The Ending Of Dave Season 3 Explained

Everyone thinks they can rap, but not everyone thinks that they make a multi-million dollar career off the back of it. In 2020, "Dave" came along to take this self-delusion to the next level, and quickly became a hit with its viewers. Focusing on a self-centered twentysomething who is convinced that he is the next greatest rapper of all time, the series follows Dave's (Dave Burd) journey to try and convince everyone around him of his own thinking.

Often reflecting the privilege and opportunity that comes with Dave's social standing, the FX series is just as much of a critique of the industry as it is a character-led comedy. In fact, "Dave" can be such a genuine look at what's going on in the music industry that life has started to imitate art, with Burd even making music to coincide with the show itself. 

Season 3 kicks things up a notch, with Dave — who is also known by his rap persona of Lil Dicky — finally trying to reach the level of success he always knew he had in him. Guest stars come in thick and fast, including Usher, Rick Ross, Demi Lovato, and Megan Fox throughout the first nine episodes of the series. In the Season 3 finale, Dave finds himself at the ultimate crossroads, needing to decide whether his professional ambitions are actually worth it. In case you missed it, here's everything you need to know about the ending of Dave Season 3. Spoilers ahead.

Since Season 1 kicked off in 2020, Dave has been making it his life's mission to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As a neurotic guy in his mid-twenties, he sets out to prove to everyone else what he has convinced himself of all along. During Season 1, Dave asks GaTa to act as his hype man and eventually breaks up with Ally (Taylor Misiak) after seeing her lack of ambition as a potential career distraction. Season 2 sees Dave realize that Ally is the source of his creator's block, leading GaTa to confront him about not being happy with his separate success.

By the time Season 3 arrives, Dave and GaTa have shared the VMA stage as a duo, and Dave seems firmly on his way to fixing his own deep-rooted selfishness. With many of the previous episodes working to criticize Dave's character and privilege, the midpoint of Season 3 starts to prove that Dave is winning some of the smaller battles against himself. At the same time, his push to find a wider audience for his art seems to be working, with the likes of Usher, Machine Gun Kelly, and Travis Barker all making surprising cameos throughout.

Though we first meet her in the Season 3 premiere, superfan Bella (Tenea Intriago) is back to have another rendezvous with Dave. This time, it becomes clear that she's turned into an exaggerated version of the rapper after a screening of her short film proves that the parallels between them are all too clear. It's not long before she's pulling a gun on Dave and his A-list friends — one of which includes Brad Pitt. After smoking some weed and forcefully getting him to admit that he faked his own death, Bella's journey to a full-blown stalker is well-established.

At the same time, Dave is coming full circle in his own personal life. It takes some deep and meaningful conversations with Pitt for him to realize that seeking huge levels of fame just to spite people isn't really worth it. In the closing moments, Dave heads to West Africa, where he suddenly bumps into Drake. Though Drake's epilogue does leave viewers with more questions than it does answers, things suggest that Robyn (Chloe Bennet) might be making her way back into Dave's life at some point soon.

Whether it's through connecting to others or his own delusion about himself, Dave's grasp on love is something that hasn't quite landed. Back in Season 1, he was quick to leave Ally behind when he thought that she lacked ambition, only to later blame her for not being able to produce the music he wanted. Season 3 introduces the love interest of Robyn, who is left to constantly deal with surprises from the moment she arrives. By the time the Season 3 finale arrives, it's incredibly clear that the only person Dave is capable of loving is himself. Viewers see Rachel McAdams introduced as a last-ditch attempt to inject romance into Dave's life, which could possibly lead to more appearances in the future. 

Finding himself at an inner crossroads as the series draws to a close, the finale is truly a now-or-never moment for Dave. Pouring himself into his work in order to get over Robyn, he's quickly led back to re-evaluate the choices he's made so far. His frantic search for any type of validation is starting to wear thin, and it's taking a huge toll on Dave personally and professionally. The answer has been staring him in the face all along: maybe it's just best to slow down. And who better to drive that lesson home to him than a guest star who's been through the Hollywood ringer in Brad Pitt?

One thing that "Dave" has managed to maintain since its first episodes is an impressive roster of guest stars. Young Thug, Macklemore, and Justin Bieber were among the first famous faces to make their debut on the show, effortlessly slotting into Dave's vision of rapping success. By the time Season 2 aired, Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Lil Nas X, and Doja Cat all joined the list — and it seemed as though celebrities were queuing up for a chance to guest star. Why? Perhaps due to the fact that "Dave" reflect the delusions of fame so well, or that playing a fictionalized version of yourself is possibly the most fun job in the world.

The guest stars that have appeared on "Dave" may have been indicating more than viewers realized. As the seasons have gone on, the names on the guest star roster have gradually held more notoriety with the Season 3 finale alone lining up Rachel McAdams, Brad Pitt, and Drake. The fact that Dave can now surround himself with Academy Award-winning actors means that his own level of fame is rising, finally hitting the levels of success that he's always considered himself to have. Given that Dave's journey has mostly been driven forward by luck and privilege, has his talent finally taken over?

Aside from Dave's inner journey, the most notable narrative to come out of the Season 3 finale is Bella's personal journey. Since fans first met her in the season premiere, Bella has evolved into a fully-fledged stalker, adopting Dave's bad traits and making them into her entire personality. Though most of her time spent onscreen in the episode is downright scary, her presence does reveal some key details about Dave's own past. It turns out that it was Dave himself who inspired Bella to move out to Los Angeles, leading her to become the PA on his latest music video. During a scene in the finale, Dave is seen telling her "Follow your dreams!" while his tone feels incredibly disingenuous.

With all things considered, it could be argued that "Dave" is setting Bella up to start her own journey. While Dave seems to be reconciling his personal demons, he's essentially handed the baton of selfishness over to Bella. It feels as though Bella is leaving Season 3 where Dave started in Season 1 — too wrapped up in himself to make any headway or personal gains. Bella's behavior throughout the episode proves that there's a lot of work to do, with Dave hopefully now in a position to provide some proper guidance.

Three seasons in and fans now know that "love" isn't a word that Dave has a great grasp of. He's had a love interest who ends up suffering at the hands of his career throughout each season, which has been a burden carried by both Ally and Robyn. While Robyn has only joined Dave's journey in the last few episodes, Ally has been instrumental in shaping Dave's decisions since the show began airing.

With the Season 3 finale now wrapped up, there's an inkling that Ally could return to be a bigger part of Dave's story once again. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Dave Burd explained: "I don't want things to feel inorganic or fake. I love Taylor, I love the character Ally. And I know we'll be seeing more of her in the future. But I didn't want to force it by having her on tour the whole time."

Dave's relationships with his love interests are something that remains fundamental to his personal growth, so it makes absolute sense for him to revisit his past lovers in some kind of context. Given that Dave is now working toward becoming more selfless, could a reunion be on the cards to make amends?

At the same time, it remains unclear whether Dave can stick to his newfound epiphany. After working on the latest music video, Brad Pitt stops by with all the gusto and charm of a leading '90s man to instill a new sense of self into Dave's fragile ego. Pitt is the one who drives home the idea that Dave can't love someone else until he loves himself first. It sounds like a moment that should feature on the main stage of "RuPaul's Drag Race," but it actually works to realign Dave's set of priorities. With his rap career finally hitting the heights of success that Dave wanted all along, his journey is about to take a brand new direction.

Whether a Dave that fully loves himself is a version of himself that his fans will see in future seasons remains unknown. For the sake of great drama, it makes sense for him to struggle with his inner sense of self even more — although the idea of him doing a complete 180 to be at one with himself is also extremely satisfying. Believing that he is something he hasn't fully achieved is something Dave is remarkably good at, but being to implement huge changes hasn't been hugely successful so far.

Though Bella transforming into Dave's personal stalker certainly made the Season 3 finale more suspenseful, it was arguably better suited to take place earlier on in the series. Considering the type of person that Dave is, a stalker plotline makes complete sense — a fan who operates at such a dangerous level of delusion is perhaps the only type of person that could match Dave head-on. However, adding Bella back into the closing moments makes the season finale feel incredibly loaded. While the focus is taken away from Dave, the stalker plot doesn't always gel with the overarching idea that Dave needs change — and quickly.

If anything, reintroducing Bella to Dave's personal delusion was possibly better suited to the halfway point of Season 3. By Episode 5, Dave was starting to get to grips with winning out against some of his personal battles, so throwing him off of the scent just as things take a turn could have been more impactful. On top of this, Bella's actions feel weird alongside the featured appearance of Brad Pitt. Now that Pitt has come under fire for matters in his own personal life, spotlighting the two at the same time might not have been the best idea.

It's true of every good TV show, but the cast of "Dave" is particularly important in making each season better than the last. For the Season 3 finale, amazing cameos appeared more frequently than number-one singles in Lil Dicky's dreams. Speaking about the idea to chase down Drake instead of Robyn in the episode's closing moments, Dave Burd told The Hollywood Reporter: "What a twist, huh? I wanted to do something that was kind of a surprise. Not to oversimplify it, but every season we build toward this big decision. Am I going to do the right thing or the wrong thing?"

It might have been Drake that added the surprise twist to the finale, but Brad Pitt essentially appeared as a main character throughout. "Everyone who works on the show should feel the pride of 'Oh, we were able to get Brad Pitt,'" Burd explained to USA Today. "Not because 'Dave's cool and well connected' — because I had no connection to him at all — but really because the product we make is that elite." Tenea Intriago agrees that the level of guest stars comes from the show's craft. "It was truly the most heartwarming, crazy, chaotic experience. I'm so full of gratitude and still can't believe it happened," she told The Hollywood Reporter.

As of this writing, there are no confirmed plans for a fourth season of "Dave." However, no news doesn't necessarily mean bad news, and the Season 3 finale certainly leaves enough doors open to be explored in the future. The biggest question left unanswered is where Dave's personal journey goes from here. His decision to chase after Drake rather than pursue Robyn hints that he still might be a fair while away from making meaningful changes, leaving his next moves to be anyone's guess. There is certainly room for Robyn and Dave's relationship to find its feet, with Bella also needing a serious dose of redirection if she is to make something of herself in Los Angeles.

At the same time, the competition is truly on to try and get even bigger and better guest stars than before. As Dave climbs the ranks of success in his career, there's no telling who he could be appearing alongside next — and Dave Burd definitely doesn't seem phased about trying to get them. Considering that the Season 3 finale established Brad Pitt as such a necessary character, it could be argued that he could also have a leading role in future seasons. As for Drake ... fleeting appearances feel much more likely if anything.

The Season 3 finale of "Dave" relied heavily on its guest stars — but what if they weren't there at all? Speaking to The Wrap, Dave Burd spoke of the natural ease in getting people to sign onto the show, stating that it's "really not that complicated." "Drake, Brad [Pitt], Rachel [McAdams], they all watch the show and love the show, you know? So it just took me reaching out to everyone and pitching them," he explained. If Burd hadn't been successful or there were more obstacles in place while trying to reach the A-listers, the third season of "Dave" could have looked completely different.

While fans are enamored with the guest stars while they are on screen, their status sometimes means that the shine is taken away from the core cast. It would have been nice for Dave to reach his needed conclusions on his own, or at least have taken some heavier influence from Robyn, Bella, or GaTa. The ending of the episode might now have been so consciously evasive, purposely failing to answer the questions fans have under the guise of Drake being in West Africa. Going into future episodes, anything could be possible for Dave and his career — and it remains to be seen whether that's actually a good thing.