The show’s main selling point is that the episodes of Netflix’s new series “Kaleidoscope” can be viewed in any order. Eric Garcia’s “Kaleidoscope” follows a criminal who resolves to ruin the life of the person who has provided for him. Despite the series’ attempt to be original by establishing a non-linear order, the story is unremarkable and fails to engage.
The suspense in “Kaleidoscope” dies out too quickly, and the plot has many holes that undermine the film’s credibility. Giancarlo Esposito is compelling as the flawed protagonist and is in fine form here.
The series’ stellar cast – including Paz Vega, Rosaline Elbay, Peter Kendall, Niousha Noor, Rufus Sewell, and others – is let down by a weak and unfocused script. So, let’s examine why Ray Vernon decided to rob a bank and whether he succeeded.
Kaleidoscope Plot Synopsis
After his release from prison, Ray Vernon began recruiting accomplices for the largest heist of his career. He planned to rob SLS, a company owned by Robert Salas and renowned for its bulletproof safe. Ray realized he needed skilled players on his squad, so he actively sought them out.
Ava Mercer had previously worked with Ray & assisted him in money laundering. In addition, Stan Loomis & Ray had previously shared a prison cell, so they were already familiar with one another. Bob Goodwin was an expert vault-breaker & Judy Goodwin was a dynamite expert.
Although Ray knew he wouldn’t need a hardened criminal like RJ Acosta’s cousin Bob, he knew he’d need him eventually. Ray had initially claimed that he was only interested in the money. But as time went on, we learned that he knew Roger Salas from before & that his real motivation for the robbery was to exact revenge for an earlier incident between them.
Roger, whose given name was Graham Davies, was an old coworker of Ray’s. Roger & Ray had participated in numerous robberies together & a misunderstanding between them during one of these events had destroyed Ray’s life & everything he had ever valued.
They’d planned to rob a holiday charity auction together, but their plans quickly went awry. Roger murdered an employee & then set fire to the office to hide the body. When Ray spotted his wife’s car parked outside of school, he almost made a break for it.
Ray’s wife, Lily, used to work for the business owner, but she recently quit protesting his racist treatment of her. Unbeknownst to Ray, the owner had asked her to come to help him out when he ran out of staff. Roger accompanied him back inside the building.
There was a room with a trapped Lily inside it, and Ray pleaded with Roger to go in there and free her. Roger stared at Lily from outside, unable to bring himself to enter the house for fear of joining her in flames.
Ray was convicted of murdering Lily & was consequently sentenced to prison, where he is now separated from his daughter Hannah. From that moment on, Ray’s only goal was to get even with Roger, & the fact that he had amassed such a large fortune only added fuel to the fire.
Kaleidoscope Ending Explained: Who Escapes With The Money?
That would be Hannah, the daughter of Ray/Leo. We learn that 24 years before the heist, in the episode Violet, Ray is arrested for a botched robbery and spends time in prison, where he is forced to give up his girlfriend, Hannah.
After Ray gets out of jail, he searches for Hannah, only to discover that she is now working for Roger, his former associate and the man who betrayed him during the heist gone wrong.
Emotions run high as Ray and Hannah are reunited in the final scenes of Green, with Hannah still holding a grudge against Ray for leaving her. However, Hannah agrees to be Ray’s eyes on the inside when Ray reveals his plan to rob Roger’s seemingly impregnable vault.
In the Netflix original film Kaleidoscope, Hannah looks off-screen with a grin. Ray gets double-crossed by Hannah, unfortunately. Amid the group’s plan to remove $7 billion in bonds from Roger’s safe, Hannah throws a wrench into the works.
Hannah’s roommate works as a mail delivery employee at Roger’s security firm, so she enlists his help in stealing the bonds & replacing them with colourful pieces of paper. Ray is the only one who learns about Hannah’s betrayal, but he later explains that despite being stabbed in the back, he fully understands why Hannah acted the way she did.
Since Ray is dying of Parkinson’s disease and will never be able to enjoy his winnings, he can understand & accept Hannah’s choice. In the meantime, Hannah is a parent. Thus, Ray believes that his fortune would be better served by ensuring the well-being of his daughter and grandson.
After Hannah discovers her father’s lifestyle, she is determined to help him make peace with himself. She is aware of his efforts to avoid responsibility & it is incumbent upon her to extend forgiveness & sympathy, realizing that he did the best he could under the circumstances. That is her guiding principle.
Why Did Hannah Betray Ray?
Hannah is the one person in the group who is the most loyal to Ray, so it’s puzzling that she would go to such great lengths to foil her father’s scheme. It’s hard to understand why Hannah would turn on Ray. As it turned out, this was for his good. Ray’s intention in stealing the bonds was to get back at Roger for a slight.
He had no idea that he was robbing some of the most influential people in the world, who would never give up looking for him & who wouldn’t be very forgiving once they caught up to him. After seven years of Hannah’s efforts, her father still showed no signs of wanting to improve his situation. It was clear that she needed a strategy shift.
Hannah stole the bonds & then returned them to the rightful owners. She had an idea that they were trying to wash those bonds because they were unreported & therefore counted as illegal funds. Thiele had previously gone to Roger to find a solution, but now Hannah has provided them with a choice of her own.
She divulged the robbery’s details to them. By stealing the bonds, they would not only be able to collect the insurance on them but also avoid any legal repercussions that might come from doing so. Bonds could be sold & converted into “clean money” without the issuers having to account for anything they didn’t possess.
Hannah was concerned that if the clients were kept in the dark about the destination of their bonds, Ray would be constantly pursued for the rest of his life. This was an attempt to save her father, even if it wasn’t likely to succeed. She also succeeded in making him see that their relationship was over.
She wouldn’t waste any more time trying to reform him; he’d already wasted years on that strategy & it had cost Lily her life. Rather than repeat her mother’s mistakes, Hannah is using this act of betrayal to prove to her father that she is more than a pawn in his game.