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Apple TV+ is still an enigma among streaming services for me. With names like Netflix, Hulu and Max dominating the world of streaming, it sometimes feels like Apple TV+ hasn\u2019t quite settled into becoming one of the streaming platform giants, despite its success with shows like \u201cTed Lasso\u201d and \u201cSeverance.\u201d On a whim, I decided to branch out and watch the first two episodes of the new Apple TV+ show \u201cDope Thief,\u201d a crime drama set in Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Based on Dennis Tafoya\u2019s novel of the same name, Brian Tyree Henry (\u201cBig Mouth\u201d) and Wagner Moura (\u201cNarcos\u201d) star as Ray and Manny, two friends who pretend to be drug enforcement agency officers to \u201cbust\u201d low-profile Philly drug dealers, taking their cash and drugs for themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pacing is slow in the first episode and follows a plotline that is easy to predict for the first twenty minutes. When Ray learns that his adoptive mother, Theresa (Kate Mulgrew, \u201cStar Trek: Prodigy\u201d), is in need of a large sum of money, he drags a reluctant Manny and their new hire Rick (Spenser Granese, \u201cBetter Call Saul\u201d) with him to pursue Rick\u2019s tip, about which he has little to no information. This sets off an explosive chain of events that leads to a string of violent deaths. As Ray and Manny flee from the crime scene, an ominous and unknown voice threatens them over a radio for trying to steal from them. The two friends must race to find the voice\u2019s identity before they and their loved ones become targets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ray and Manny\u2019s backgrounds are given in momentary, black-and-white flashbacks \u2014 a narrative element that sometimes seems clich\u00e9 in its execution as it tells rather than shows. It provides some intrigue but feels almost like it\u2019s forcing the viewer to ask about the mysterious pasts of the show\u2019s protagonists instead of inciting a more natural curiosity. However, these flashbacks do reveal key bits of information, like how Ray and Manny met years prior, seemingly on their way to (or from) a detention facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n