The penultimate episode of Dope Thief has dropped, and the stakes are higher than ever. Episode 7, titled Mussolini, has put all of the characters in a precarious situation as the DEA and the cartel continue to target Ray and Manny and their loved ones.
Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for Dope Thief. Reader's discretion is advised.
At the end of Dope Thief episode 6, Son Pham killed Ray's father, Bart Driscoll, who had just gotten out of prison on parole. Dope Thief episode 7 is set 10 weeks after the robbery at the lab. It opens with Theresa and her dog, Shermy, at the motel, and ends with Manny's shocking death.
Whether Manny's death is a murder or suicide remains unclear, but his last conversation with Sherry suggests that he had no plans to accept the deal that his lawyer was offering him. He had been friends with Ray since they were teenagers, and the duo remained inseparable till the very end. So, it was unlikely that either of them would turn on the other.
After Bart's death, Manny, Ray, and Son were arrested. While Manny and Son were put in prison, Ray was put under 24-hour police surveillance at the hospital so that he could recover from the leg injury he had suffered at the end of episode 5.
While being interviewed by the DEA in prison, Manny shows withdrawal symptoms. When Sherry visits him in prison, she tells him that she pawned her engagement ring to get him a lawyer and advises him to listen to the lawyer. When she suggests that he should put all the blame on Ray, Manny refuses, claiming that Ray is family to him.
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Sherry reveals that she is pregnant, which further puts Manny in a dilemma. Michelle tells Ray that Manny's lawyers have informed her that Manny might be contemplating accepting a deal to put Ray on the line in exchange for walking free out of prison.
On the way to the court, Ray tells Manny to accept the deal. Manny is heartbroken to hear that Ray thinks of him as a cheater. The two argue over this, and Ray gives Manny his blessing to do whatever he wants. Manny informs Ray that he never wanted his protection or blessing; he only wanted his best friend's respect.
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Manny gets beaten up by one of the biker gang members in prison, thanks to the cops who intentionally put them in the same cell so that Manny would wear out and tell the DEA everything. Manny manages to take down the biker and joins hands with a Hispanic prisoners' gang for protection.
After his argument with Ray, Manny calls Sherry and tells her to go to the locker and use the money to buy a dress and keep the rest for their baby. He also apologizes to her while she keeps suggesting that he could bail out on Ray and they could run away, but Manny shows no interest in doing that.
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While being taken back to their cells, a bald Hispanic inmate hands Manny something wrapped in silver foil. Meanwhile, Ray wakes up to find himself alone in the hospital while the voice of the man, who was threatening him in the early episodes, informs him that all of Ray's loved ones are being watched.
In his confused and helpless state, Ray holds a knife towards the elevator when he sees it coming up, and keeps saying that the unnamed man must take him instead of his loved ones. The elevator doors open to reveal a puzzled Michelle.
Ray tells Michelle to stay in the elevator and also gets into it himself. As they start going down, Michelle tells Ray that Manny's lawyers had called her and breaks down into tears. It does not take Ray long to understand what she means.
The scene then cuts to a prison cell where someone turns Manny onto his back on his bed. A syringe was still injected into the vein of one of his hands, suggesting that he died of an overdose. Whether the overdose was intentional or accidental remains unclear.
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Considering that Son is attacked by two biker gang members in his cell, it would not be impossible for them to get in touch with the gang of Hispanic inmates to orchestrate Manny's murder.
On the contrary, Manny might have committed suicide because he was torn between being there for his friend, Ray, and his fiancée, Sherry. Either way, Manny is dead, and Ray is now guilty for not being able to save one of the few people he considered family.
Dope Thief is available to stream on Apple TV+.