The Apple TV Plus crime drama “Dope Thief" just finished its eight-episode run. The limited series follows Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura as two longtime friends running a risky scam. They pose as DEA agents, fake drug busts, and make off with the goods — until they hit the wrong target and everything unravels.
What starts as a slick con spirals into a fight for survival. With sharp performances and a tightly wound plot, "Dope Thief" is a dark, compelling ride that channels the best of prestige TV.
If you’re already done watching, here are five shows like "Dope Thief" worth checking out next.
'Sneaky Pete'
![Sneaky Pete Season 1 - Official Trailer [HD] | Prime Video - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KCM-I4j-Rv4/maxresdefault.jpg)
Much like "Dope Thief," "Sneaky Pete" revolves around someone executing a con that gets them in way over their head. It stars Giovanni Ribisi as Marius Josipović, a criminal who finds his release from prison not exactly a cause for celebration, since he’s now being tracked down by a gangster he once conned, who's seeking revenge.
Desperate and with nowhere else to turn, Marius steals the identity of his cellmate Pete (Ethan Embry), cozying up to the man’s estranged family. But how long will he be able to maintain the ruse, and will it keep him safe from the violent clutches of Vince Lonigan (Bryan Cranston)?
Watch on Prime Video
'Hotel Cocaine'
"Dope Thief" has its roots in the drug business, and you can probably tell by the title that "Hotel Cocaine" is similarly framed. It takes place in Miami in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after all – what’s more drug-coded than that?
Released on MGM Plus in 2024, "Hotel Cocaine" stars Danny Pino as Roman Compte, a Cuban expat who runs the Mutiny Club, basically the epicenter for wild parties and drug abuse in those years. After finally achieving a comfortable position, he’s manipulated by the DEA into working as a double agent, cozying up to his estranged drug lord brother (Yul Vazquez) in an attempt to protect his family.
But when you start walking down a dark path, your justifications for it don’t really matter, and before he knows it, he gets in so deep there doesn’t seem to be a way out.
Watch on MGM Plus
'Narcos'
![Narcos - Main Trailer - Netflix [HD] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xl8zdCY-abw/maxresdefault.jpg)
For decades, the DEA has been in a constant battle with South and Central American drug cartels — a battle which "Narcos" chronicles.
The first two seasons take place in Colombia and revolve around famed drug lord Pablo Escobar (played by Wagner Moura, who also stars in "Dope Thief") and his cat-and-mouse fight with the DEA, led by Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) and Javier Peña (Pedro Pascal).
The third season shifts its focus to a different cartel. Dark, gritty, and incredibly suspenseful, "Narcos" creates compelling and unexpectedly sympathetic characters out of its real-life historical figures, avoiding the cliches we so often see in films and TV shows about drug lords and cartels.
Watch on Netflix
'Breaking Bad'
One of the best shows of the 21st century, "Breaking Bad" stands in a class of its own. It stars Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher who, upon being diagnosed with cancer and worrying about the financial state he’ll be leaving his family if he dies, decides to start a side hustle.
But rather than opening up an Etsy store or joining a multi-level marketing scheme, he gets into the crystal meth business. Higher risk, but much higher reward.
Over the course of the series, we watch him transform from a quiet, everyday guy into the drug kingpin Heisenberg – or, as White describes himself in one of the show’s most memorable scenes, “the one who knocks.”
Watch on Netflix
'The Night Of'
Although "The Night Of" doesn’t revolve around drugs, they are part of the precipitating event leading to one of the darkest crime dramas out there.
Riz Ahmed stars as Naz Khan, a Pakistani-American man who wakes up one morning to discover that the woman he went to bed with has been brutally murdered. Naz is the prime suspect, and even he can’t be 100% sure he didn’t do it, as he has no recollection of the night before (a result of the afore-mentioned drugs).
The HBO miniseries follows Naz takes us through his time at Rikers Island as he waits to go to trial. The notorious prison is a harsh, violent place where he’s just a sitting duck waiting to be brutalized. Whether he’s guilty or not — the show is cagey on the subject — his experience in prison has a profound effect on Naz, changing his life forever.
Watch on Max
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