Douglas and Bilal were childhood best friends, but their situation and surroundings resulted in an unexpected complication. The Swedish crime drama thriller Deliver Me is a five-episode series that skillfully narrates the story of two best friends who grew up among small-time criminals. Drugs and guns had become a part of their daily existence, and running away from them had almost become impossible. The series begins with the death of Bilal and the investigation that followed. Douglas was the prime suspect, but why would he kill his best friend? When the fourteen-year-old was arrested, he did not seem to comprehend the implications of his action, and by the time he realized it, it was already too late.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Douglas change his statement?
Douglas was highly intoxicated when he was arrested and taken to the police station. He was convinced that the police had no right to keep him in prison because he was a minor. Farid Ayad headed the interrogation. He lived in the same neighborhood and was quite close to Bilal and his family. Douglas refused to give away any details of the crime, but that was before he found out that Bilal succumbed to the bullet wounds. Even though he was the one who pulled the trigger, he did not seem to believe that his best friend had passed away. Somewhere deep down, maybe he hoped that Bilal would survive. But then again, why did he shoot his best friend? Farid repeatedly questioned his motive, and Douglas finally gave in, confessing that it was Mehdi Bah who wanted Bilal dead.
Both Bilal and Douglas were part of Mehdi’s gang. They mostly made deliveries for him, and at times Mehdi used them for petty crimes. This was the first time the local gangster’s name came up in a contract killing case. He had done some time for assault and possession, but it was all too trivial to attract the attention of the police. While the police searched for Mehdi, he took shelter at his father’s apartment. Douglas was transferred to a juvenile detention center for safety, but the plan did not work out well for the teenager. The minute he realized that one of Mehdi’s contacts stayed at the center, he knew he would be penalized for confessing. Douglas could barely sleep at night, fearing the worst. The next morning, Mehdi’s man at the center threatened Douglas to take back his confession. The next time Farid interrogated Douglas, he changed his confession. He blamed himself for Bilal’s death and stated that it was the drugs that made him wrongly accuse Mehdi the first time he was questioned. Without the confession, the case was weak, but Farid refused to let Mehdi walk away scot-free.
Did Douglas survive?
Bilal’s family refused to cooperate with the police once they figured out that if the gang attacked them, no one would be able to protect them. They were particularly disappointed in Farid, who had promised to ensure Bilal’s well-being after he decided to quit working for Mehdi. Mehdi refused to let go of Bilal and demanded money from the family. The Ali family tried to fulfill his demand, but Mehdi was never satisfied, and he continued to pester Bilal. After the murder, Bilal’s sister, Aisha, contacted Farid from an unknown number and sent him a video where Mehdi was seen physically abusing Douglas and Bilal. Unfortunately, Mehdi had his face covered, making the evidence weak. When the family refused to verify the video in court, Farid decided to testify for the legitimacy of the video himself. Of course, his testimony barely helped the case, and Mehdi was allowed to return home.
Meanwhile, Mehdi’s men took over the Juvenile detention center and kidnapped Douglas. The teen lost all hope once he realized how powerful Mehdi was. He was told that from henceforth he would owe his life to Mehdi for getting him into trouble. Douglas was an addict, and when he found drugs lying around, he did not hesitate to take a whiff. He thought he would be penalized, but he ended up spending a good time with his captor. By then, Dogge had already given up; he did not have unrealistic expectations for his future, and he had accepted that he would have to spend the rest of his life working for gangsters. Dogge’s life took an unexpected turn when he went over to Sudden’s department store and tried to threaten and steal from him. The store owner had been a victim of Mehdi’s gang for a long time. He had tried to seek help from the police but to no avail. Frustrated with his situation, he decided to take matters into his own hands. With a baseball bat, he knocked Dogge out. He realized that he had made a terrible mistake that very second. Dogge was admitted to the hospital immediately, but his condition was severe, and he ended up succumbing to his wounds. In the most tragic way, the best friends united.
What evidence did the prosecutor have against Mehdi Bah?
The consecutive deaths of Dogge and Bilal left Farid completely devastated. He lost hope of ever bringing justice to the young victims of Mehdi and his gang. Farid was surprised when Bilal’s mother, Leila, brought along her youngest son, Tusse, to testify against Mehdi Bah. They asked for witness protection in exchange for the confession, and Farid promised the family that he would look into their safety. Tusse and Bilal used to share the same room, and it did not take him much time to figure out that his brother was dealing for Mehdi. Bilal was protective of his little brother and asked him to stay away. He took care of Tusse’s needs in the hopes of keeping his brother away from the mess he got himself into. Tusse remembered the one time Mehdi asked him to come along with Bilal and Dogge. When the car came to a stop, Tusse watched Mehdi and his gang take Bilal and Dogge to a corner. Mehdi punished the boys for losing the gun that he had handed over to them for safekeeping. Tusse’s testimony was crucial because he was the only one who could confirm that the man abusing Dogge and Bilal in the video was Mehdi.
To protect his family and bring justice to his brother, Tusse decided to lie about the murder weapon. He falsely claimed in court that he had seen Mehdi hand over the gun to Dogge. He further added that Mehdi had asked Dogge to use it whenever he asked him to. Farid knew it was all a big lie, but he decided to use it in court because he was convinced that Mehdi Bah deserved to be locked up in prison. Until the very end of Deliver Me, it did seem that Mehdi was responsible for Bilal’s death because of his decision to leave the gang and also because he did not perform the last task that he was assigned. Bilal and Dogge were handed two grenades to kill a man. It was an errand that Mehdi was running for another gang. Bilal had made up his mind to not stick to the plan, and instead of safeguarding the grenades, he got rid of them. This could have been reason enough for Mehdi to want Bilal dead, but the ending played out quite differently.
Who was responsible for Bilal’s death?
While it was proven in court that Mahdi Bah was responsible for Bilal’s murder, it was not the truth. Mahdi was a notorious criminal who used teenagers to run errands and deserved to be punished for the same, but when it came to the murder charge, he was surprisingly innocent. After Mehdi continued to pester Bilal, his mother decided to send him to Nigeria to live with his uncle. Bilal did not protest; he was desperate to get away from the world of crime. When he was handed the grenades, he made up his mind to get rid of them. Selling drugs for money was what he had settled for, but contract killing was where he decided to draw the line. Dogge had almost surrendered himself to Mehdi. He believed he had no way out, and he had to do whatever was asked of him.
While Bilal stayed clean, Dogge continued to take drugs, which resulted in a sort of brain fog. It was almost as if he was not even processing everything that was happening around him. After losing his father to cancer, Dogge struggled to make sense of anything. It left him feeling quite hollow, and he resorted to drugs to ease his pain. He was a lonely teenager, and Bilal was his only friend. He had no idea what he wanted from life, but as long as Bilal was by his side, he assumed he would be alright. On the night of the bombing, when Bilal did not show up, Dogge repeatedly called and texted him. Bilal decided to confront his best friend and explain the reason behind his action. Dogge did not expect Bilal to get rid of the grenades. He was all the more angry because that morning he had found out that Bilal was permanently shifting to Nigeria.
Dogge could not imagine his life without Bilal, and he was afraid of the repercussions he would have to face for not executing Mehdi’s plan. While Bilal would be gone, he would be stuck dealing with the mess he left behind. Dogge quite innocently asked Bilal if he could accompany him to Nigeria as well. Dogge, too, was desperate to get away, but he did not have much of a choice. Once he realized that this was the end of Bilal and his friendship, a sudden madness took over him. At the end of Deliver Me, we find out that Dogge had pulled out the gun that Bilal had passed on to him that very day. As it turned out, Tusse had previously stolen the gun to protect his brother and handed it over to him when he thought Bilal was in trouble. Before leaving for Nigeria, Bilal decided to pass the gun over to Dogge, hoping that he could use it to protect himself. But in the end, Dogge used the gun to murder his best friend. He was desperate to punish Bilal for leaving him behind, but death was not what he had in mind. He was not in his senses, and he lost control. He was angry and disappointed in Bilal for choosing himself and his family over his best friend because, deep down, Dogge knew that, given a choice, he would have always chosen Bilal.
Deliver Me‘s ending questions the idea of justice in the drug epidemic because it is not an individual alone responsible for it but a chain of customers and dealers. Of course, nabbing the dealers is the only way forward, but as long as there is demand, there will be someone willing to risk it all to make a profit out of it. In this case, even though Mahdi Bah was locked up in prison, the gang continued to operate, and minors continued to run errands. Punishing one player alone was not enough to have any real impact on the way the network functioned. There will always be another Bilal and Dogge who will make deliveries owing to their financial situation, and without even realizing it, they will be trapped and their lives will be destroyed forever.
