User Reviews

Good to see Baz back for one episode and for us to finally see how Pope ended up going to prison initially. I just wish we would see an adult Julia, but I guess that is not in the cards.

I'm not going to lie ever since Season 4 ended and the death of Smurf the quality of Animal Kingdom has gone down slightly. With Flashbacks that don't seem to really add to the story that much, characters getting introduced and then disappearing and pacing issues. I was starting to get worried that the ending to this show would be rushed and sloppy. That might still be the case but regardless S6E11 "Hit and Run" is the best episode this show has put out in a long time.

With Scott Speedman and both Denis Leary returning they both brought a much needed energy that this show was been missing for a while.

The flashbacks were great this episode as we saw Julia become further frustrated with her family. Seeing her talk about going to college is heartbreaking considering what ends up happening to her.

Pope hallucinating Baz in his prison cell was great and seeing Baz tell Pope that "it wasn't your fault she had Cath, me and Julia killed it was always Smurf". Provided much needed clarity to Pope to stop blaming himself and to stop taking on the sins of his mother and finally start fighting back. Is it too late though?

The J betraying everyone foreshadowing was strong this episode. A storyline that has been building since the end of Season 1 and it looks like it's finally going to be coming to fruition.

There's no slowing down now. With only 2 episodes left let's hope the final episodes will be the same quality as this one.

This episode is arguably one of the best episodes in the entire series' run. I agree with another reviewer who noted that the series' quality has diminished since the elder Smurf was cut from the cast. Ellen Barkin really was the center of gravity of the show and her removal was a massive loss for the show. The focus on her family doing jobs without her just does not hold the same interest of the viewer. Nor does the "origin story" of the younger Smurf raising the younger versions of her children.

However, even without Barkin, the Hit and Run episode managed to be a very well-written, compelling episode that should rank among the series' best. The guest appearance by Scott Speedman was cleverly woven in, both in the bank robbery flashback--which I'm sure many fans were glad to finally see--as well as in the jail cell dialogue with Pope--which was brilliant. The parallel side stories involving the Young Baz, Young Julia, and Young Pope mirroring the Old Baz, Old Cath, and Old Pope were also well done. And the writers also planted some seeds of suspicion about J--although the same could also be said about Billy.

Overall, 10/10.