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'Animal Kingdom' Season 4: On May 28, Smurf is Back in Business [TRAILER]

After last month's teaser trailer, it seems almost too soon for the release of a full trailer for the upcoming fourth season of TNT's Animal Kingdom, but fans aren't complaining! 

We left last season seeing Pope (Shawn Hatosy) go even further off the rails after letting Lena (Baz's now orphaned daughter) be adopted by her foster family. It figures he blames Smurf (Ellen Barkin) and that sends him spinning, because in the trailer we see him making veiled threats while coming at Smurf with a baseball bat.

A full trailer for the TNT drama's fourth season dropped on YouTube along with a release date – is it May 28 yet? 

This summer, the ruthless Cody crime family returns in Animal Kingdom season four and they will be as much of a threat to each other as they are to their targets. The series stars Emmy® and Tony® winner Ellen Barkin, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary, Finn Cole and Sohvi Rodriguez. Emily Deschanel also joins the cast this season in a recurring role.

This season, Smurf (Barkin) is back on top reminding her boys who's boss no matter whom she hurts in the process. Trapped with Smurf and becoming increasingly unhinged, Pope (Hatosy) has found new and dangerous ways to deal with his anger. J (Cole) continues to scheme about how to take over the family business, Craig (Robson) plots one of their most difficult heists and Deran (Weary) is worried about his future with Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark).

As always, outsiders move in to threaten the Cody's fragile peace, including Angela (Deschanel), the former best friend of J's deceased mother and a recovering junkie, who tries to snake her way back into the family's good graces. A new criminal crew is also introduced with a surprising connection to the Codys.

As for Deran (Jake Weary), he is funneling everything into running his bar, however, it doesn't stop him from still pulling the occasional job with his brothers or the sub-par crew he assembled. In the season finale, he's back with his on-again-off-again boyfriend Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark), who's surfing in worldwide competitions. Everything is not as it seems though, when he is detained by customs after Deran sneaks contraband in one of his boards. 

Craig (Ben Robson) is still with Frankie (Dichen Lachman) and they're planning a big heist, potentially involving the other boys. I wonder if this job will go slightly sideways like the yacht heist Craig planned. 

And as for J (Finn Cole) – we finally know his motives after he went all Walter White and ended the season by whispering in Smurf's ear while she was asleep that he was going to take everything that she had and burn her to the ground. Ominous much? But still, J is playing the long game, and I respect that. Though he is just a teenager and Smurf has a death grip on control of her criminal kingdom. 

This season sees the introduction of new cast members – first up Angela (Emily Deschanel), the best friend of J's late mother. She's a recovering junkie as well, which makes me wonder what her con is. 

We also get a "new criminal crew … with a surprising connection to the Codys," which very well could fit my flashback theory after the casting announcements of Jon Beavers and Grant Harvey as part of a vagabond criminal crew who lives out of vans pulling jobs up and down the California coast. Along with the casting announcement of Leila George as "Janine," I'm very much thinking this is a hippie-esque flashback version of her old crew we saw in the last season. 

So, that's where we left off, and maybe where we're headed – we'll have to wait until May 28 to find out for sure though. Anybody have a time machine? 

The fourth season of TNT's Animal Kingdom premieres Tuesday, May 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

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