#’Can They Survive Without Her?’ (VIDEO)

Some families would spend time following the passing of their mother by mourning and coming together to help each other heal. But on TNT’s Animal Kingdom, the Cody brothers — Andrew, aka Pope (Shawn Hatosy); Craig (Ben Robson); and Deran (Jake Weary); as well as crafty nephew J (Finn Cole) — are all about jockeying for power in the lucrative family business of crime.

With the death of ruthless matriarch Janine “Smurf” Cody (Ellen Barkin) in last season’s penultimate episode, the boys are all dealing with the aftermath in very different ways. For his part, Pope is reeling as he tries to make sense of it all. “The end of season four, you know what happens to Smurf and it’s like, now she’s gone, she’s been in charge for so long, she’s kept the guys safe, kept them in order and the question becomes, can they survive without her?” says Hatosy during our interview about the fifth season, which premieres Sunday on TNT.

Besides the emotional work that the characters are going through and the continuation of the flashback thread featuring a young Smurf (Leila George), Andrew and sister Julia, there’s danger lurking for the guys right off the bat when some cousins of the Codys show up. “It sets up a very nice clash…and it’s the Cody version of the backwards family,” Hatosy says.

The actor also talks about how it was for him to shoot one intense fight scene that happens underwater and at night in the season premiere. Check out the interview above.

Animal Kingdom, Sundays, 9/8c, TNT