‘Outstanding’ Apple TV Plus crime drama has gone completely under the radar

Dope Thief - AppleTV+
Don’t miss out on Dope Thief (Picture: Apple TV+/Jessica Kourkounis)

New Apple TV+ series Dope Thief is being hailed as one of the best shows of the year, but you might not have head of it.

The new crime drama focuses on Philadelphia friends Ray (Brian Tyree Henry) and Manny Carvalho (Wagner Moura) who pose as DEA agents in an attempt to rob a house.

However, they’re faced with some serious consequences when they find out the house they targeted is one of the city’s biggest narcotics operations.

They find themselves running from gang leaders and the FBI, while the cast is rounded off by the likes of Marin Ireland, Amir Arison, Nesta Cooper and Kate Mulgrew.

The series premiered on Apple TV+ today, with critics already heaping praise on the first season.

Empire Magazine hailed the show as ‘a wild ride that you just won’t want to quit’, with the characters themselves just as important as the adrenaline fueled action.

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According to TV Line, Henry has made ‘a very strong case for Emmy consideration’ for his role in the drama, while they said the show ‘puts a few fresh twists’ on the crime genre’s formula.

And JoBlo’s Movie Network wrote: ‘Henry and Moura are superb as Apple TV+ brings yet another outstanding limited series to their platform.’

The show isn’t quite causing waves on social media with viewers just yet, but based on the reviews, it might only be a matter of time.

However, X user @lillilsebastian suggested Apple TV+ need to do a better job of promoting the series.

‘Dope Thief is going to be an absolute classic and like 8 people will watch it, at least half because of me,’ they wrote.

Dope Thief (Picture: Apple TV+)
The series has critics raving (Picture: Apple TV+)

Meanwhile, Henry has opened up on how Ray’s backstory hit close to home as he tackled a difficult role.

He found himself relating to the character, who was ‘the child that nobody made time for, the child that people forgot’.

For Henry, he was the youngest of five children whose parents split when he was a child.

‘Like, I often felt like that growing up as well. I was in a house full of adults who couldn’t really be bothered with this young kid running around, this young boy,’ he told the Express.

Dope Thief (Picture: Apple TV+)
Brian Tyree Henry related to aspects of Ray’s character (Picture: Apple TV+)

‘I was always passed off to people. So I always grew up with this feeling of being inconvenient, which then translates into being the caregiver, or always needing validation or always making sure people are happy.

‘That’s a big part of why I took Ray because I really wanted to lay that burden down, I really wanted to uncloak all that trauma that I was carrying with that.’

Dope Thief is streaming now on Apple TV+.

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