‘Deliver Me’ Ending Explained: Did Dogge Kill Billy?

Deliver Me is a Swedish Netflix original that dabbles in the criminalization of young children and how it comes to be. The show, which consists of only 5 episodes of about 35–50 minutes, is fast-paced, slightly convoluted, and a little bit confused. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that it has some points to make but tries hard to be complicated, so it manages to lose its effect as it progresses. The show tells the story of Billy and Dogge, two teenagers in Sweden who end up joining a gang. What they don’t know is that with the drug territory comes immense violence, something they weren’t expecting. There’s also police officer Farid, who wants to help the young minds who are a lost cause at this point because he feels responsible for them; however, when Billy gets shot by Dogge, things turn upside down, and Farid is left blaming himself for the situation. The end of the series is quite sad, and I suppose it asks us to marinate our thoughts in the idea that the criminal world is a chronic disease that messes with young lives. With that said, let’s jump into Deliver Me‘s ending and what it means.

Spoiler Alert

What’s the verdict on Mehdi? 

For the most part, Mehdi is the scapegoat in Deliver Me. Yes, he’s a hardened criminal who has wounded Dogge and Billy by taking them in at such a young age and forcing them into committing crimes as far as attempting to murder somebody. However, by the end of the show, when Farid realizes that Mehdi is in fact not responsible for the death of Billy, he feels a sense of guilt. I suppose that’s all Farid’s role in the show is: feeling guilty for everything that’s gone wrong in the town. Tusse decides to testify against Mehdi and confirms that he was the one who gave Dogge the gun and told him to kill Billy. We’ll get to what really happened in a bit, but we find out that Tusse is lying, and Farid knows, but he wants Mehdi caught, so he lets Leila make that decision. At the end of Deliver Me, we don’t get a final verdict for Mehdi, but it’s quite obvious that he’s going to rot in jail for Billy’s death. Dogge is dead too, so there’s nobody else who can corroborate Mehdi’s story. 

Yes, Mehdi’s done a lot of wrongs, and he’s the reason a lot of these young children are criminals. He’s also provided them with guns and grenades, forcing them to step into violent crimes and become criminals as teenagers, but does he deserve to go to prison for something he didn’t do? Is it fair that Farid locks him up not for the things he’s done but for something he hasn’t? I’m not quite sure. Though Mehdi didn’t make Dogge pull the trigger at gunpoint, he’s the reason, or rather, the whole gang is the reason Dogge was under such pressure and fear, so I suppose, in a way, he’s somewhat guilty? But what about the rest of the gang? Aren’t they equally responsible? Additionally, he forced Billy’s family to give him money in return for letting Billy go, but he was never satisfied. He continued to torture them and make both Billy and Dogge live in fear, so maybe he is responsible at the end of the day. 

Why did Dogge kill Billy? 

When does one decide to kill their childhood best friend? Deliver Me notes that it’s when one is jealous of the other’s ability to let go. I suppose when Dogge’s father fell ill with cancer, he really let go and succumbed to all of the criminal activity the gang expected of him. His mother gave up, and he was left fending for himself in a limbo of fear, grief, and anxiety. On the other hand, Billy was able to make a decision for himself and find an escape from the gang. It’s a selfish decision on Billy’s part, but I suppose if Dogge was the one who wanted it, Billy would’ve found a way to help him. However, Dogge’s world has always been dark gray, and so when it seems like Billy is moving on to a better life without him, he immediately feels jealous and somewhat entitled. How dare my best friend leave me behind to fend for myself when we got into this together? The whole situation weighed down on Dogge, and he ended up shooting at his best friend. It’s possible Dogge must’ve thought that Mehdi and the gang would’ve cheered him on for killing Billy, who was running away from them, and got rid of their grenades. I guess it’s his way of wanting to feel important too, but it’s instant regret for Dogge. He shoots his friend multiple times before running away and immediately calling the cops. 

Would Tusse Have Had the Same Fate? 

At the end of the series, we see Tusse escape his brother’s dodgy fate by leaving the country with his mother. I suppose his testifying against Mehdi was the escape the family needed. That’s all Billy ever wanted. Tusse decided to lie about Mehdi because it was actually he who stole the gun and hid it. Which then led to Billy giving it to Dogge for his own protection. Between Billy and Dogge, we see parallel storylines and how each of them is affected differently by the events that take place. They’ve both got absent fathers, one because he actually died and the other because he was sent away by his mother, but even so, I suppose the show is trying to make a point that despite the lack of a paternal figure, one of the kids was able to tackle the situation better than the other. I’m not saying this is definitive, but it’s merely an observation. 

In Deliver Me‘s ending, we get to see the cycle repeat itself because, despite Mehdi being in prison, the gang members find another Dogge and Billy to ruin. It doesn’t matter if two kids died because of their actions, because the cycle is a brutal societal problem that will never end, or so we’re meant to believe. I guess even if Tusse escaped, there were other kids willing to take Billy and Dogge’s spots in an instant. The show ends with Farid staring into the distance with a disillusioned expression because he knows that he’s in part responsible for messing up some other kids’ lives. He also knows that it’s a bigger picture than just some gang that is causing kids to take such drastic measures.