Dope Thief S01E04 480p WEB-DL x264

Dope Thief is a well produced show, it looks and feels like a movie and has a decent fast pace to keep you interested. But I found myself struggling to stay immersed in its world. The criticisms I've read about bad dialogue are something I don't agree with, it's fine as those are the characters. The problem is more the contrivances to manipulate your buy-in, in terms of how it wants the audience to root for the anti-heroes. They're essentially thieves, putting people at huge risk, yet they of course have to be likeable, big fuzzy well-meaning bears, with Ray looking after his stepmom, a dog and such like. It just seems a bit much. Then of course the implausibility of allowing this newly-released moronic redneck to tag along on a house siege, even giving him a gun, because of course our anti-heroes can't be the ones to actually kill anyone and ruin their 'innocent' status. That was some contrived writing right there. It feels like it's trying to be a bit Breaking Bad, a bit 90s Tarantino, the gritty gray tones of The Wire - all of which makes it feel slightly dated. But there's also a strange comfort and familiarity in all that, the lack of gimmicks etc makes it an easy, chill watch. So despite its implausibilities it's still definitely worth a watch.
- Brian Tyree Henry
- Wagner Moura
- Marin Ireland