The departed

[ed2288]

hi just watched this scorsese film and have a few questions. Towards the end, costigan hands his lover an envelope and tells her to open it if something happens to him. She writes his name on it and puts it away but then we never hear or see anything else about it. What was that all about? Also how can an 'ex'-cop (dicaprio) be trusted so much by a mafia boss? Why would the FBI let Costello, an FBI informant, commit so many drug offences and murders. And finally how come Costello can go wherever he wants whenever he wants and still not get busted by the police?

[vinrex7]

Not to sure about the envelope. But i think that decaprio was trusted because of his father, and uncle, they were friends of costello. if you are an informant, the police or in this case the fbi will let you get away with murder. i know of a lot of people who openly sell drugs and never seem to get caught, it's cause they sing like canaries.

[bernardo]

I think the envelope contained information about the fact that he was still a cop, and who his two contacts were. They were the only 2 people who knew that he was still working undercover as a cop (after they pretended he had been sacked) and he wanted to be recognised as a cop - even after he was murdered.

If I understood it correctly, she must have opened it because it was Costigan getting a proper police funeral at the end (and not just the other cop who was killed by Sullivan). It's possible that it also contained information about Sullivan being the mole.