Brian Tyree Henry's performance as a rogue DEA agent in Dope Thief at Apple TV+ is a tour de force. As Ray Driscoll, he teams up with Manny Carvelho (Narcos' Wagner Moura) to rip off drug dealers.
"Scumbags, nobodies," he tells his father's girlfriend Theresa (Kate Mulgrew). "We'd take their money and take their drugs. Nobody knew who we was. Anyway, we went to the wrong house."
That's in Episode 1, a meth lab in Pennslvania run by the DEA and a biker cartel known as The Alliance. Several people die in a shoot-out, including a dirty agent.
For the next six episodes, Ray and Manny are on the run. Did Ray's jailed dad Bart (Ving Rhames) set them up? Did Manny talk too much?
While Ray digs in for the long haul, Manny loses his mind and ends up in prison.
Ray gets shot in the leg and is caught as well. The final episode provides a number of surprises I won't spoil here.
Henry will definitely receive Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG noms later this year. He's already been nominated for one Oscar as a supporting actor in Causeway (2023) in which he smokes a blunt with Jennifer Lawrence. This is definitely his year.
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