Dope Thief is based on Dennis Tafoya’s crime drama book and tells the tale of two Philly delinquent besties Ray Driscoll (Brian Tyree Henry), and Manny Carvalho (Wagner Moura) who pretend to be DEI agents and rob a country house. Their side hustle reaps big rewards and even bigger risks when they become involved with big time drug lords. The script is penned by Peter Craig (Gladiator II, Top Gun: Maverick, The Batman) and also stars Marin Ireland, Kate Mulgrew, Nesta Cooper, Amir Arison and Ving Rhames. Sir Ridley Scott even co-produced and directed the first episode.

Craig believes that the uniqueness of the show comes down to the relationship between the characters. “They have this strange residual morality that prevents them from becoming more ruthless.”

Peter Craig’s writing background lies mainly in feature films so he hadn’t written a television show before Dope Thief. He studied as many Mad Men scripts to learn it. He accepts that Dope Thief a vastly different show, but Mad Men taught him about writing layered characters. “It’s great TV when there can always be another layer to somebody no matter how much you scratch him.”

Peter Craig

In many gangster film and television shows the main character starts as a “regular person and you put them in a terrible situation and you watch them adapt to it,” explains Craig. He quotes The Godfather and Breaking Bad as scripts as exemplars.

The screenwriter describes Ray and Manny as “going in reverse” because they’re not able to become crime lords. “They don’t have the nihilism to be as brutal as everybody else is in this world.” They lie to themselves about their ability to enter and exit the crime world when they like.

I think there’s something really interesting about the failure of a badass to be a badass

Peter Craig and author Dennis Tafoya had some early discussions before the formal adaptation process began. Peter had already written some crime novels which Dennis responded positively to. Peter also told Dennis that he really connected with the characters and the inciting incident of breaking into an unknown house posing as DEI agents.

In the novel, the duo walk away with a hefty pay and Ray end up working in a book store. The plot and tone of the story becomes more reflective after that point. Craig wanted to retain the momentum of the first half of the book in his TV series.

The Influence Of 70s Crime Dramas

Peter Craig had a plethora of material in the crime genre to inform Dope Thief. Ultimately, he wanted to capture the vibe of many 70s crime movies – especially Chinatown and Dog Day Afternoon. “I think the characters in Dog Day are so organic and the humor comes out of such interesting places. It’s so real and so authentic.”

Craig also cites Sam Peckinpah’s The Getaway and Straw Dogs as major influences on his work. “I watched those over and over and try to capture some of that feeling. Sam was gritty, he was ugly. He let things get really uncomfortable and you felt like if somebody’s arm got scraped, you felt that scrape on your own arm.”

Craig desires this “Peckinpah Effect” to resonate in every scene and have consequences in future scenes. “I don’t want characters to just stand up and walk away from these brutal things. I want consequences to keep accumulating through the whole show.”

Ridley Scott wanted to maintain a feeling of “eternal dusk” throughout the series. The production team watched the Fargo movie during discussions about “eternal dusk” to capture the bleak, washed out whiteness of the place where you never knew exactly what time of day it was. “There’s a kind of disorientation to that and I really loved it.”

Michelle Taylor (Nesta Cooper) Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

“The sun never really totally comes up and it never really totally goes down. It’s cold and it’s damp. That feeling pervades everything until the very end of the season where there’s a little bit of sun that starts to come out in some places.”

Brian and Wagner also brought their own traumas and life experiences to the “emotional sculpture” of the show.

Craig recalls a time when Wagner called him late at night regarding his character Manny to say, “I really like this character, but he’s operating in islands. I just need to see a little bit of what’s happening on each of the islands where he pops up again in different places. I went back and revised it. It was in my head, but it wasn’t on the page for him.” Craig revisited those “islands” and added scenes of Manny’s personal crises and struggle with addiction and his relationship with Sherry (Liz Caribel Sierra).

Rhythm Of Dope Thief

Ray and Manny overcome numerous obstacles throughout Dope Thief only to find another bigger one lurking around the corner. This creates a certain rhythm in the storytelling. Peter Craig describes it as “Accelerate, Rest. Accelerate. Rest.”

“I think of it very musically that you can feel a little bit when you’re writing it and a lot when you’re cutting it. Writers, I think, can get better the more time they can spend in the editing room.”

Naturally there are story markers in each episode and throughout the season, but the main thing is “figuring out where the emotional crux of the whole thing is, where everything is going to come to a head, how it’s going to do so.”

Craig describes the velocity of this rhythm as “accelerating down a drain. It’s always just spiralling.” Some of this activity is momentarily slowed down to pace character reflective moments.

What Keeps Ray And Manny Together?

The trajectory of their friendship presents as a coming of age story of sorts as they swallow water when they get themselves into a situation way over their heads.

“They’re a classic example of being trauma-bonded. They’re effectively brothers because they’ve been in the trenches together and they grew up in juvie together. It can be the closest relationship of your life, but you’re still always tied to the trauma that bonded you.”

“They’ve got a rope tied to each other that they keep. They’re scared to leave each other, but they’re also scared to get too close. They’re constantly recycling things that they’ve lived through with the current trauma. They truly love each other, but they’re not very good for each other. That’s a satisfying thing to write, but it’s also very tragic,” continues Craig.

“There’s a lot of toxic stuff between those two guys that they never have the time or the space or the luxury to work out.”

Peter Craig sees parts of himself in all the characters in Dope Thief – even the villains.

“I try to like love them and understand them even though even villains. But even the really repugnant ones, I try to think they just made some awful choices. They’ve had to make a terrible kind of peace on their own.”

Mina (Marin Ireland) Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

The screenwriter also realizes that Ray, Manny and Mina (Marin Ireland) are really lonely. He advised his crew to “Take their time when Ray’s walking alone, when Manny’s walking from one place to another, or when Mina is alone in her trailer or when she’s trying to learn to do things again. They’re very isolated people.”

“I felt like that’s something I related to; that loneliness, that sadness, and that desire to reach out and connect with something; not necessarily another person, but even some idea.”

Memorable Moments

We asked Peter to pick a few defining scenes in Dope Thief.

“There’s a moment where Ray, at the end of episode six, is crying out for his dad. He claims he can’t stand him for most of the show, but he’s crying out for him because it’s a life and death moment.”

“There’s a moment when Mina is not sure she wants to keep going and she calls the suicide prevention and she’s moved by the fact that somebody’s listening and doing their job. She’s lost so much faith in anybody even being professional anymore.” These elements are most impactful in the middle of the season. “It felt like all of our agreements with each other were breaking down.”

Peter Craig believes that it’s a writer’s job to keep pushing boundaries.

“Your job is to take everything as far as you can go. Your job is to find the furthest truth you can find in every character.”

He also acknowledges that Dope Thief, or any film or television show, still needs to be fun and entertaining to audiences.

“There’s a certain point where you don’t want to detract from people’s ability to enjoy it also and process it. If you traumatize your audience, they’re not going to absorb anything,” he adds.

“Let your audience join in with the characters and empathize with them, but don’t send them out having to seek therapy also.”