The final episode of Dope Thief is packed with revelations and surprises. After wildly guessing at what was going on through the course of the last seven episodes, we finally have answers to all our pressing questions! Manny’s death triggered Ray, as was expected, and without consulting with Michelle, he decided to work closely with the DEA. Ray was tired of the cat-and-mouse chase, and just like Mina, he too needed to find answers. Even though they came from two different worlds, they could relate to each other’s pain of losing their partners. Mina assumed Ray was part of the problem, but the minute she met him, she knew that he got into the mess without knowing what he was dealing with. So, did Mina find her answers? Also, who was the man threatening Ray all this while? Let’s get into the details.
Spoiler Alert
Where did the coordinates lead to?
Manny’s death triggered Ray; he was not afraid of the Voice anymore; all he wanted was to know who had played him and Manny, and he didn’t mind working with the DEA to find his answer. Ray couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Mina at the hospital for the first time. He was consumed by guilt, and he begged her for forgiveness. Ray broke down, and all he could say was that he too needed to know how he ended up in such a precarious situation. They both agreed that they’d been scrabbling in the dirt for survival, but it was time that they put in the work to stay alive. Mark Nader was hellbent on charging Ray for homicide even though the only witness to the murder (Mina) was not interested in pursuing the case. Bill McKinty, the special agent in charge of the Boston office, was of the opinion that instead of putting Ray behind bars for homicide, the DEA must work with him to get a sense of the bigger picture. While Nader disagreed with him, stating that they had tried to gather information from him, Bill emphasized that their techniques might have been inadequate. Mina finally saw a ray of hope; this was exactly what she’d been advising Nader to consider.
Ray readily agreed to cooperate with the DEA when they approached him. He told them that he was tricked into accepting the job. He believed someone in the prison had informed Rick about his hustle, and he was used to get rid of Special Agent Jack Cross. Ray suspected that Rick was advised to blow things up, and they were used to make it look like a DEA buy-and-bust. Ray was ready to hand over the pictures, names, and phone numbers he’d gathered while he was keeping tabs of the biker gang. Ray also mentioned the two-dollar bills he’d found when they busted the meth lab, and his best guess was that the numbers could lead them to something bigger.
Ray and Mina started to work on the case together, and all of a sudden Ray realized that the numbers on the dollar bills were likely coordinates. Ray was under the impression that Jack was the one who came up with the codes; he wrote them down and hid them in a stash of money so that he could go back to them later on. That was why Rick had to kill him. Ray spoke to the man who’d been talking to him on behalf of the cartel. The man wanted Ray to bring him the two-dollar bills, and he’d specifically asked Ray to bring along his handler, Son Pham, with him. Marchetti could guess that there was something going on with Son after he came across his property on the deconfliction database. If a property is listed on the database, it indicates that an agent is looking into the property, and therefore no one else should bust it. For six years, Son’s property had been on the database, which was why he could operate easily. Clearly, there was someone on the inside helping him, but who was it? After the head of the Alliance demanded Ray bring Son in, the former collaborators were brought together by the feds. They wanted to know if Son knew that there was a cartel shipment passing through the lab; he hesitated a little but eventually admitted to it. Son was the one who’d suggested Rick to the cartel. Their plan was to use Ray and Manny to get the crooked cop, and Son confessed that he didn’t anticipate that things would go so wrong. After Son’s confession, Nader decided to lure the Voice by using Ray and Son as bait, of course, with enough security measures.
Before setting out on his quest to find the truth, Ray met Michelle to bid her goodbye. Even though they’d only briefly met, she had changed his life in a beautiful way. Her softness allowed him to open up and be vulnerable, something that he never got the chance to do all his life. It was finally time to meet the Voice, and while the DEA worked on the technicalities, Ray was of the opinion that they ought to take a look at where the coordinates led. The final four digits didn’t yet make sense to them, but the codes from the first two bills were coordinates that led to a graveyard. Mina figured that it would not be too unlikely of Jack to hide his crucial belongings in a grave. After reaching the spot, Mina, Ray, and Marchetti realized that it was an Amish graveyard, and the number that they couldn’t make sense of was inscribed on a piece of wood fixed on a grave. Upon digging up the spot, they discovered Jack’s evidence locker. Mina and Ray realized that Jack wasn’t the crooked cop; he was actually the one who had information on them and was clearly a threat to their operations. According to the evidence gathered by Jack, Billy McKinty was the Voice, and since he was a part of the system, it was easier for him to be in complete control.
Who Killed The DEA Agents?
Ray, Mina, and Marchetti figured out that the whole plan of meeting them at the bridge was a trap, and they’d almost stepped into it. Marchetti rushed to inform Nader about McKinty, but unfortunately, he was too late. Billy didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on Nader and the other agents who’d gathered to apprehend the Voice, who, surprisingly, had been him all along. Billy had instructed Son to strip naked and bring him the codes. Even though Son was apprehensive at first, he didn’t have any choice. He stood at the bridge, naked, holding the codes in his hand. A red laser pointer started to track Son’s movements, leaving us under the impression that Son too would be killed for not cooperating with the cartel. But surprisingly, the gunmen shot down the DEA task force instead.
Who laid the trap?
Remember Marchetti mentioning that Son’s house had been listed on the deconfliction list for six years? Turns out Billy McKinty was the one behind it. He had been putting houses on the deconfliction list and assisting the cartel to operate more freely. In return for his service, he took a cut of everything that moved through the safe houses. Son worked closely with the cartel, and he was the one who’d suggested using Ray to get to Jack. Since Ray refused to hand over the codes, the Alliance ganged up on him. Son wanted Ray to trust him completely, which was why he pretended to be on his side after Ray was shot. He knew it would be easier to get to Ray if he was alone, and that’s why the attack near the hospital was planned. Son had informed the biker gang that he and his mother would convince Ray to rush to the hospital. He perhaps predicted that Bart would find out the truth eventually, and that was why Son shot him. After he ended up in prison, his mother conjured a plan with Bill to help her son escape. Since Ray was cooperating with the DEA, it was obvious that he’d handed over the codes to them. This was the reason Bill had asked Ray to meet him at the bridge and to bring Son along with him. The elaborate trap was planned to allow Son to escape, and by the time Ray figured out what was going on, things had escalated beyond his imagination.
Did Ray And Mina Make It Out Alive?
Bill helped Son’s mother because they’d been his loyal tenants for years. He’d made good money out of them, and they were basically a team. Son was not just another drug dealer; he had massive influence around the territory he operated in. He worked with the Alliance and was possibly one of the biggest players there. After everything they’d been through, Son had no choice but to leave the country. But before he disappeared, he left a voice note for Ray. Son liked Ray, and he considered him his family. He had no idea that the job would snowball into something this big, and he regretted getting Ray involved in the mess. He admitted to sending Rick to Manny, and according to him, Rick was only meant to scare off Jack, but the plan didn’t work out in his favor. He was hopeful that the DEA would bury the case, but because of Mina, the investigation continued. Son felt guilty destroying Ray’s life, but he believed he didn’t have much of a choice. Before he left, he wanted Ray to know that the tables had turned; it was now he who was running from the world.
By the time Ray received the voice note, he had lived through hell. After Son escaped, Bill attacked Mina and Ray, who were going through Jack’s evidence locker in a trailer. They tried to kill the duo by starting a fire, but Ray refused to die without seeking revenge on Bill. He challenged him to face them instead of acting like a coward and trapping and killing them. As soon as Bill approached the trailer, Ray started the vehicle and crashed into him. The trailer exploded, and even though it seemed Ray and Mina would not survive, they did. They pretty much rose from the dead—even though under various circumstances their lives were in danger, they made it out alive each time, possibly the only invincible characters on the show.
Dope Thief’s ending suggests that Ray and Mina had struck up an unexpected friendship and they will continue to stay in touch. Whether or not they will go back to their regular lives, the show leaves it up to the audience to decide.
