's house in which little Pope grabs the gun and plugs Max.

That was one dull axe that required 3-4 hacks to get through the dead agent's arm.  Pope and J were right to just follow instructions and get the hell out of there.  Those two gangsters were the real deal.

One of the security guys at the hall whispered something to the other as Frankie went up to see the money launderer.  Paired with the fact that there's two grubby guys hanging around plain sight in the front of the hall, I wonder if something might be going wrong.

[Crashcourse]

Frankie was lucky she got out of there alive because I thought she was going to get killed.  She definitely deserves her share if they pull it off.

 

[Artsda]

Deran better understand know that J trumps him. J took charge and handled all that like a pro, he and Pope working together. Deran and Craig are messes who can't do what J organized and Pope had his back. 

I liked seeing them actually come together again.

 

[iMonrey]

This was maybe the closest they've come to tying the flashbacks to the present day story - and they didn't even come that close. What they should have done in that last scene where Smurf tells young Pope to hang onto that knife, is cut to present day Pope still holding that same knife. I mean, just give me something! Something to convince me these flashbacks have some connection to what's happening in the present day and there aren't just two different stories going on in the same show independent of one another, because that's how it feels.

I'd also like to think there was some purpose to the strip club scene other than getting Leila George into a tight, low-cut stripper outfit, because I've got nothing. I always think it's silly to do strip club scenes on basic cable and network shows where they can't do nudity, because the "strippers" are basically dancing around in bikinis and lingerie. Nobody would ever go there. 

That's some cheap-ass wig they've got on Baz's mother. And did she say she has children to take care of? Did Baz have siblings we never knew about? I assume at some point she dies, or goes to jail. Baz's father was still alive in present day but he doesn't seem to be around in the flashbacks. At the very least, let's hope we find out how Baz ended up living with Smurf before this season ends.

 

[Triviatrish2]

Although, this was one of the better episodes, this year...dear God, stop with so many flashbacks.  They have her strutting around like some sexy babe, that no man can resist, it is bad.  All these flashbacks, for me, have dragged down, what should have been the ultimate season, before the final one.  Honestly, I am at the point that I fast forward her scenes.  Give us more Cody boys action!

[sugarbaker design]

I did enjoy the doc about wolves that Andrew & Julia were supposed to be watching while Max was talking to Janine.

[Dowel Jones]

You know, I was also expecting that wolf doc to show some kind of pack attack, or a battle for dominance, the entire time that Max and Janine were posturing and then fighting.  It would have been a great backdrop.

[MaggieG]

22 hours ago, TooMuchRealityTV said:

I did enjoy this episode. The show seems to have dropped a lot of the things that were dragging this season down like Pam, the pissing match for power and Pope's wanderings in the desert. So now the boys are back to what they do best. This show is the most fun when they are scheming as a team. They got to do that this episode. I liked that J took charge and there was no infighting about it. He was the best person for the whole cleanup thing. I also like the pairing of J and Pope. I have noticed some similarities between the two and I thought it was an interesting moment when Pope pointed out that J had a childhood and Pope and Julia did not. There was even some emotion in J's face when Pope said that, which we don't usually get from that character. It's just too bad we rarely get to hear J's feelings/thoughts. I think the last person J trusted, sometime gave glimpses of his emotions to, was Nikki and we all saw how that ended.

That made me think if maybe there were moments were Julia wasn't messed up and was actually a decent mom to J. Those moments were probably few and far in between.

[TooMuchRealityTV]

4 hours ago, MaggieG said:

That made me think if maybe there were moments were Julia wasn't messed up and was actually a decent mom to J. Those moments were probably few and far in between.

Yeah, J's background has always been somewhat unclear. We know Julia had a drug problem. We know she was estranged from the family for a long time, but other than that I think there are more questions than answers. J gives almost nothing away about his childhood. Julia's addiction may have gotten worse over time. So perhaps when J was little she was still functional. Perhaps if the show weren't so determined to focus on Young Smurf flashbacks they could have perhaps moved the flashback timeline along and shown us moments that would have helped us understand the current circumstances of the still living characters. What happened as Pope and Julia got older and Baz moves in would have been interesting. Maybe give us a glimpse into the circumstances of J's birth and Julia's estrangement.

[Joimiaroxeu]

If there's an investigation on the missing/dead DEA agent won't the cops notice the bar is covered in chlorine bleach? Seem like that'd be evidence of something being covered up. Plus there's always a random speck of blood that 's missed during the cleanup. The feds will find it on a random item the Codys neglected to wipe.

This show. They just had to find an excuse to have Smurf tarted up like a stripper. And then there was no real payoff unless you're a teenaged boy getting off on the low-rent lasciviousness.

That must've been an awfully small gun for Smurf to have tucked it in her waistband.

Poor Pope and Julia, having to keep living in the place where they witnessed their mother shoot a guy to death. And after Pope had to stab him to keep him from killing her. Sick. Smurf was the worst mother, especially since she seems to be grooming Pope to be her muscle.

Looks like the next Cody heist might be Animal Kingdom meets Fast & Furious.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Joimiaroxeu