When the lives of a drug dealer and a cop collide, they realize that they are unable to survive in the world of crime without each other’s help. Driss and William are so similar yet quite different from each other as well! Ourika, the action crime thriller streaming on Prime Video, has been excellently executed by Marcela Saïd and Julien Despaux. The seven-part thriller is an original that is quite engaging and would draw in fans of crime dramas. Why did Driss and William form a pact? Why did William put his life at stake to protect Driss? What will finally happen to Driss and Moussa? Let’s find out!
Spoilers Ahead
How Did William Catch Moussa?
After Moussa’s truck full of drugs (led by Julien) was caught, Moussa was extremely stressed about the situation. When the others in the Jebli gang pointed out that Lyon must have ratted out about the truck, as he was quite close to Benali’s son Yacine (another drug dealer), he ruled out the speculation, saying Lyon was a loyal customer.
When Moussa told Lyon that Julien had been arrested when the cops captured the truck and that his 500,000 euros had been wasted, he became furious and wanted him to give back the money he had paid. Lyon threatened Moussa, saying he had to pay him back 10 meters of the stash within the next two weeks, or he would look for other suppliers. Meanwhile, the police had raided the Jebli house and arrested Moussa’s mother, but Moussa and Driss had somehow managed to escape. However, the police had not stopped tailing Driss, and when he went to deliver a bag full of money to Moussa, William managed to get hold of Moussa. However, this independent step by William wasn’t appreciated by his seniors, and they rebuked him for acting out of order. They wanted to trace Lyon through Moussa, but since he was in jail, there was no way for them to find him.
Why Did Metis Threaten Moussa?
While Moussa was in jail, Metis’ men approached him and beat him up (as they were from a rival gang). Metis told Moussa that in order to survive, he had to give him half the share of his profits, and in return, Metis would help him run his business smoothly. When Moussa didn’t agree to it, Metis tortured Julien and slit his face (cutting him up ear-to-ear) brutally. Finally, Moussa agreed to Metis’ partnership, which had a deep impact on Julien, and he committed suicide.
Why Was Lyon Threatening Driss?
Lyon threatened Driss, saying he wanted his stuff back, but when Driss said that he had nothing to do with his brother’s business, Lyon threatened to harm Ines. He, however, agreed to pay them back the money. Later, when Driss reached out to his mom to get money from her, she said that they didn’t have any money left as their men didn’t want to work and wanted to riot against Moussa’s arrest.
How Did William Stop The Riots?
Everyone on the narcotics team had been blaming William for causing a riot by arresting Moussa. Later, William went to Stan, asking him for help to stop the riots. He agreed to help Willaim, under the condition that he would be helped in return whenever the time arose. William also went to the neighborhood, trying to convince the parents of the young boys (protestors) to help the police. However, all his efforts went down the drain, as their parents were totally opposed to the police for beating up their sons mercilessly. However, later, with the help of Stan, William managed to arrest a couple of youngsters from the neighborhood, along with a truck full of alcohol.
Why Did Driss Loot The Convenience Store?
Meanwhile, Driss had been trying the best that he could to arrange for the money to pay off his brother’s debts. Stan informed him that the Benali kept their money in a convenience store, which they planned to loot. As per the plan, when they went to rob the store, they found drugs instead of money inside the store. But as they were about to leave with it, the man in the store started attacking them, which led to Driss shooting him. They took the drugs and the dead body with them, dumping the body in a swamp. However, while fleeing the store, Driss and his people forgot to get rid of the footage. Later, Stan contacted William, asking him to get rid of the evidence for him as a favor.
William went to the shop to get the footage and destroyed all of it but kept a copy of it with himself. Later, when the murdered man’s wife came to lodge a police complaint about her missing husband, he saw the footage and realized that the gang had not only looted goods from the store but committed murder.
What Deal Did Driss Have With Arnaud?
Meanwhile, Driss wanted to remove the Benali trademark from the drugs and give it to Lyon. When he approached Lyon with it and gave it to him, he refused to take it and said that he would only accept cash. Driss agreed to it but told Lyon that he had to arrange a meeting with Benali and his mother so that they could have a direct deal. While at a party, Driss came across Arnaud, who offered to make a deal with him. William had been constantly keeping an eye on Stan, which eventually led him to Driss and Arnaud. When he checked the records, he found out that Arnaud had records of fraud, kidnapping, and drug dealing. However, the deal between Driss and Arnaud was called off when Driss saw him heckling a woman in the club, and he stepped in.
William planned to find out all about Driss by acting as one of his customers and slowly getting information out of them. This technique made it easier for William to locate their safe house, eventually leading him to arrest Stan. While Racheton was digging for information about Stan, he found out that Stan had a previous connection with William and warned him of the consequences.
Why Did The Jeblis Go To Morocco?
As per Stan’s information, the Jeblis decided to go to Morocco to get control of their land (to farm cannabis there) after they fell out with Amer (their uncle). As they set off for Morocco, William and Racheton followed them. They found out that the Benalis had been buying directly from Amer, leading to a feud with Moussa. They also found out that Metis was an old friend of the Jeblis (who used to work for Moktar) and was now working for Amer, betraying Driss and Moussa.
Driss and his family went back to Ourika, at their old house, where he learned that his dad had killed himself in Tazmamart prison after she had informed the Moroccan police about him. She said that their dad, Moktar, got into drug sales, and that was frustrating for her, as she would always be in fear of them getting caught. Upon realizing that a third of their father’s land (that they had planned to grow cannabis on) was a part of the land consolidation (where only edible crops and vegetables could be grown), they became concerned. They decided to go to the party held by the minister (about a truce between Morocco and Europe to stop drug trafficking).
Why Was The Truck Stopped?
William and Racheton, along with Baser, had been keeping a check on Amer’s operations. When William decided to sneak into the den, the goons spotted him, and he somehow managed to escape. Later, while keeping track of Lyon’s truck, they formed a pact with the Moroccan police, saying that they would let Lyon’s truck full of drugs go until Paris, and then they would catch them with the help of Spanish police. However, the Moroccan police didn’t keep their word and stopped the truck. Driss was extremely disappointed with the Moroccan police and told Racheton that maybe someone from the Moroccan police was with Lyon. However, Racheton said that maybe it was a part of their political agenda as Morocco got grants from Europe for land conversions in the Rif and stopping the truck was a gesture of goodwill.
What Happened At The Party?
Driss was quite happy when he got to know that Ines was pregnant and planned to leave Morocco with her once the issue of the land had been resolved. Later, when they went to the party, Driss approached the minister and proposed that if he would let them use the entire land, then he would only use the subsidies provided by the minister. Meanwhile, the police approached the French ambassador, seeking help from her and informing her that the dealers knew about the raid, and that maybe someone in the Moroccan police was the informant. They requested the French ambassador to help in granting full access to their land to the Jebli family so that they could use the family to catch other dealers.
When Ines saw that Driss had been threatening the minister, as he was initially not agreeing to his proposal, she got angry at him. She said that he had been becoming just like other drug mafias. She was so mad at Driss that she wanted to leave the party, and just as she started her car, it blew up.
Why Were Driss And William Captured?
Moussa and Driss approached Metis, wanting to know the whereabouts of Benali (as they knew he had planted the bomb for the Jeblis). In the meantime, they also got back their lands, and their uncle promised them that now he didn’t have anything to do with the Benalis. However, Amer did not stick to his words and got Driss kidnapped (as he wanted the land). Some unknown men had been torturing Driss, asking him about his connection with the French police.
Willam had decided to stay back in Morocco for a few more days to find out who the informant was in the police. While digging up matters, he even got captured and ended up in a dungeon. He was tortured and asked if he worked for the Jews. After some time, he realized that, right next to his dungeon was Driss’ dungeon and called out to him. He said that they could be of help to each other and get out of the place alive. He also told Driss that the Chief Inspector was Amer’s informer. Later, when they called Driss to torture him further, he offered to work together and said that William would help them pass the trucks to France, helping them make greater profits together. Later, William called Racheton and said that a truck would leave and that he needed a pass for it. He further told Racheton that he was with the Chief Inspector and would help the trucks cross from Spain to Paris, delivering the hash to the wholesalers. As William and Driss agreed to work collaboratively, giving a huge cut of the money to the chief inspector, they were let loose.
How Did Driss Start Helping William?
Driss promised to help William catch all the dealers in exchange for helping him find Benali (as he wanted to take revenge for Ines’ death). Later, when Driss went to meet Baser, he said that Driss would help them catch the Chief Inspector red-handed while accepting a bribe. Later, when the Chief Inspector came to meet Driss and his uncle at a bathhouse, the police arrested him and Amer for drug trafficking. When the scene shifts to six months later, we see Driss still surviving the harsh world of drug dealing under William’s guidance. He had still been helping the police by letting them catch the drug dealers and luring them in to do business with him. By this time, Driss had already become a famous name in the underworld (distributing drugs all over France), and that was gradually becoming an issue for William.
Meanwhile, Metis (who was now on Driss’ side) informed Driss that the next shipment would be for Benali. But Driss was intent on killing Benali himself for having killed Ines and only informed the police about Lyon. Driss’ information led William and Racheton to Lyon, and just as they were about to catch him, they saw Moussa there. William decided to sneak into the warehouse, eventually leading to the goons spotting him again and attacking him. They managed to get hold of Lyon, but Moussa was let off.
Why Did Moussa Rat Driss Out?
When Moussa found out that Driss was ratting out the other dealers, he realized that Driss could put him in danger. Later, when Lola told him that Driss had gone crazy and wanted to kill Benali, he wanted to stop Driss. Moussa went to the customs officer and gave out information about Driss. He didn’t hesitate to put Driss in such a dangerous situation, even though Driss had always wanted to look out for Moussa. Upon getting the information, the Customs Department raided Driss’ house and his truck, where they got 30 tons of hash. Meanwhile, William informed Driss that his home had been ransacked and that he had to immediately leave the city. It was from Lola that Driss found out that it was his brother who had ratted him out to the Customs.
How Did Driss Track Down Benali?
Metis told Driss that they could find Benali as he had bugged his stack of hash and knew where Benali was. After tracking down Benali’s apartment, he went to kill him and saw him with his family. That must have made him think about Ines and his unborn child, and he shot him dead. After the murder, Driss was attacked by Benali’s goons and was injured. But Metis managed to save him. Metis asked Driss to move to Spain along with him, but he refused, asking Metis to leave.
What Happened In The End?
As the customs found tons of hash on Driss, William would give it a last shot to save him, telling Racheton that the stuff had Benali’s mark on it and that Driss was innocent. However, Racheton said that it was quite evident that he was lying and that he should now try to save himself rather than trying to save Driss. Later, when William tapped Lola’s phone, he found that Driss’ last call was with her. He managed to find out the location (at a scrapyard) and arrested him. He saw Driss in a very vulnerable state at the scrapyard, and right before his arrest, Driss requested that William let him meet his mom for one last time. When he was finally taken to meet her, he lied to her, saying that he would return and keeping his arrest a secret from her. When he saw Moussa, he said that he knew that it was him who had ratted him out, yet he held no grudges against him. This made Moussa feel extremely guilty, and he stabbed himself to death. Driss wanted to help his brother, but William took him away (as he could be caught).
Driss told William that they were quite similar in a lot of aspects, and William retorted, saying he was taking him to Brussels, from where it would be easier for him to leave the country. It is evident that William had only arrested Driss to free him, giving him a second chance at life. However, this step by William led to inquiries against him and Racheton. While Racheton was cast behind bars for helping a drug dealer expand his racket, Driss was allowed a second chance at his service.
Final Words
We are left with the hope that Driss will eventually return in the second season (if the second season is ever released!). After watching the first season of Ourika, there’s a question that has been bugging me constantly. Why did William cross the line to help Driss? Probably, William could see his own reflection in Driss and, hence, didn’t want him to face any perils. Not that William hadn’t received any help from Driss, but he had respected Driss’ contributions in catching many dealers and didn’t leave his hand in times of need, unlike Driss’ own brother Moussa. In the end, Driss finally said that he would not go too far but would stay near William. We feel that Driss has become too dependent on Willam.
