The Ragdoll killer, also known as Faust, sent his hit list to British investigators DS Nathan Rose and DI Emily Baxter. By revealing the names of his targets, the serial killer savagely mocked the investigators, yet the law enforcers failed to stop him. They lost Mayor Ray Turnbull, Mark Hooper’s brother Nick Hooper, Guard Eric Turner, Judge Mathew Wingate, Reporter Andrew Daly, and a few other people. The last name on the list was DS Nathan Rose himself, which brought us to the ending of the series Ragdoll. The question here is, will Nathan and Emily be able to catch the Ragdoll killer before he can harm Nathan? Let’s figure it out.
The Link Between Mark Hooper & The Ragdoll Killer’s Targets?
In Episode 1, the Ragdoll series established that Nathan Rose attacked his arch-nemesis, ruthless cremation killer Mark Hooper, in court. The court held Rose accountable for tampering with the evidence and thus released Hooper. After the case, Rose was diagnosed with PTSD and was admitted to a psychiatric facility where he met another patient, Joel Shepton. Joel told Nathan about a man named “The Faust” who served justice to people in exchange for their own lives. Rose contacted Faust and asked him to kill his nemesis, Mark Hooper, out of personal vendetta.
Two years after the call was made, British investigators found Mark Hooper’s head attached to a ragdoll. Later, the killer sent a list of six people connected to Hooper’s trail. These people either sympathized with Hooper or indirectly helped him to evade execution. The ragdoll that investigators found in an apartment in the Hall cross House was made from the body parts of victims linked to Hooper.
The two prominent characters who contacted Faust had lost their trust in the justice system. For example, Joel Shepton told Rose that his sister Teresa was brutally murdered, but the law didn’t investigate because she was a woman of color. Similarly, Rose believed that Hooper was guilty of brutally murdering people, yet the court of law released him. Hence, inevitably, they contacted Faust, who shared their belief that the justice system was indeed broken.
Who Was The Ragdoll Killer, (AKA ‘The Faust’)?
Rose blamed herself for the Ragdoll killings and thus began a discreet investigation of her own to catch Faust. He recalled his conversation with Joel Shepton, who told him that his two friends, Adam Malick and Keith Rackman, were the last two people who saw Teresa alive. Teresa’s boyfriend, Adam, went AWOL (probably killed by Faust). Joel was confident that Adam killed Teresa because Faust never missed his target. Later, Faust killed Jeol inside the psychiatric facility as a part of their bargain.
Rose followed the tracks and interrogated Keith, who was serving a sentence in prison. Keith informed him about a girl, Kate, who saw a man in Adam’s house when he disappeared. Kate told Rose about a stocky, strong bloke in his 30s with blue eyes, a boxer’s nose, and a beard, whom she saw at Adam’s house. In the meantime, the ragdoll killer, aka Faust, accidentally left his DNA evidence at Mathew Wingate’s house. The blood DNA helped DI Emily to trace the killer. His name was Thomas Massey.
Thomas used to work as a male nurse on the staff at Markfield Moor Prison. He lived with his wife, Joy, who worked as a makeup artist. Emily concluded that Joy made the transdermal patches that Thomas used to sedate his victims. However, the investigators initially believed that Joy was innocent and was blackmailed by her husband to be a part of the killings. But at the end of the Ragdoll series, it was explained that Joy was the mastermind and Thomas was just a puppet.
Did Thomas Succeed in Killing Rose?
Joy Massey was an artist without a doubt. However, she was a much better actress than a makeup artist. She took pictures of fake bruises on her face to make Emily believe that Thomas had blackmailed her into becoming a partner in his brutal crimes. Hence, in the end, Emily believed her lies and released her from custody.
On the other hand, Thomas decided to finish what he had started. He sedated Emily using a transdermal patch to use her as bait to get Rose. Again, the mastermind, Joy, informed Rose to submit to the Ragdoll killer if he wanted to save Emily. Hence, to save Emily, Rose confronted Faust inside the Metrox Studios.
Emily inhaled paraquat, a weed killer, to save an innocent man’s life. Thomas wanted to kill both Emily and Rose, but in his preferred order. Thus, to provoke the killer, Rose tried to kill himself first. At that moment, DC Lake Edmonds arrived at the studio and saved both Rose and Emily. However, Thomas fled from the scene.
‘Ragdoll’ Ending Explained
Thomas changed his physical appearance and met his wife Joy at the station, from where the couple had planned to escape to Marseilles. However, the mastermind, Joy Massey, was done with her toy. She wanted to get rid of Thomas because he had lost his touch. He failed to kill Emily and Rose, and their plan ended in a total disaster. The couple could not fulfill their motive, which was to bring justice and instill fear.
Joy couldn’t imagine her life spent running away from the police. She convinced the police that she was blackmailed by Thomas to assist him in the murders. Police had no evidence against Joy except DC Lake Edmonds, who suspected Thomas had an accomplice. While Lake was tied inside Thomas’ basement, she saw an orange bulb used as a signal to inform Thomas about the police. However, when the police searched the house, they didn’t find any signal bulbs because Thomas had removed them to protect Joy. The only link that connected Joy with the killings was her husband, Thomas. Hence, she decided to get rid of it too. Joy pushed her husband off the railings and killed him.
The mastermind, Joy, told Thomas that she didn’t want to fade away. She wanted to burn and burn. After Thomas’s death, Joy would probably find a new puppet to carry out the crimes of the Ragdoll Killer. It could be speculated that the horrors of the Ragdoll Killer didn’t end with Thomas. Joy would continue the legacy.
But when it is evil in the world, some guys keep the devil in check. After the death of Thomas, Rose disappeared from the scene because he was a suspected felon charged with tampering and hiding the evidence. Three months after the incidents, Emily and Lake closed the Ragdoll case while hunting for Rose.
The ending sequence depicted Rose playing snooker in a bar in Hamburg, Germany. The horrors of the past are still haunting him, but he has made peace with his demons. Now, instead of getting traumatized, he enjoys them. Rose will probably appear in Ragdoll Season 2, if the killer, aka Joy Massey, strikes again.
Ragdoll is a 2021 Psychological Crime Drama series created by Freddy Syborn. It is streaming on AMC+.
