The Rip: Does Wilbur the Dog Die?

Netflix’s ‘The Rip‘ follows the story of a team of police officers who raid a house to find more than $20 million in cash. While they are supposed to hand the money to their superior so it can be returned to the system, they are all forced to consider what it would mean to them to have this much money. As everyone reconsiders their priorities, distrust takes hold, especially as it becomes clear that at least one of them is corrupt. To make things worse, the enemies show up at their door, and a brutal gunfight ensues with everyone’s life hanging in the balance. The one that we get the most concerned about is Wilbur the dog. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Wilbur the Dog Barely Survives the Traumatic Night

The primary focus of ‘The Rip’ stays with Lieutenant Dane Dumars and his team, who are tasked with raiding drug houses, where they usually confiscate cash. Because criminals get pretty creative about hiding their stuff, it takes someone with a keen nose to sniff out the stash, no matter where or how well it is hidden. This is where Wilbur comes in. The Beagle has been trained to locate the stashes, and it’s not drugs that he is trained to find; it is cash. Without him, the team would have to tear through the entire house with no guarantee of finding what they came looking for. Sure enough, when the next tip-off comes in, Wilbur’s services are called upon. When the team enters the house, they start looking around, but clearly, the task has been cut out for them. The house is hoarded with all sorts of stuff, and it would take days to sift through it.

Thanks to Wilbur, it doesn’t take them more than a few minutes to discover that they need to be looking at the attic after Wilbur singles out the place and keeps barking at it. When JD and Dane look into the attic, they find it squeaky clean, which is weird compared to the rest of the house, confirming it’s the spot. They find a fake wall, inside which are several containers full of money. It doesn’t take them long to realise that this is not a few hundred dollars. It is several million dollars. As humans take over, Wilbur knows his job is done and relaxes. He is such a good boy that Desi, who distrusts all the cops around her, pets him and calls him the only good cop in the bunch. Things get ugly when a gunfight ensues, and poor Wilbur has to hide to save his life. Salazar, who is his handler, is shot in the leg, and she calls out to him, worried for his safety as the bullets fly all over.

Fortunately, none of the bullets found their way to the dog. Once the assailants leave, the threat of the bullets goes away. The humans get busy with figuring out who the good and the bad guys are, and Wilbur doesn’t have to worry about getting killed again. In the end, as JD and Dane drive away with Ro and Matty in an armored truck with bags full of money, Wilbur is left behind with Salazar, Baptiste, and Desi. Later, however, it turns out that Wilbur’s team has been entrusted with the money, and they return to the station. There, the money is counted, and the bad guys are brought to justice. After all the chaos, everything ends well, and it’s finally time to go home. In the last scene, we see Wilbur going home with Salazar for a much-needed rest after an incredibly tense day.

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