Janine ‘Smurf,’ the matriarch of the Cody crime family, died in season 4 of Animal Kingdom, shocking fans.

Smurf discovered she has melanoma, which has progressed to her lymph nodes and bones, at the start of Season 4.

She was never sick I’m real life as people reported.

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Smurf is facing mortality for the first time, and as expected, she wants to go out on her own terms.

Smurf starts a gunfight that is designed to kill her in the penultimate episode of Season 4, but Pope saves her, prompting Smurf to implore him to do the job.

If he doesn’t pull the trigger, she threatens to shoot him.

When her grandson J fired the shot that would kill her instead of Pope, fans were stunned.

John Wells, the executive producer of Animal Kingdom, speaks with Entertainment Weekly on why Smurf died in the series.

“A large part of the problem on any show is to keep it seeming authentic for the viewer in the sense that it’s still fun to watch because you never know what’s going to happen,” he explained.

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