Starring Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura, Dope Thief revolves around a pair of long-term best friends, Ray and Manny, and how they get entangled with one of the biggest drug mafias. The two friends posed as DEA agents and targeted small-time drug dealers. They raided their houses and stole drugs, cash, and weapons. Ray was the one in charge, while Manny was too afraid of taking risks. But he continued to support Ray’s endeavors, because at the end of the day, it helped him provide for his family. Their business was going well; it was not an honest job, but they believed the people they were scamming deserved it (to each his own!). But things took a turn when a third member joined them. Rick was a convict who knew Ray and Manny from when they were in prison together. He’d been released recently, and he was searching for work. He contacted Manny, and he decided to reintroduce him to Ray. But they had no idea that it would open doors that they never wished to knock on.
Spoiler Alert
What happened to Ray in the past?
Ray was proud of the business he’d built. He believed he was making the gangsters pay the karma tax, and it was a game of brains and dominance, not something one could easily achieve. The best part was that the victims could not complain about the scam to the police. When Ray and Manny discussed their business with Rick, he was immediately interested, and he promised to share with them a few spots that they could easily raid.
The first one he shared was a property in Ottsville, Pennsylvania. Ray kept a close watch on his targets for a few days. He could almost relate to the one girl on the team. She had become a prisoner to her circumstances, much like him. No matter how hard he tried to stay on the right path, he gravitated towards questionable plans. His father used to be a gangster, and he was still in prison. Ray blamed him for messing up his life, and he believed that had it not been for Theresa, his father’s then-girlfriend and his adoptive mother, his life would have been extremely different. He remembered there used to be days when his father would lock him up in the cupboard, and at the time Ray used to think of the tiny space in the cupboard as a safe cocoon. Ray had clear memories of his father physically assaulting his addict mother, and Ray blamed him for her death.
In the very first episode of Dope Thief, we get the idea that Ray, as courageous and brave as he pretended to be on the outside, always felt like a disappointment. As much as he despised his father, the fear of him turning into his old man was very real for him. Ray lived with a constant sense of guilt because somewhere deep down, he perhaps blamed himself for the death of his girlfriend. Marletta, or Mars, was the love of his life, and he often recalled the conversations they used to have. She was the daughter of a cop, and even though they came from very different backgrounds, they found love. But unfortunately, she passed away after they met with an accident. The guilt of being the survivor, of not being more careful, continued to haunt Ray.
What happened during the raid?
Even though the job in Pennsylvania didn’t seem safe, Ray decided to take the risk. Before raiding the conversion lab, Ray warned Rick not to pull the trigger. Since the house was a cooking station, Ray couldn’t risk starting a fire and blowing up the whole place. He reminded Rick that it was all just a show; they were simply going to go in, scare them, take the dope and money, and leave. Rick was pumped up after snorting some coke, but he promised to follow Rick’s instructions. They managed to enter the lab, but things didn’t turn out the way they expected. They handcuffed a man, but he demanded to see a warrant, and while they smacked his head to shut him up, a woman (the one Ray had been following) showed up holding a gun. She repeatedly called out for “Jack,” and during the altercation, Rick pulled the trigger and killed the man they had handcuffed. As expected, this acted like a catalyst and triggered several other mishaps.
The woman shot Rick, and he shot her back. The woman collapsed to the ground, while Rick screamed in pain. “Jack” walked onto the scene with a gun in hand and attempted to shoot Ray, but Rick killed him before he could do any further damage. Rick was badly wounded, and he eventually passed away as a result of the pain and severe loss of blood. This was Manny’s worst nightmare. He’d always feared that someday something bad would happen to them, and they would not know how to stop it. While he was busy picturing the worst, Ray took charge of the situation and decided to grab the cash and dope before leaving. They found a bag full of cash and bottles of liquid meth. But they were flabbergasted when they realized that the lady who had been shot was missing. Ray immediately knew this was turning into a disaster. They’d not only killed people, but they were also about to leave behind a witness. But they didn’t have time to think things clearly, and they left in a hurry. Ray made another mistake that he later realized; he’d dropped his walkie-talkie on the way.
Who was the man who contacted Ray after the raid?
Soon after escaping from the scene of the crime (that blew up, as Ray had anticipated), Ray was contacted by a man through the walkie-talkie he’d left behind. The stranger on the other side wanted Ray and Manny to hand over the dope and money they had stolen. Ray couldn’t help but wonder if someone knew about their plan and had exposed them. One thing was clear to Ray: this was not someone he could mess with. He was dangerous; well, at least his authoritative voice convinced Ray he was. Not knowing what to do, Ray threw away the walkie-talkie, and they continued driving. Meanwhile, police arrived at the scene. The lady who’d escaped survived, and she was admitted to a hospital. As it turned out, Mina was a federal agent working with the gang undercover. She was more than willing to share information with the detectives as long as they promised to let her maintain her cover. Ray suspected that someone knew what they were up to, and that they wanted to use them to get to the drugs and money stored in the house in Ottsville. But who was it? While Ray focused on solving the mystery, Manny panicked. He knew they were neck-deep in danger, but then again, he trusted his best friend, and they were in it together.
After convincing Theresa to take a trip to Atlantic City, fearing that the man and his gang would try to hunt down the weakest link, his adoptive mother, Ray met with Som, the drug dealer he sold his stolen drugs to. Som knew Ray had gotten entangled in something big after he analyzed the liquid meth Ray had brought to him. Som agreed to hold the dope, even though it was dangerous, for old time’s sake. He believed that maybe Ray’s new team member had a role to play in the mishap. Moreover, he was convinced that the police would track Ray once they identified Rick’s body. Ray knew about the danger, and the only option he had left was to disappear with the money, though he was yet to figure out how. Meanwhile, when Manny learned that Rick was probably the one who had set them up, he wondered if Ray’s father was somehow connected; after all, Rick had been in the same prison as Ray’s father, Bart. Ray met his father in prison and inquired if he had mentioned his business to anyone in prison. Bart didn’t seem to recall knowing anyone named Rick Stanley. After Ray accused him of destroying every aspect of his life, Bart started to speak. He mentioned discussing Ray in one of his AA meetings, which mostly consisted of men who were long out of the business. He remembered there was one white boy in the meeting named Danny Loebsack, who was a part of the ‘Eden’s Gardeners’ crew, and he’d just gotten paroled. Bart suspected that maybe Rick was one of the Eden’s Gardeners and that was how he came to know about Ray’s business.
Why did the man refuse to agree to Ray’s deal?
Ray and Manny tried to find as many Loebsacks as they could, and they finally stumbled upon a deserted property that belonged to a ‘Loebsack.’ Posing as DEA agents, they entered the house but were surprised to find out that everyone living there was already dead. Soon after, two men started to fire at Ray and Manny. It became evident that Danny had told someone of influence about Ray’s business, and Manny assumed they’d killed Danny to make a statement since Danny’s proposition didn’t turn out the way it should have. While Ray managed to injure one of the men, another started shooting in Manny’s direction. Manny was stuck trying to load his shotgun, and before it got too late, Ray took aim and shot the man dead.
They thought of questioning the injured man to find more information on his gang, but he was ready with his gun, and he shot Ray. Thankfully, Ray had his bulletproof vest on, and Manny killed the man instantly. While Ray and Manny managed to escape from the place without any grave injuries, the walkie-talkie man was not happy with how things had panned out. Since they had killed his men, he was no longer interested in only the dope and the cash; he wanted Ray and Manny dead as well. To gather information, Ray had stolen the cellphone of one of the deceased, and they once again spoke to the stranger. Ray was terrified when the man read out his address; he knew all about them, and whatever little defensibility they had left was gone. For the first time in a long while, Ray felt helpless.
Who was Jack?
As it turned out, Danny and the others who were killed were Amish teenagers, and they were unarmed. Meanwhile, Mina was out of surgery, and her only request to the detectives was to allow her to continue investigating the mafia like she did before. But they were determined to close the case. Mina was disappointed; she was close to cracking the case. While she could not speak, she typed down a few important clues that she’d learned about—she mentioned ‘the Alliance’ and how Jack, who was killed in the shootout, was worried about it, with the liquid meth possibly being a solution to the problem. From the conversation, it can be deduced that Jack too was an undercover agent, but he might have gone a little too deep into the hole, and he possibly struggled to leave the racket. The detective mentioned how, if he had been Mina’s supervisor, he would not have partnered her with Jack. While Jack, no matter how flawed he was, would receive a grand funeral, Mina would be the one subjected to interrogation. Mina was persistent about one thing—they must let her keep her cover, which meant that the people she’d been mingling with were extremely dangerous, and she would rather die in prison as a criminal than get back her reputation and be tortured and killed by one of those men.
Why did Ray break down at the lawyer’s chambers?
Ray received another call from the terrifying ‘Englishman.’ He was shocked to find that the stranger knew about his dietary preferences, and that he was also aware that Ray’s father was locked up in prison. The man had done his research, while Ray still couldn’t figure out who he was. The man called Ray by his full name, ‘Raymond.’ It makes one wonder if it was just to intimidate him, or was he an ex-cop (Ray had noticed how policemen always called people by their full name)?
The stranger threatened to kill Bart, and while Ray continued to put on a brave face, he was shaken when the man added that he would visit Manny’s house. He wanted to return the money and the drugs, but the stranger was no longer interested. Ray had unintentionally started a war, and there was no backing out now. According to the man, he would kill everyone associated with Ray out of ‘principle,’ and he planned on starting with Manny. Ray rushed to Manny’s house, but he was not there, and he wasn’t even receiving Ray’s calls. Right outside Manny’s place, Ray noticed a man in biker clothes, and he immediately knew that he was there to kill him. There were two men chasing Ray; one was in a car while the other was on foot. Ray used his wit to get away from the men (one was crushed to death while the other got caught up in the chaos that followed the ‘accident’). Ray ended up at the doorstep of the lawyer Theresa had begged him to talk to. After everything he’d been through in the last couple of days and not hearing back from Manny, Ray was petrified, and he broke down at the lawyer’s chambers. The lawyer, Michelle, assumed he got emotional discussing his father.
At the end of Dope Thief episode 2, Michelle disclosed that Bart had been diagnosed with cancer, and given his flawless prison record, she strongly believed the court would grant him compassionate release. This piece of information couldn’t have come at a better time, considering that the ‘Englishman’ intended on murdering Bart. He hated his father, but he didn’t want him to die because of the mistakes he’d made. Ray agreed to pay the rest of the retainer. Ray was living through hell, and he didn’t know how to get out of it. He perhaps was no longer afraid of the police arresting him because Ray knew something worse was awaiting him. In the next episode, we will probably find out what happened to Manny, whether he survived or not, and if he did survive, where was he hiding?
