Adapted from a novel by the same name, Dope Thief is a new crime drama from Apple TV+ that premiered with the first two episodes. The show promises all the creative violence an adrenaline junkie could desire, and an emotional core which will resonate with even the most unsentimental viewers. The show grapples with complex family dynamics, addiction, the prison system, and youth drug culture, all in one poignant slurry of pulpy gangbusters and missed phone calls. With all that being said, is the series worth watching?
Our story opens on two best friends in Philly, prepping for a sting in a van outside a meth house. They don their DEA jackets and cock their guns, Manny with a shotgun and Ray with a pistol. They charge the house from either end and make out with the goods. Only one snag: they're not real DEA, and they just robbed a small-time dealer for their whole stash, detaining a group of kids and teenagers with their faces down in the carpet and guns to their heads in the process.
"Point and Kill" by Little Simz begins to play as the intro reel washes across the screen. We get an impression of the general tone of the show, that it is bleak, but decidedly lived-in. Sneakers swing from phone lines and time-lapses of fields are planted and harvested, potholes fill themselves as a kid on a bike rides over them. Philadelphia sculpts and changes around him but he is the only one moving forward, but the intro cuts off before we ever see his face, steeped in shadow.
The moment their lone walkie-talkie started piping up at them in a scary deep voice, I started to mentally categorize it as a crime thriller. The guy who has them on the run, yet unidentified, has a sort of gruff, withholding way of speaking that makes me imagine him as a more grizzled and Bostonian version of Hannibal, especially with the scene-setting presumably done by him in episode 2.
When the the dope-stealing catches up with Ray, he and Manny become embroiled in a conflict far bigger than either of them bargained for.
It absolutely makes sense that Apple released the first two episodes together. It watches like a two-part pilot. When my boyfriend got home early from work, I made him watch them with me for the second time that afternoon, and I can tell I'm going to like it based on how much a rewatch has already added to my understanding of the show. Let me explain.
Within both episodes so far, there is a nearly-silent B-plot happening on-screen, something which can easily be missed in the era of second-screen viewing. If the viewer is on their phone, they could potentially miss the flashback plots entirely. These sequences are beautifully and seamlessly directed. Showrunner Peter Craig puts a quiet and tender thematic focus on his lead's history, both when he talks about his addictions at an AA meeting and when he reflects alone in his apartment.
The AA meeting is split into pieces with shots of Ray following the alleged meth cook whose house he is casing, while his narration from the meeting plays over the top. He watches her buy propane and then break down in her car, and tells the AA group, "I saw the cage she'd put herself in." He further reflects on the way his father behaved when he was a kid, before he went to prison, and notes that he preferred being locked in the closet to seeing his dad high.
He also vents a bit about Theresa. He thinks she's sick, but she won't tell him. He's keeping secrets from her too, even though by the end of episode 2 she's at the very least suspicious. The most comfort he gets in the show so far isn't from his maternal figure, it's from the lawyer he's talking to for her. The few shared moments of emotional intimacy he has with Manny are marred by the violence that almost always comes before them.
There is love there, he would clearly do anything for Theresa and Manny. We can tell by his reaction to the unpaid medical bills on Theresa's kitchen counter, and Manny's inability to pick up the phone after they parted ways. He is no Walter White, and I dearly hope he never becomes him.
If you like thrillers and subterfuge, and wonder what it would be like if they shot season 1 of Breaking Bad in the style of season 5 of Better Call Saul, you need to jump on Dope Thief PRONTO. You won't regret it!
Dope Thief releases new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.