Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for The Pickup!The Pickup is the latest comedic adventure from Amazon Studios, starring Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson as two unlikely colleagues who end up aiding and abetting a $60 million heist against their will. Just like Eddie Murphy’s best movies, The Pickup has a charming blend of slapstick comedy and quirky characters that keeps the audience entertained throughout.

The main plot revolves around Murphy’s Russ and Davidson’s Travis as their truck is robbed by Zoe (Keke Palmer) and her team, who plan to use the truck to pull off a casino robbery in Atlantic City. Travis and Russ are at first forced to help them, but their willingness to work with the criminals evolves as the movie continues.

The Pickup might not come close to Eddie Murphy’s other great roles, but it’s still an entertaining addition to the comedian’s filmography that knows exactly what it wants to be, and mostly succeeds. The film’s ending does a solid job of wrapping all the plot threads together, while leaving some details open to speculation.

How Did Zoe Escape, And Why Did Russ And Travis Let Her?

Throughout The Pickup, Zoe goes to increasing lengths to keep herself safe and shake the police from her trail. However, in the final moments of the film, the cops manage to catch up to her crew as they arrive at the airstrip where she’s prepared a plane to escort her from the country.

Zoe admits that she’s been planning this heist for the best part of two years, so it’s no surprise that her escape is so тιԍнтly planned. Not only did she leave herself two cars at the scrapyard to flee in, but she also ensured that a plane was waiting to take her to Bali just hours after the heist took place.

Although there are some bumps in the road, this plan ultimately works because Russ and Travis are willing to let her escape while they take the brunt of the heat from the police. Despite everything she’s put them through, Russ has developed some level of respect for Zoe, and he likely feels indebted to her because she held off Miguel and Banner from killing them all.

There’s a lot of comedy in The Pickup, but the film’s ending also captures a sense of friendship and sentimentality that’s crucial to understanding these characters and their actions. Russ didn’t forgive Zoe for all her crimes, but he’d begun to see the human behind the facade and made a quick decision to let her go free.

Did Russ and Travis Avoid Charges For The Robbery?

Despite robbing $60 million from a casino and seemingly getting many people killed with their dangerous driving, it appears that Russ and Travis went home scot-free after the events of The Pickup. Travis accurately predicts earlier in the film that they’ll be considered innocent because they were coerced, but it’s definitely surprising that they don’t seem to be suffering any consequences.

In the pre-credits sequence, Travis finally manages to get hold of Zoe, and it’s revealed that he’s continuing his police training – or at least, he was. This wouldn’t have been possible if he’d faced any serious charges for the heist, so it’s safe to ᴀssume that both he and Russ (who pivoted careers to owning a H๏τel) managed to explain their situation sufficiently.

Will Zoe and Travis Finally Get Together?

The romance between Zoe and Travis is one of The Pickup’s most entertaining subplots, and the pair finally gets their happy ending in the final moments of the film. Although many reviews of The Pickup have criticized the writing of this relationship, it brings a very fun dynamic to the overall story that’s rewarded in The Pickup’s closing scene.

After Travis finally remembers Zoe’s number, he manages to get in touch with her – and learns that she’s escaped to Bali with all the money. She invites him to the island, and it’s implied that they can finally be together without the pressure of the heist looming over them. The note they sent to Russ alongside his money has their initials, suggesting they did meet up eventually.

Why Did Zoe And Travis Send Russ The Money?

The way The Pickup‘s characters come together despite everything they’ve put each other through is one of the movie’s most compelling themes, proving that nobody can easily be categorized into boxes of “good” and “bad” people. Russ recognizes this in Zoe, which is why he lets her escape from the police at the end of the film.

The most likely explanation for Zoe sending a portion of her money to Russ and Natalie is that she wants to repay him for enabling her freedom and seeing her for who she truly is. Of course, Travis would have encouraged this decision as he clearly wants to be friends with him in the future.

The Real Meaning of The Pickup’s Ending

Despite The Pickup’s underwhelming Rotten Tomatoes score, there’s something very fun and compelling about the way these unlikely characters manage to see through each other’s tough exteriors in the final moments of the film. Russ and Travis certainly aren’t the heroes they would traditionally be presented as in any other action film, and Zoe isn’t quite the villain she’s made out to be either.

Beyond the slapstick comedy and high-stakes action sequences, The Pickup is a film about how far we’d be willing to go for our loved ones. Whether that’s Russ trying to protect Natalie from harm, Travis going along with Zoe’s heist because of his feelings for her, or Zoe stealing the money to avenge her father’s unjust death, each of these characters is serving something beyond themselves.