‘Animal Kingdom’ Season 3 Spoilers: Episode 3, ‘The Center Will Hold’ Synopsis

The Cody family is running out of money and they need to figure out a way to finance their lives while saving Smurf from what could be a lifelong prison sentence. On “Animal Kingdom” Season 3, episode 3, J, Pope, and Deran will get a major reality check about how hard life can be when Smurf isn’t there to save them.

“Smurf (Ellen Barkin) navigates prison politics in pursuit of a potential job,” the synopsis for “The Center Will Hold” teases. In the previous episode of the TNT series, Smurf was approached by an inmate named Alvarez who was eager to get back at her ex-boyfriend and wanted Smurf’s help.

Alvarez explained her former beau left her during a liquor store robbery and is the reason why she is doing time in prison. In order to get revenge, she is hoping to pull off an even bigger robbery they had in the works and wants Smurf to put her boys on the job before her ex can get to it.

Although Smurf told her fellow inmate no, she later questioned one of her protectors about whether Alvarez could be trusted. In the promo, Smurf approaches Alvarez and tells her she wants to talk about the business opportunity she mentioned.

Is Smurf really going to risk her family’s freedom for a big payout?

“J (Finn Cole) pulls the Cody boys together to keep the family enterprise going,” the synopsis for “Animal Kingdom” Season 3, episode 3 says.

In the promo for “The Center Will Hold,” Pope (Shawn Hatosy) tells Deran (Jake Weary) they are a family and it is time for him to step up. In the previous episode, J and Pope learned Deran pulled a job by himself and was attempting to become independent from his family.

However, now that Smurf’s bills need to be paid in order to save everything they own, it doesn’t look like Pope is interested in putting up with his brother’s nonsense and wants him to act like he is apart of their family.

“Nicky (Molly Gordon) gets into serious trouble when she tries to impress an old friend,” the synopsis for the TNT show states. Nicky’s life has been less than perfect ever since she got involved with the Cody family.

The teen no longer speaks to her parents and has been living with her boyfriend, however, it appears she may have worn out her welcome.

In the previous episode, J was upset with Nicky over her spending and told his girlfriend the family finances were low and they needed to be more responsible about money.

Meanwhile, Pope has not seemed thrilled about Nicky’s presence at the family home since learning about Baz’s (Scott Speedman) death and has yelled at her on several occasions.

Will Nicky’s troubles bring even more problems for the Cody family or will she end up losing more than she expected?

“Animal Kingdom” Season 3, episode 3 will air Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT on TNT.