Training Day ending explained: Alonzo's final meltdown and the tragic loss of hope and innocence

The ending of Training Day shows Alonzo getting a taste of his own medicine as he loses his life in a bitterly ironic moment of justice. This Antoine Fuqua film is gritty, violent, and unforgiving, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as impactful without Denzel Washington’s commanding presence, which earned him an Academy Award.

Washington demands every bit of your attention with his steely gaze and theatrics that reveal Alonzo is merely putting on a facade. He is a corrupt man who believes his street-smart instincts will secure his long-term survival. However, he ends up being just another person broken by a system he believed would be his salvation. His dog-eat-dog philosophy ultimately turns against him in the final moments when he loses hope in the rules he lived by.

The ending of Training Day shows justice being served as the bad cop (Alonzo) gets brutally killed while the good cop (Jake) returns home, battered and bruised. So, in the end, Alonzo is reduced to a headline, while Jake walks away—physically intact, if morally shaken. These final moments leave Jake’s fate uncertain and raise unresolved questions about morality. However, a deleted scene at the end offers a brief idea of Jake’s immediate future. Let’s unpack that.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers. Reader's discretion is advised.

In the end, Alonzo was supposed to be killed off-screen while Jake was supposed to face the Wise Guys

Denzel Washington in Training Day (Image via YouTube/Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Denzel Washington saw Alonzo as the villain of the story and not the anti-hero. That’s reportedly why he wanted Alonzo to be killed violently in the middle of the street instead of off-screen, as was planned in an earlier draft. During a conversation with Charlie Rose, Washington revealed the reason behind the creative change:

"The only way I can justify this character living in the worst way is if he dies in the worst way."

As Washington explains, Alonzo dies an ugly death as bullets are fired from every direction. It’s also ironic that he gets killed just when he decides to follow the law by stopping at a traffic light. This also happens when he listens to the Wise Guys’ advice to skip town—right after Jake makes him realize that he can’t take people for granted.

The Training Day ending leaves several moral ambiguities unresolved

Ethan Hawke in Training Day (Image via YouTube/Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Jake (Ethan Hawke) enters his training day as a naively idealistic cop who believes he can make the world a better place by helping those in need. That’s why he’s initially eager to train under someone as experienced as Alonzo. However, it takes him a while to realize that Alonzo is just using him as a pawn to get the money he needs by the end of the day.

Alonzo expects Jake to toughen up to fight crime, but he bullies Jake into doing things that would implicate him in Alonzo’s own crimes. So, Jake becomes entangled in Alonzo’s schemes, pressured into compromising his morals to be part of the police force. The film gradually traces Jake’s disillusionment and loss of moral clarity.

At the end of Training Day, Jake doesn’t kill Alonzo, nor does Alonzo kill him. Instead, after his final meltdown, Alonzo dies at the hands of a mob while Jake walks away, alive. The final moments do not say anything conclusive about the money that Alonzo steals to pay his debt to the Russians. Does Jake take that money home or hand it over as evidence? Does he become the very thing he was fighting against? The ending doesn’t say anything specific.

Some reports suggest that there’s an alternate ending from another draft of the Training Day script, which showed the Wise Guys waiting right outside Jake’s house, expecting him to hand over the money. Jake reportedly tells them he’ll turn it over to the authorities, refusing to cooperate. Instead of that, we get an ambiguous ending where Jake, with a gun in his hand, is barely able to walk back to his house. This ending invites interpretation and speculation.