'Dope Thief' Finale Ending Explained: What Was Son’s Secret?

Apple TV’s comedy crime drama, Dope Thief, had us hooked from the start. Brian Tyree Henry’s comic timing as Ray and the camaraderie he shares with Wagner Moura’s character, Manny, were pretty much the highlights of the show. What started off as a couple of Philadelphia men from the hood trying to make a few extra bucks by impersonating DEA agents and raiding drug houses escalated into something serious. One wrong decision on Ray and Manny’s part destroyed their lives. It all started when Rick, an inmate Manny befriended during his time in prison, recommended raiding a meth lab. He promised it was an easy job with a high payout. Ray was hesitant at first, but he got a little greedy and decided to take the risk. Ray and Manny soon figured out that they had been used by someone to get rid of a DEA agent who was working undercover at the meth lab.

Who was the Alliance?

‘The Alliance’ was a gang formed by the third-party contractors who were hired by the cartel to convert and move shipments on the East Coast. According to agent Jack Cross, the pandemic had hindered the cartel’s network, and to process a big shipment, they had to hire small-time players. In Dope Thief’s finale, it was revealed that Bill McKinty, a special agent who headed the Boston office, was the dirty cop. As a DEA agent, he had the power to list locations on the deconfliction database. Once these locations made it to the list, none of the agents would raid them because it essentially meant that the DEA had eyes on the location and were waiting for the right moment to strike. Bill headed the Alliance, and he closely worked with the cartel and helped them secure all of the drug houses and meth labs by listing them on the deconfliction database. He received a cut for every shipment that passed through these houses. Jake Cross had figured out Bill McKinty’s secret, and he had become a threat to the entire operation.

What Was Son’s Secret?

Son was likely one of the biggest players in the Alliance. When Jake found out about Bill, Son suggested using Ray to eliminate the DEA agent. Ray possibly didn’t know about Son’s association with the cartel. Ray and Son worked together—Ray handed him the drugs he confiscated during the raids for cash. They were not just business associates, but they’d also developed a friendship. When Ray first heard about the meth lab job, he’d asked Son if he should take the risk. Son mentioned that he had no idea about the Ottsville lab, and he’d asked Ray to trust his instincts. On one hand, Son knew he was using Ray to smoothen his operation, and on the other, he felt guilty for betraying his friend. He had repeatedly advised Ray to run away before things got worse, but Ray chose to stay back. He’d hoped that Ray would perhaps hand him the codes, or maybe he would just leave instead of trying to solve the mystery behind the meth lab mayhem. But with the DEA not giving up on the investigation and Ray refusing to hand over the codes, he believed he didn’t have any other option but to corner Ray and eventually lay the trap. Son could have turned his back on Ray when things got complicated, but he considered Ray his family, and he was not ready to cut ties with him. His actions and his emotions were clearly in contradiction. Son killed Bart during the shootout in front of the hospital because he knew that the old man had connections and would eventually find out that Son was the reason why Ray was in trouble. Son needed more time to confront Ray, or at least make peace with the idea that Ray would one day figure out the truth, and that would be the end of their friendship. In the final episode, Bill, as the representative of the Alliance, instructed Ray to hand over the codes and bring along his dealer. It was assumed that the cartel would want to shoot both Ray and Son as soon as they walked to the bridge to hand over the codes. The DEA’s plan was to intercept the exchange and apprehend those involved. But they didn’t realize that it was a trap designed to help Son escape from prison. Son knew it could result in Ray’s death, but it was a risk he was willing to take for his freedom. 

Will Ray and Mina go back to their regular lives?

Even though it looked like Ray and Mina would not have survived at the end of the final episode of Dope Thief, they surprisingly managed to make it out of the impossible situation. Ray was enraged when Bill told him that he was the one who’d spiked the drugs Manny injected, and he ultimately crushed Bill to death. In the final scene, Mina wiped ketchup off of Ray’s face when they gorged on burgers after managing to make it out of the scene alive. She told him he was ‘clean,’ reminding the audience of the show’s tagline, “No one gets away clean.” Ray scoffed at Mina’s remark. Yes, he was finally clean, but at what cost? He’d lost his best friend and his father, the evidence that Jake had gathered against Bill was burned down, and the mastermind, Son, had successfully escaped. By the time Ray could prove that he was not a big-time player and simply trying to make a few extra bucks by raiding drug houses, things had escalated beyond repair. Theresa was the only one Ray could still call his family, but he might choose not to return home. He had left enough money for Theresa to live a comfortable life, and maybe he will stay away from her, fearing that she would once again put her life in danger in one way or another. Mina didn’t have a life beyond her job and the case, and now that it was all over, she might struggle to find a purpose. 

What does the future look like for Ray and Mina?

Marchetti was the only one, except for Ray and Mina, who knew the truth and had survived. Presumably, he will take all the necessary steps to ensure that the deconfliction database is not misused. Maybe the DEA will investigate Bill McKinty’s association and past activities to get a better sense of how the Alliance operated, and perhaps other drug dealers associated with McKinty would be apprehended. Ray might take some of the money he’d made from the storage locker and rebuild his life all over again. After the fire, the cops will possibly assume that Ray and Mina had died, giving them a chance to reimagine their lives. If Ray and Mina decide to go back to their regular lives, then Ray will possibly end up behind bars for a couple of years. His contribution to solving the case will possibly help him get a lenient sentence. If Mina goes back to being an agent, then she will work closely with Marchetti and bust as many dealers operating in the area as possible. But if they do go back to their regular lives, the cartel would likely continue to haunt them because without Bill their entire operation was in jeopardy. The series leaves it to the audience to imagine how the lives of its protagonists turned out. Since it’s an eight episode mini-series, I doubt if the show will return to explain the aftermath. Comment below and let us know which path you think Ray and Mina will take. 

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