# Dope Thief

Dope Thief is an American crime drama television miniseries created by Peter Craig, based on the 2009 novel by Dennis Tafoya. It premiered on Apple TV+ on March 14, 2025.

## Premise

Two Philadelphia friends who pose as DEA agents to rob drug dealers face the consequences of their actions when they steal from an organized narcotics operation under surveillance by the actual DEA.

## Cast
### Main

* Brian Tyree Henry as Raymond "Ray" Driscoll, a recovering addict and former drug dealer. He and his friend Manny exploit their knowledge of "the game" to rob dealers and support themselves.
* Wagner Moura as Manny Carvalho, Ray's childhood friend and partner who plans to settle down with his girlfriend Sherry
* Marin Ireland as Mina, a veteran DEA agent posing as a drug cook who survives a bullet to the throat during Rick's botched robbery
* Amir Arison as Mark Nader, a DEA supervisor in the Philadelphia office assigned to track down Ray.
* Nesta Cooper as Michelle, the lawyer hired by Theresa to arrange Bart's release
* Kate Mulgrew as Theresa Bowers, Bart's girlfriend and Ray's adoptive mother
* Ving Rhames as Bart Driscoll, Ray's cancer-stricken father and a notorious dealer who went to prison when Ray was a boy

### Recurring

* Dustin Nguyen as Son Pham, the son of South Vietnamese refugees and a well-connected drug trafficker. He gives Ray information on rival dealers and resells the drugs he steals from them in return.
* Kaci Walfall as Marietta, Ray's deceased girlfriend, who was killed in a car accident while he was driving under the influence
* Kiều Chinh as Xuan "Grandma" Pham

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Jolly Ranchers" | Ridley Scott | Peter Craig | March 14, 2025 (2025-3-14) |
| Ray and Manny are two childhood friends who support themselves by impersonating DEA agents, robbing low-level stash houses in the inner city of Philadelphia. Ray learns that his adopted mother, Theresa, needs $10,000 in cash while a soon-to-be wed Manny is desperate to leave his criminal past behind. They hire an ex-convict, Rick, to assist them, but he suggests that they could nab a larger score by robbing a methamphetamine lab in Ottsville; against his better judgement, Ray agrees. The robbery quickly goes off the rails when a nervous Rick opens fire, resulting in him and two men being killed while the lab catches fire and explodes. Ray and Manny escape with a large amount of cash and unprocessed meth but receive a call from a stranger who reveals that he's already identified them. A survivor from the robbery turns out to be an undercover DEA agent who tips off her colleagues. |||||
| 2 | "Bat Out of Hell" | Jonathan van Tulleken | Peter Craig | March 14, 2025 (2025-3-14) |
| Ray bribes Theresa with a trip to Atlantic City to get her out of town, then pays a visit to his incarcerated father, Bart, who admits that he told a recently paroled inmate about his son's activities. After stashing the drugs and money, Ray and Manny track down the inmate but find him and his family brutally slaughtered before getting ambushed by two bikers. After a brief shootout, the bikers are killed, and Manny ditches Ray to make sure his girlfriend is safe. When Ray goes looking for them, another biker pursues him through the neighborhood before a truck runs him over. Theresa calls and tells Ray that he needs to meet with a lawyer, Michelle, about getting a compassionate release for Bart under state COVID-19 guidelines. From Michelle, Ray is informed that his father is dying from cancer and despite his hatred of the man, puts up the money to pay Michelle's retainer. |||||
| 3 | "Run, Die, or Relapse" | TBA | Peter Craig | March 21, 2025 (2025-3-21) |
| 4 | "Philadelphia Lawyer" | TBA | Peter Craig | March 28, 2025 (2025-3-28) |
| 5 | "Fear of God" | TBA | Peter Craig | April 4, 2025 (2025-4-4) |
| 6 | "Love Songs from Mars" | TBA | Peter Craig | April 11, 2025 (2025-4-11) |
| 7 | "Mussolini" | TBA | Peter Craig | April 18, 2025 (2025-4-18) |
| 8 | "Innocent People" | TBA | Peter Craig | April 25, 2025 (2025-4-25) |

## Production

It was announced in August 2022 that Sinking Spring, a TV series written by Peter Craig based on Dennis Tafoya's novel Dope Thief, would be produced for Apple TV+, with Brian Tyree Henry starring. Ridley Scott was set to direct the pilot episode, in addition to executive producing. Craig was also set to direct an episode. The cast, including Michael Mando, Marin Ireland and Kate Mulgrew, were announced in the following months. In January 2023, Amir Arison was cast, with Ving Rhames, Dustin Nguyen and Nesta Cooper among additional castings the following month. Kiều Chinh was cast in March.
Filming began in February 2023 in Philadelphia. Following an on-set altercation with another actor, Mando was fired, with Wagner Moura cast to replace him. On May 9, filming was halted due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.
In November 2024, it was reported that the series' title had been changed from Sinking Spring to Dope Thief, and that the first two episodes were set to premiere on March 14, 2025.

## Reception

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 74/100 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 86% |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | B- |
| TV Guide | 7.6/10 |
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Dope Thief has an approval rating of 86% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura might be punching below their weight with Dope Thief's derivative story, but that doesn't stop them from making this thriller a riveting ride." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 74 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.