Dope Thief's premise is good. A pair of small-time grifters pretend to be DEA agents in order to steal from drug houses and accidentally hit the wrong house, riling up dangerous and powerful people.
The actors are good too, especially Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mugrew. But the writing just isn't up to par.
It starts well with a good balance of character development and action, and even some dark humor, which vanishes later in the season.
But there are plot twists that seem absurd, dialogue that sounds gratingly screen-written and not natural, and it's a problem that the two protagonists are largely buffeted around by forces beyond their control.
In a more dynamic story, they'd find a way to fight back more than they do. Stories where the protagonists are just trying to survive but are never in control of the narrative tend to wear out their welcome faster. That's okay for a two-hour disaster flick but not a multi-episode series. Wagner Moura's character in particular was a problem. All he seemed to do is cry.
The final episode is a convoluted mess as the writers attempt to tie up the plot threads in a hurried fashion. By the end, it seems like a different and worse series than the beginning.
Note that this isn't an ongoing series but a story that wraps up in one season so there isn't a huge investment to make. I suppose it could continue but it doesn't seem likely. By the time I started to get really fed up with it, the show was over.
