“The Rip” Ending Explained: Who Is the Mole?
- - “The Rip” Ending Explained: Who Is the Mole?
Christopher RudolphJanuary 22, 2026 at 6:00 AM
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Warrick Page/Netflix
Matt Damon as Lieutenant Dane Dumars and Ben Affleck as Det Sergeant J.D. Byrne in 'The Rip.' -
The Rip, starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, premiered Jan. 16 on Netflix
The action-thriller follows a Miami narcotics team who find millions of dollars stashed in a safehouse
The ending of The Rip reveals who the mole is and what happens to the money
The Rip is full of twists, turns and trust issues.
The Netflix action-thriller stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as Miami cop partners Lt. Dane Dumars (referred to as LT) and Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne, respectively. After receiving a tip during off-hours, they arrive at a house, where they eventually locate millions of dollars hidden in an attic.
While counting the money on the premises over the course of the night, questions are brought up about whether protocol is being properly followed. As the Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) tries to learn information regarding the tip, versions of the story begin to blend, and soon, the members form alliances.
All of them look outward and inward in the pursuit of finding out who is a potential snitch, and how it's related to a recent murder that hit close to home.
"You don't know who's good, who's bad, who's corrupt, what people's agendas are,” Damon told Tudum. "The tension just kind of keeps getting ratcheted up. There are forces on the outside that are converging on them, and they're going to have to defend themselves."
So, how does it conclude? Here's everything to know aboutThe Rip ending explained.
How does The Rip end?
Claire Folger/Netflix
'The Rip.'
The Rip ends with LT, Byrne and their other team members — Officers Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor) and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno) — safely transferring the money from the stash house to the authorities.
The traitors on the mission are unmasked while they attempt to steal the cash for themselves. In a twist, the money was never in the hands of the moles and was instead taken to the police as part of an elaborate plan by LT to plant false information and figure out who the snitch in the group was.
In the end, the cash is counted and matches down to the dollar. Desi (Sasha Calle), who was found inside the house, receives a cut of the money, while the narcotics team gets to go home and rest after a long night.
While saying goodbye to Desi, LT tells her the tattoos on his hands are a tribute to his son, who died of cancer. “Are we the good guys?” was the last thing LT's son said to him, with LT replying, “We are and always will be.”
Who was the mole in The Rip?
Claire Folger/Netflix
Steven Yeun as Detective Mike Ro and Sasha Calle as Desi in 'The Rip.'
Detective Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), a member of LT’s team, is the traitor trying to steal the money stashed in the house.
It is also disclosed that Ro was working with DEA Agent Matty Nix (Kyle Chandler), who ran away with what he thought was a bag of money, before being shot by Byrne.
What happened to the money at the end of The Rip?
Claire Folger/Netflix
Teyana Taylor as Detective Numa Baptiste in 'The Rip.'
Numa and Lolo are in charge of counting the cash, and they prove to be trustworthy in the end.
After their plan is thwarted, Ro and Nix flee the armored truck that was supposedly transporting the money. In reality, they run away with duffel bags full of old phone books belonging to Desi's grandmother.
The duo quickly becomes separated, with LT going after Ro and Byrne after Nix.
LT confronts Ro about how he figured out he was the mole, pointing to the different money amounts he shared with the team and the phone call they received, which referenced one of those numbers.
To test out his theory, LT staged a fake conversation in the garage with Numa and Lolo that Desi later shared with Ro, who in turn tried to sow seeds of doubt and cause chaos, including setting the house on fire.
While LT arrests Ro, Byrne gets into a shouting match with Nix and kills him. In a different side of town, Numa and Lolo transport the real stash of money to the police.
Who killed Captain Jackie Velez?
Claire Folger/Netflix
Kyle Chandler as DEA Agent Mateo 'Matty' Nix in 'The Rip.'
At the beginning of The Rip, Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco), who led TNT, is murdered.
She was seen in her car speaking with a person on the phone about information before shots rang her way. Despite trying to fight back, Jackie sensed she wouldn't make it out alive and sent one last text message to Byrne, which turned out to be the tip he later brought to his group.
Then, two men are shown killing Jackie, who were Ro and Nix in black masks. Later on, during the investigation, the team believes the cartel was involved until they're told otherwise, and then everyone starts looking at one another for signs of betrayal.
"They think she was murdered by a cop," The Rip writer-director Joe Carnahan told Tudum, about who are the suspects in Velez's death. "Was it a cop on her own team? Was it someone else?"
"You don’t know. And you also know that Byrne had a romantic entanglement with her," he continued. "But she was also the one that promoted Dumars ahead of her boyfriend."
In the end, it's revealed that Jackie was talking to Desi on the phone.
Do Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's characters survive?
Warrick Page/Netflix
Ben Affleck as Byrne and Matt Damon as LT in 'The Rip.'
Yes, Damon and Affleck's characters — LT and Byrne, respectively — are still alive at the end of The Rip.
The friends and co-workers survive the night at the safe house. The following morning, they go to the beach to see the sunrise, where they see a girl playing by the water. The officers overhear that the girl's name is Jackie.
They look at each other, thinking of Jackie's spiritual beliefs and what she was known for saying, "Live to see another sunrise."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
