Emily Deschanel Gives J a Piece of Her Mind in Tense 'Animal Kingdom' Sneak Peek (Exclusive)

Don't mess with Emily Deschanel.

On Tuesday's episode of Animal Kingdom, titled "Into the Black," Angela (Deschanel) is working overtime to make sure she gets in good with her late best friend Julia's son, hoping to sway him over to her side.

In ET's exclusive clip, Angela comes into the garage where J (Finn Cole) is fixing up a car and openly opines about how challenging it is to stay sober in the Cody house as she opens the refrigerator door and looks for something non-alcoholic to drink. 

"How do you stay sober in this house? Can't reach over for a can of soup or a cup of coffee without coming across an oxy stash or a fifth of Jack," Angela says with a heavy sigh, before noticing a big bruise on J's face. "Jesus, what happened to you?"

A fight, apparently. But J has no interest rehashing his extracurricular activities and instead, wants to talk about why Angela is even at the Cody house to begin with. From his line of questioning, it's fair to say he doesn't like that she's hanging around. Angela doesn't take the bait, cleverly turning the tables on J.

"Your mom lived in poverty to keep you away from these people," Angela says. 

"My mom lived in poverty because she was a junkie... but you don't know anything about that, right?" J asks, knowing full well that she does. 

"She was an addict. She was sick and I did the best I could to help her," she replies.

"And now what? You helping Pope (Shawn Hatosy)?" J says, not giving an inch to Angela in their tense power struggle.

"Pope and I have history," Angela says simply. "Smurf owes you, OK? I came here for you. You're following her. It's smart." 

But J isn't here to make nice with Angela, telling her he doesn't need her guidance. Too bad, because she's here to stay. Watch ET's exclusive sneak peek to see what happens next.

Recently, Deschanel spoke with ET about playing a character who is a complete departure from her famous Bones role, Temperance Brennan. 

"You get a character at one of their lowest points. She has nowhere to go to. She has nothing to her name. She just got out of prison. She's struggling to keep her sobriety after she gets clean in prison and that's really interesting to explore -- somebody at their very bottom and how desperate they can be in that situation," Deschanel said. "As an actor, you just want to explore different things and be pushed and stretched. This show certainly has pushed me beyond where Bones had me pushed. It can be scary at times for sure, but it's been interesting to jump in and see where this character goes and where the story goes."

Animal Kingdom airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on TNT.

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