Mr. InBetween: Season 3/ Episode 9 [Finale] – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
Mr. InBetween comes to an end but, does that mean Ray will live to see another day, or will he meet his maker?
Mr. InBetween comes to an end but, does that mean Ray will live to see another day, or will he meet his maker?
| Episode Title | I’m Not Leaving |
| Aired | 7/13/2021 |
| Network | FX |
| Directed By | Nash Edgerton |
| Written By | Scott Ryan |
Recap
When You Know Some S*** Is Going Down – Ray, Brittany, Bill
It isn’t clear what specifically tips Ray off, but he decides to sell his home, set up a camper in the middle of nowhere, alongside go see his dad once more, and let Brittany know it’ll be a bit before she sees him again.
You Motherf***er – Rafael, Freddy, Ray, Dave
Freddy gives Ray an assignment that calls for him heading to this desolate area, which he goes with Dave as backup, to check out some motorcycle dude from before. However, we learn Freddy set up Ray since it was pretty much either Freddy gives up Ray or Rafael would kill him. So, there is a HUGE shootout, which includes Ray trying to escape, losing Dave, setting someone on fire, and Ray going ballistic. Eventually leading to Rafael being killed and, surprisingly, Freddy getting to live.
Now, why did Freddy get to live? That’s honestly hard to say. Maybe it is because Ray truly doesn’t want to do this anymore and knows that this whole loop of betrayal and revenge would never end if he killed Freddy. For if he kills Freddy, he has to kill Freddy’s girlfriend probably, and then her family will cause a fuss, and so on and so forth.
This ultimately makes it seem that Ray would rather be the ghost in Freddy’s nightmares than actually kill him.
20 Pounds, Some Hair, And A New Job – Ray
So what does Ray look like retired? Well, he now has a belly, has grown out his hair, and is a taxi driver of all things. But, with his latest ride thinking they’ll get the jump on him, be it because they were hired to or are twisted, it seems Ray is going to see if he still has it, even after taking a bit of a break.
Review
Highlights
Genuinely Thinking It Was It For Ray
The way Freddy and Rafael set things up, it looked like Ray was a goner. He only brought Dave along since Gary is fully into his porn career, and Dave got killed. Add in Ray ran out of bullets and couldn’t get to his semi-automatic weapon? Yes, Ray has professional training, but there was a kid with a rifle, another with a shotgun, and then Rafael with a handgun.
Yet, Ray made it out and, honestly, didn’t even have a Rambo moment while doing it. Yes, he didn’t get shot or harmed, but let’s remember who Rafael is and the jobs he gave Ray. Rafael hired Ray to get rid of the body of some skinny girl for a twerp. Also, Rafael tends to overreact and is a bit of a coward, similar to Freddy. So, when you really think about it, by no means was this like the Davros situation in season 1. Ray definitely was out of Rafael’s league to the point the most basic of tricks got him out alive, with the only injury being the loss of Dave.
Low Points
Freddy Didn’t Get His Comeuppance
Since the beginning of the series, Freddy has been an ass that didn’t really deserve Ray. Granted, he got Ray paid and made him a very rich man, but he was just this sniveling creep who you just wanted to see get messed up. So when he outright tried to screw over Ray, which honestly doesn’t feel like the first time, and Ray let it go? As noted in the recap, we got why Ray likely did it but considering this is the last we’ll see of these characters, is it wrong to want some wish fulfillment?
On The Fence
So We Did A Time Jump, And Have No Idea What Went On Since Ray, Assumingly, Retired
Unfortunately, we got a time jump that didn’t really go into anything going on with Ray, beyond him gaining weight, having a new profession, and growing out his hair. We don’t know how much time passed, though it would likely take months for Ray to get that out of shape, and in terms of Gary and Brittany? No word on them. Heck, even if Bill is still alive is a toss-up.
All that we’re left with is two kids, who may or may not have been hired by someone, just messed with the wrong guy, and are about to end meeting the Magician – and he isn’t going to give them a nice red balloon.
we already know what happened to whose two dudes in a taxi, don’t we?? They probably attempted to get some cash from a taxi driver (Ray) or got him pissed off in some other way and as a result – ended up being brutally killed. That’s it. This is how Ray operates. His true signature.
I do not mind the ending even though I would rather enjoy watching Ray ‘doing the deed’ lol . Strange to say, but the Ray character grew on me and became very likable.
I am withdrawing from this TV show, it is still in my system. And it comes from someone who does not like watching violence! Ray – we will forever miss you.
Why would Ray live in a mini-trailer and drive a cab, if he had made so much money?
Ok I think this was A) a nod to Scott being a cab driver before the show was picked up and B) a fitting way to show that the characters rehabilitation is ongoing and includes committing to the societal norms like working.
That’s a good question. I thought the same. Have no answer for that…. Maybe he was ‘in between’ , meaning deciding where to buy a house and where to start a new life?
I think ray gave up his job as a hitman because he lost so much …..he lost his mate who committed suicide falling off the cliff , his girlfriend Ally, his dog, his job , his brother Bruce and then Zoe who was obviously shot by that asshole …. then another mate and all he had left in the end was Brittany and Gary ……maybe he was scared he might lose them too.
100 per cent he had took his life of crime as far as it could possibly go. I also think he still had the skills to deal with to two guys in his taxi.
I thought the ending of Season 3 had the perfect song (“Run”) and a perfect close as there are now two strong options: Since they have a cult following they can take a break & start on season 4 with Ray returning to his field of work as The Magician (as he would have sorted out & buried those 2 punks) OR just leave it as a 3 series show.
just loved the series. sad its over, but also happy Scott and the team didn’t fade away and lose the core that made it such an awesome watch. so often i enjoyed the fact they didn’t need to explain scenes with narrative or dialogue, or when time past between episodes or scenes, there wasn’t a recap or a hand holding moment to bring us up to speed. scotts writing and nash’s directing allowed the viewer to work it out ourselves. it obviously had huge moment of violence and often you crave that violence as an escapism and not often you enjoy sitting through the dialogue and relationship building with sometimes unnecessary scene filling, but this show nailed it. happy to sit through it all and actually wanted more. it meant a lot to read about Scotts journey as a writer and what he has done since releasing the magician 10 or more years ago, which basically was drive cabs and get near rock bottom. clearly a bit of scott in ray. well done and bravo to all involved, hope to see something more from the team in the future.
If interested, the director of most of the series, Nash Edgerton, did release a few shorts on Hulu.
Ray driving the two blokes down the dark beach road in the end, Ray knew what he was getting himself into, robbed, killed, but wasnt scared and he wanted it to see play out… pitty he had to dig two new holes…
The song was perfectly timed, “run” was meant for the two young hoons who thought they were too gangster but ended up playing with the wolf…
I love, love, love this series. I have watched first 2 seasons 3 times and will probably watch the 3rd that many too. I didn’t want it to end. Scott Ryan is awesome. I loved all the relationships Ray had and how protective he was of them. I thought the ending was well done. He was just answering the guys question when he told them to run. He will survive. I also did not notice he was fat. He looked the same, but had hair. Great show. Happy I was able to watch it.
Agreed!
I agree about the smile. But the spoken word afterward;”run” is confusing. Ray is capable of taking both baddies out in the cab; why should he get them to run. Killing is not a sadistic game to him, it’s just what you do to survive, or just business. So that last word rings untrue to me. Maybe he should just have looked at the camera a split second longer, and then end?
He did not say ryn, the was the song that was playing
He didn’t say run though, it’s the music!
Ray didn’t let Freddie go. A couple episodes back he asks the guy Freddie owes to do him a favor and give Freddie more time, then Ray will owe him a favor. As he’s leaving Freddie’s house he says “I’m the one that made the mistake….,” meaning by helping Freddie. Now Freddie is no longer under Rays “protection” from the gambler gangster dude. Unfortunately with the time jump, we don’t exactly see, but I’m going with it didn’t go well for Freddie.
i appreciate your comment and it may be correct, however, I felt when Ray said “im the one who made the mistake” he was simply referring to trusting Freddy on the advise that the Biker was out in the country. And possibly a greater reference to Ray ever trusting Freddie.
Thoroughly enjoyed Season’s 1 to 3 of Mr.Inbetween. Have since rewatched all three. Regarding “the ending” , i do like the ambiguity of where it ends, not like your typical show wrap-up. I would say this, I’m on the side that feels Ray’s look to the camera means he is going to sort these guys out as he normally would.
If there had been some kind of indication that Freddy had sent them after him , or that they were friends of someone Ray had “hit” in the past, then yes, Ray might be the one taken out.
FULL automatic not semi-automatic
I’m glad someone else noticed that too!😂
You don’t need to look closely to see and hear it lol
Am sufferIng withdrawals .Love this show.wish it was to continue.
I loved the show from the first episode to the last. While some episodes move at a different pace to others, the acting, direction and humour made this a uniquely Australian show that has cleverly intertwined love stories, everyday family dramas and personal crises within a backdrop of a seedy side to life for the less privileged. The fact that this ‘hitman with a heart of gold’ breaks the fourth wall right at the final moment of the finale didn’t detract from the show at all for me and seemed more of a nod to the viewer and a thanks for enjoying our journey together. Long love Ray Shoesmith!
I absolutely loved the series, great work Scott! the last scene you can see him thinking really ? just really you want to kill me?, Let me see what you have got… and I guess I’ll be doing the digging again. this time ..
If you watch closely, he’s looking at the thug in the front seat, then his eyes clearly shift slightly to look into our eyes. Then we hear “Run.”
When speaking to the gym owners son, the gym owner seemed a old friend to ray but had recently committed suicide because of a financial scam. Ray and the son have a conversation about a hit. The son asks why should the finance guy get off, he should suffer. Ray responds with dead men don’t suffer.
Even though Freddy crossed Ray, I think he left Freddy alive to let him suffer. By that I mean Ray was around and that he could get to him, even in his own home.
Also Freddy was already on borrowed time. Maybe not through Ray, but Freddy would get his comeuppance
good summary, agree with this.
no he is breaking the 4th wall and looking at us the fans to let us know these two dudes have made a grave mistake by letting ray take them out to a deserted area
I fell in love with this show from the first episode. Best acting I have seen for a long time. Not one weak episode through all 3 series.
The director has done an amazing job too. The way the scenes are cut is superb. No over explaining, just simple clean scenes that allows the viewer to work things out for themselves.
Then last episode again was sensational. What a tremendous way to end. Freddy off the hook, or is he? Ray taking up taxi driving, which is a nice link to what the actor was doing while trying to get Mr Inbetween made, and that split second look in to the camera as a final shot leaves us wondering, but knowing that the two passengers picked on the wrong guy.
Congratulations Mr Inbetween on the best tv I have ever watched.
Not a fan of the ending of Season 3. But…. It wasn’t really an ending. And he should be have blown that slimeball Freddy away. Let’s just hope we get a 3 disk dvd box with the killings that we didn’t get to see on tv. There was a few. And bloopers & outtakes. Love to see a Mr Inbetween movie.
@Cole, I don’t think Ray is looking at the camera, I think he’s looking into the eyes of the two unfortunate souls that just underestimated the magician.
He looked at us
Loved the show … every season was an amazing journey with Ray/Scott. For the people who wanted to be hand held with the perfect ending, this show was not for you. Here’s wishing for a movie down the road… BRAVO!!! And WELL FINE!!!
What was the series finale title? “I’m not leaving,” something like that right? I think I know exactly what that smile on Rays face meant and who took out who. Those two ditto heads thought they were leading Ray, the Magician, never a step behind into a trap down a dark rainy road? I think not. Unless Ray decided to go out in some submissive, completely out of character suicide that does play. The more likely ending is Ray tells the two midget minded punks there’s a lock box full of cash… “Go ahead guys open it up. I’ll be over here a safe distance away digging the grave you told me to dig.” Okay, okay. No that exact plot line again but there’s no way Ray’s let the two most obvious wannabes bad guys on the planet lead him into a trap that’s “just around the next turn…” RUN! indeed little boys. Run!
i agree! That smile…like well it’s over for me, mate. Or hang on, kids, you don’t know who you’re messing with. Which?
@Elijah Jason Clarke, completely agree. Well written, cast, acted and directed. The 3rd season was not boring as some others have commented. I love how every detail is not explained but left to inference or implication by the circumstances that are revealed. Great show that will be missed. Ending was great.
I absolutely loved this season. Clever, brilliant story telling. I am disappointed in this final episode. Is it a finale? Dying inside if so. I don’t want to end at all, let alone this way.
However, back to this season. We navigate throughout Rays journey being swayed through heartbreak, that perhaps ‘this life’ has taken more than it gives. Ep 3 was breathtaking beautiful and tragic.
I’m season 2 we see the relationship break down with Ally. He immediately destroys all photos and removes all trace of her from the old bathroom cabinets. Fast forward to Season 3, as Ray moves into life of a cabby we notice the Polaroid picture of Zoe on the inside of his sun visor. He is doing this for her. The life that took him to her, also took her away.
I don’t want to imagine Ray as a cabby in the middle of nowhere. I want him happy. I want to get retribution. And most of all, I want to see it.
Love this show so much. LOVE the character development. I really enjoyed Scott’s silences, especially the first few minutes of the final episode of season 3. Man, all that stuff going through his head, there was so much dialogue to imagine.
Kudos to all involved.
This is one of my fav Aussie dramas in a long long time.
Bravo Team Inbetween
I don’t think the ending is ambiguous. And i think it was one of the most satisfying ending of a tv series (and it’s open to a movie). The only dangerous enemy Ray had was in his first season. He lives in a small world (australian small town country) where even thugs are sparse, disorganized and inepts (that’s why they all need a man like Ray and that’s why the final two overconfident roughnecks will have their head smashed).That smile during the entire 3 season has been always the smile before a rush unexpected phisical reaction against a man who tests his nature. I don’t understand the critics about the flow or the disjointment of the story.Since the beginning this story (just as much the original Magician 2006 mockumentary movie) has been about peeping the life of a serial killer from a 360° perspective:profession,family, friends and love links.We just have the most meaningful crumbs from the screenwriter’s standpoint.It’s like Seinfeld mixed with Sopranos.It’s an astonishing trip about the human condition and his incredible adaptation capacity.
Breaking the fourth wall. The last image we see is Ray looking directly at the camera with that Cheshire Cat smile. As if to say, I’m still here, I got them where I want them. Ray’s whole soul is based on beating bullies. He lights up when given the opportunity. Only this time he didn’t have to go out looking for it, they came to him.
The earlier episodes with the pedophile in the abandoned train line, and the one where Britt’s friend is kidnapped, were as taut and riveting as any script for TV ever produced. If those two episodes were 10s, most of the rest of Seasons 1 & 2 were in the 7-9 range.
Season 3, excluding the finale, were a bunch of people sitting around talking, Boring. And the final scene was everyone simultaneously keeping their options open (“How much money again …?”) and copping out. Like “The Godfather” trilogy, the mojo left between Seasons 2 and 3.
not the best series finale but far from the worst. A genuine effort you’d never see produced in US because it didn’t address every societal ailment in every episode. That being said it was the least of the three seasons, or as the gentleman said, “left a lot of meat on the bone.”
But it’s like Sopranos creator David Chase said,, in real life there’s no closure, it’s just life goes on
well said. my wife said the same thing. yeah its messy. so r u mf!
I loved it. Seems like some folks want the whole story spoon fed to them with cliché Hollywood repeat endings?! I’ve pointed out before that the show IS AWESOME because it’s written by a regular guy and not screwed with by Hollywood executives who have focus groups and audience test groups to design the non thinking cash cow ending that pleases the masses?! This show came off very genuine and realistic in its design because it was VERY smartly written and well acted! Like arrested development and firefly and countless other shows I loved from the outset they’re short lived in the money machine of Hollywood but grow and grow quietly among the people as cult classics! This is definitely one of my favorite all time shows! Well done to Scott Ryan and mr Nash for recognizing talent and demanding that Hollywood not replace the lead actor with….Bruce Willis or some other no talent actor with a bigger name than they deserve!
Feel very much the same as well. “Disjointed” and “forced” were two words that come to mind too. Practically no flow at all from episode to episode, unlike previous seasons. Had a very “let’s collect our $$ and get this over with” vibe. Still a great show overall, but Season 3 def left a lot of meat on the bone.
I think it was well played actually. The previous 2 eps had the slow burn of inevitability…that no matter what, Ray would always carry the consequences. The writing and set up has been clever enough to make us empathic, even in the face of brutality and criminality, tempered by Gary’s comical travails and grounded by Brittany’s growing distance. Ray wants out, because his ‘code’ has been breached, Dave is gone, and any further personal restitution could only result in more of the same.
We see a tired Ray. And the last scene…well, it offers us everything we have come to enjoy about this gem of a show. The glint in the eye… (a little nod to the Sopranos finale) says that we have been privy to everything that has put Ray here, and what happens next? Well, what do you reckon…
Completely disagree! Yes this season was a more disjointed than perhaps the first two were – I really didn’t feel the need to have my hand held from one episode to the next. It was casual, smart story telling that didn’t insult my intelligence by connecting the dots for me and tying all the loose ends up with a pretty bow..
Final episodes of shows we come to love often let people down in one way or another. Too many variations in opinion and expectation to serve a perfect ending for all, but I was more than satisfied. It didn’t sell itself out, it kept its pace and stayed true to quality of the entire series. The final scene was brilliant in my opinion. It left the door open for one to speculate if Ray was making an exit or an entrance, and I for one don’t mind having this show rent as much space in my head for as long as it wants to be there, asking questions that have no answers.
I hate cliffhanger endings, his facial expression towards the camera at the end, like was he thinking, “it was only a matter of time before i became a the hit, so time to radically accept my fate” or was his hitman essence thinking “these guys don’t know that i’m actually about to kill them instead,” ugh it made me mad I tell you… I want closure Scott Ryan, closure for Ray! And for us as the audience; us humans, we’re definitely not cut out for uncertainty, but alas experience it enough in life on a day-to-day-basis. We can’t even get a respite from uncertainty regarding entertainment/television/cinema. Let us have a clear-cut ending that isn’t ambiguous.
As much as I love this show, have to admit that this was a bit of a letdown season and finale. This season was disjointed at times, and looking back overall, it feels like Ryan didn’t really want to do a 3rd season and was coaxed by F/X to give it another go.