It’s hard to believe but sadly, it’s true: The end of Dope Thief season 1 is upon us, and it seems like yesterday that it just started — the markings of an excellent TV show.
Dope Thief premiered on Apple TV+ on March 14 with a two-episode release that introduced us to life-long friends Ray (Brian Tyree Henry) and Manny (Wagner Moura), two petty criminals getting by in life by reveling in a tad of delinquency. The pair frequently pose as DEA agents and rip off small-time drug dealers, but when they rob the wrong house, well, all hell breaks loose, and the lives and world they once knew are changed forever.
The series has been dark, gritty, tense, and full of action, boasting its fair share of twists amidst plenty of heartfelt moments between characters and the kind of levity that only Brian Tyree Henry can provide. As Ray and Manny have scrambled to get their loved ones to safety and stay hidden from both the police and the cartel, they’ve also struggled with former demons: a heroin addiction for Manny and childhood trauma for Ray.
Episode 6, "Love Songs from Mars," intensified the narrative and forced us to the edge of our seats, shocking us with a showdown of gunfire reminiscent of something straight out of Sons of Anarchy, ending with a major cliffhanger that resulted in Bart's death and Manny and Ray at the mercy of the law. Episode 7, "Mussolini," pits everyone against each other as power dynamics play out, showing us the extremes to which no one is safe, leaving us with heartache and questions about what comes next and where we go from here.
When to watch Dope Thief season 1 finale on Apple TV+
With the end of the eight-episode series drawing near, you might be wondering when, exactly, the season ends, and the answer to that is soon. The Dope Thief season finale premieres Friday, April 25, 2025, on Apple TV+. One of the reasons the streaming giant is a favorite (at least of mine) is because, depending on where you live in the U.S., it drops new episodes the night before their scheduled release dates. Here’s a breakdown of the official release times below:
- East Coast: 9 p.m. ET on Thursdays
- West Coast: 6 p.m. PT on Thursdays
- Midwest: 8 p.m. CT on Thursdays
- Mountain: 7 p.m. MT on Thursdays
Though Ridley Scott has been involved with the series and even directed the first episode, Dope Thief is created and written by Peter Craig, the master at the helm of super hits like Top Gun: Maverick and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. With the release of Dope Thief, Craig proves he’s still got what it takes to write a Hollywood hit. Not only is the plot itself engrossing to the max, but the characters are what drive this story. These performances are outstanding, with Henry giving his best one to date.
Ray is smart and efficient… always prepared with a plan. Manny, on the other hand, is more relaxed. However, when they’re lured into fleecing an unknown home in the countryside, nothing goes as planned and sh*t hits the fan when bullets are sprayed like it’s a paintball factory. As a result, bodies start dropping, and Manny and Ray find themselves targets on the run from some extremely dangerous people. It’s only after they temporarily escape that they discover they’ve just exposed and began to unraveling one of the biggest hidden narcotics corridors on the Eastern seaboard.
With Manny and Ray now in police custody, we'd like to think they're safe, but they aren't, as episode 7 blatantly shows us. The cartel kingpin makes it clear to Ray that it doesn't matter where they are, who they get to protect them, or where they hide, the cartel can and will always find and get to them, and they do, even while Ray is still in the hospital. They will forever be vulnerable, and while Ray is ready to fight back, Manny has had enough. Son (Dustin Nguyen) is able to protect himself in jail from a cartel attack, and though Manny survives his first one, he chooses afterwards to opt out of the entire game and takes his own life in a drug overdose.
Now, with his best friend and brother gone, what will Ray do? No one is safe, not even Theresa, Ray's lawyer Michelle (Nesta Cooper), or Manny's fiancée Sherry (Liz Caribel Sierra), who is carrying Manny's unborn child. Furthermore, there's still a dirty agent out there whose identity we don't yet know. Also, how will Mira's (Marin Ireland) plan to use Ray as bait to draw out the big fish and expose the dirty agent play out? It could backfire on her, but these threads could also unknot themselves and straighten out, leaving those plot strings free to blow loose in the wind.
As Ray reaches his breaking point and melts down over Manny's death, it puts us in a position where we expect some major action and furious resolution in the season finale. Who knows? It might just set us up for a second season.
Dope Thief season 1 episode 8, “Innocent People,” premieres Friday, April 25, 2025, at 12 a.m. ET on Apple TV+. However, because Apple TV+ is awesome, they drop new episodes the night before, so those of you in the U.S. can expect to watch the Dope Thief season finale Thursday, April 24 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on Apple TV+.