Diksha Sundriyal
The first season of Apple TV+’s ‘Dope Thief’ ends with an action-packed finale that ties up the loose ends, giving the characters the redeeming arc they have been working towards from the beginning of this season. The previous episode ended with Manny’s death, and this episode opens with the aftermath of his heartbreak. Ray attends the funeral with Theresa, who reveals that she will be sent to a safe house for being a federal witness. Meanwhile, Ray has nothing but justice and revenge on his mind. He wants to know who wronged him and Manny, and why all this havoc was wreaked upon them. Though Michelle advises him not to work with the feds, he decides to go all in, no matter what. He tells them everything he knows, and it turns out that there is a lot that they don’t know yet.
Despite Ray being brought into the operation, Nader is not yet convinced about going down that path. However, Mina is adamant about it, and it seems that another senior officer wants to see the whole thing through, especially when Ray reveals that he has been in touch with a mysterious man who could be at the head of the Alliance. Finding the identity of this person and the entire structure of the Alliance is a top priority, and Officer McKinty advises Nader to do whatever it takes to see that guy. Soon, however, it turns out Jack wasn’t the only corrupt cop in the system.
From the moment that Ray and Manny robbed the compound with Jack and Mina in it and ran away with the money, they’d been haunted by a voice on the phone. This voice had an omniscient tone, as if it knew everything there was to know about Ray and Manny. It was this voice that launched an attack on their family and friends, and which eventually claimed responsibility for Manny’s death. It turns out that this person on the other end of the line was the one who sent heroin Manny’s way, knowing full well of his problem with addiction. For Manny, this voice is the enemy, and he wants nothing but to find this faceless man and kill him.
Is McKinty Dead? Why did He Want the Bills?
In the end, it turns out that this voice belongs to Officer McKinty. He has been the boss and kept in the loop since the beginning, so it makes sense that he knows so much about everything. The numbers on the bills, which he was after, corresponded to where Jack had hidden some stuff. It was believed to be the money he got from his corrupt methods, but it was also where he hid all the evidence he had amassed against McKinty and the Alliance. The evidence reveals that McKinty had been running an operation where he would list a particular property in the federal directory so that the said place would not be at risk of being raided or inspected. The purpose of the list was for the authorities to keep track of their ongoing investigation and prevent the feds from crossing over into each other’s investigation, especially if an undercover agent is involved.
McKinty used the directory to hide all the places connected to him. For this, they would give him a cut, and he would protect them from any interference from the law. Jack also worked for him, but he turned into a menace, and McKinty wanted him gone. But he also wanted the money and evidence the cop had been hiding. Through the investigation into Ray and Manny, McKinty keeps an eye on every development. Eventually, when the idea of finding the faceless man is put on the table, he advises them to set up a meeting with the guy and create an ambush to catch him. Ray and Son are used as bait, but Nader and his men don’t realise that it is them who are walking into an ambush. When the time comes, McKinty shoots and kills every cop, starting with Nader. He also gets the biker gang to join him in the hunt against Ray. Eventually, when they come face to face, Ray decides that he has had enough and kills McKinty with Nina’s help.
What Happens to Ray and Mina?
Ray and Mina started the story on opposite ends of the spectrum, but in the end, they are forced to join forces to get what they want. When they finally meet in the hospital, Ray is extremely apologetic for his actions, but all Mina wants is to get to the bottom of the mystery. With her, Ray upends every corner of the investigation and deciphers the meaning of the numbers on the bill. They correspond to a location, and when they reach the place, which is a graveyard, they find Jack’s hiding place, which leads them to the discovery that McKinty is the bad guy, and he has been behind it all since the beginning. Marchetti tries to warn Nader about the oncoming danger, but it is too late.
Meanwhile, McKinty shows up with his forces to attack and kill Ray and Mina. When the duo hides in their van, they set it on fire. This is a lose-lose situation for them because if they stay inside, they will burn and suffocate to death. But, they will be shot down if they come out of the van. Ray decides to take a considerable risk with no other option offering anything better. As he talks to McKinty on the phone, he lures the cop out of the shadows and into the open. As soon as he has the guy in his sight, Ray runs the burning van in his direction. The collision ends with an explosion in which McKinty dies. To anyone watching from a distance, it would seem that Mina and Ray have perished as well, considering that they were inside the van as well. But then, we see that the truck is empty and the duo had already jumped out of it before it even touched McKinty. The gears were set in place for the car to do its job, while Ray and Mina saved themselves by getting out of the vehicle at a critical point.
Interestingly, they don’t bother to stay back and tell anyone they are safe. As their dead bodies are not found, Marchetti is convinced that Mina has somehow survived. As expected, Ray and Mina are alive and at a hamburger place. The intensity of the day has taken its toll on them, and some anonymity and good food are the only things that can cure them at the moment. So, that is what they do. They sit easily and eat burgers, looking back at the events of the past few months that have completely transformed them and their lives, and bonded them to one another in unexpected ways. What’s next remains to be seen, but for now, they are having their food and don’t seem to be in the mood to return to the world just yet.
What Happens to Son? Where Does He Go?
The problems for Ray and Manny started with the job with Rick, where they attacked the wrong drug dealers. Before he dies, Bart tells Ray that they were deliberately sent to that place. They were set up by someone, and it is someone close to them. Sure enough, it turns out to be Son, who had been working with McKinty all this while. McKinty was the secret handler whom Son had worked with years ago, and he was the one who listed Son’s place in the directory to keep him from being raided or attacked by the cops in the middle of the night. In the fake plan to find and ambush the faceless man, the plan was always to have Son taken out of the picture.
He would have been killed, but his mother made a deal with McKinty, which meant that once things were taken care of, they would have to run away and never look back. This is what Son does. When Nader and the other officers are killed, Son is picked up by his mother and his associate and is driven away in a car. There is too much heat on him now, which means “bye-bye, Philadelphia.” Before leaving, Son leaves a message for Ray, whom he considers family and even tried to protect as much as possible. He apologises for putting Manny and him in a bad spot, but reveals he had no choice. He is saddened by Manny’s death, but there is nothing that could have been done about it. In his voicemail, he bids goodbye to Ray, telling him that he is going on a run now, and perhaps, that is the price he must pay for all the things that went wrong.
Read More: Are Ray Driscoll and Manny Carvalho Based on Real People?
