Brian Tyree Henry's 'Dope Thief' Arrives Like a Bat Out of Pennsyltucky Hell

In the opening sequence of Apple TV+’s new series Dope Thief, Ray Driscoll and Manny Carvalho (Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura) stake out a Philly drug house where drugs are being processed and sold. After some casual banter, they step out of their van, don DEO jackets, pull their guns, and proceed with what appears to be a standard drug bust. But there’s a catch — Ray and Manny aren’t DEA agents. They’re thieves posing as feds, and their mission isn’t to make arrests; it’s to rob the dealers blind.

For the next two hours, the plot rips forward like Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” which, fittingly, is also the title of the second episode for reasons that will become clear. Robbing Philly drug houses is their usual game, but when a new partner with bigger ambitions enters the mix, they set their sights on rural Pennsyltucky meth labs. Their first attempt goes spectacularly awry: people die, they walk away with over $400,000, and they make an enemy of a brutal Aryan meth gang that doesn’t take kindly to being ripped off.

The fallout is immediate and catastrophic. Ray and Manny aren’t just running for their lives; they’ve put their loved ones in danger, too, particularly Theresa (Kate Mulgrew), the woman who raised Ray after his father, Bart (Ving Rhames), went to prison. That deadbeat dad may have also, inadvertently, leaked Ray’s name to the meth gang through the prison grapevine. And if that weren’t bad enough, one of the people shot during the raid turns out to be Mina (Marin Ireland), an undercover federal agent posing as a junkie.

Now, Ray and Manny have two relentless forces closing in — the meth gang, who will kill anyone in their way, and the feds, who want payback. It’s a blistering and exhilarating two episodes (the first of which is directed by Ridley Scott) that barely allow the audience time to breathe. Nestled within the chaos is Michelle (Nesta Cooper), a lawyer and potential romantic interest for Ray, though the show barely pauses long enough to explore the dynamic.

I haven’t seen the later episodes, but the show’s pacing could be both its greatest strength and its potential downfall. If it maintains this breakneck speed, it risks burning through its plot too quickly. But if it slows down to develop its characters, it could lose the energy that makes it so compelling. Whether creator Peter Craig (Th Town) can balance those elements over eight episodes remains to be seen.

That said, Henry and Moura are more than capable of carrying the series on their backs. Henry, in particular, is so effortlessly charismatic and sympathetic that he makes it easy to root for Ray, even as he makes terrible decisions. My only real gripe is with Marin Ireland’s character, who, after being shot, has lost her ability to speak — robbing her of her signature, gloriously profane tirades. (Ireland also happens to be my favorite audiobook narrator).

Reservations aside, the first two episodes of Dope Thief are a blast — intense, darkly funny, and wildly entertaining. If the series can sustain this momentum without running itself into the ground, Apple TV+ might have a hit on its hands. It’s certainly earned enough goodwill from me over the first two episodes to string me along for the rest of the series.