What really happened at the end of Reservoir Dogs?

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Long before he was rewriting history in his inimitable style, Quentin Tarantino (PULP FICTION, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) was making waves in the world of American independent cinema with his simple and brutal debut, RESERVOIR DOGS. A group of criminals attempt to pull off a diamond heist (which we never see), it goes horribly wrong, and a traitor is suspected. You know the story. By telling the story in a non-linear fashion, and injecting it with a distinct voice, Tarantino stuck the landing in what many consider to be one of the great first time films from a director. But what there is there to "explain" about the ending of this landmark film? Not all that much on the surface, but instead, there's a few things to "speculate" on, namely the fates of Steve Buscemi's Mr. Pink, Harvey Keitel's Mr. White and Tim Roth's Mr. Orange by the film's bloody, bullet riddled conclusion.