Dope Thief Episode 5 Recap: Fear of God

The fifth episode of Apple TV+’s ‘Dope Thief’ takes a beat and subtly moves forward the storyline by giving some space to the characters, even if for a short while. With the chaos of the previous episode, Ray and Manny try to handle things their own way, but while Manny gets a reprieve, Ray finds himself getting further entangled in the mess, especially with both parties—the mobsters and the federal agency— coming after him with their full force. At the end of the day, however, he gets an unexpected help. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Mina Digs Into Jack’s Plan

Mina got into the undercover work through Jack, who believed that something huge was in the works that they needed to get their hand on. She knew that he had made contacts inside the drug ring, which he called the Alliance, but she was not made privy to it. With his death, she becomes even more adamant about seeing the case through, but an important part of the investigation is still missing. She needs Jack’s contact information to make any progress. So, she reaches out to his widow, who reveals that she already knew about Mina and Jack’s affair. Mina gets the picture of her and the girl from the barn and leaves. An unexpected turn arrives when she gets a text on Jack’s phone and realizes that it is from his contact. She gets a meeting with him and hopes that it will finally give her more insight into the Alliance and what Jack has been doing with them all this while. She is in for a shock when the contact tells her that Jack has been working for them all along, not vice versa.

He tells her that he had been using her to get what he wanted, and whatever feeling or trust he showed towards her was nothing more than him manipulating her. The man also lets her know that too much is going on that she is not aware of, and while she might think she knows stuff about them, they are already ten steps ahead. It is hard for her to accept that Jack had betrayed her like this, but with all that is in front of her, she cannot help but accept it. This only worsens her mental health and leads her to call the suicide line for help, though it seems she has already made up her mind with the gun in her hand. What catches her off guard is the voice of the other person on the side and their desire to help her. She remarks that at least someone is competent enough to take their job seriously and gives up the idea to kill herself just yet. But this means that she has to see the case through and consider all options. Ray Driscoll seems to be the only one who can get her what she wants.

Ray and Manny Make a Shocking Discovery

While Ray is consumed with finding a way to make their problems go away, Manny continues to lean towards religion and spirituality to fix his mistakes. He joins a support group, and though Ray accompanies him, he makes no effort to make use of the place and does not bother to share his feelings. Manny tries to convince him that they need to start making amends, but from his point of view, Ray is only getting more paranoid. He believes that the cash is marked and has something to do with the people to whom it belongs. He believes it is some pass for the members of the organization that is hunting them. Manny thinks he is losing his mind, but by the end of the episode, his friend is proven right.

As a way to make amends, Manny drags Ray back to the farm where they had found several people dead and killed several other people in the gunfire. He wants to pay his respects to the dead and apologize to them for their actions, but what they find is something else entirely. It turns out that it is a Dutch farm, and the victims were not really welcome there. One of the men tells them that the guys, who are now dead, were involved in shady drug stuff and used the farm for their criminal enterprise, which was not supported by the others on the farm. In fact, the people were so against it that they didn’t even want to accept their money, which is marked. He shows him the marked cash that he, too, was given. Now that Ray’s theory is proven, Manny also concedes that he was right and that they might be in more danger than he had imagined.

Ray Receives an Unexpected but Pleasant Surprise

There are many problems in Ray’s life, and his father has a lot to do with them. This episode gives us an insight into the dynamics of their turbulent relationship. When Ray was little, his father used him as a courier to evade the cops. While Bart didn’t think twice about the impact this would have on his young son, it became yet another thing that disappointed the boy about his father, and this disappointment would continue for the rest of their lives and plague their relationship.

Now that Ray is an adult, he has created his own set of problems that just keep getting worse. After Michelle’s almost betrayal from the last episode, he meets with her to try to clear things up. Their conversation escalates into them having sex, but it does nothing to clear up their doubts about each other. Another similar incident happens with Son, who calls Ray out of the blue, and the latter realizes that his associate is trying to send him a message. He doesn’t know that the feds have Son, and they are making him call Ray to set up a meeting so that they can trap him again. But Son cleverly leaves hints for his friend to follow, telling Ray exactly what he needs to know.

While he may have evaded the feds for now, the criminals that he stole from get close enough to put a bullet in him. Ever since he sensed the extent of danger, he cleared up the house and moved to a motel with Theresa. He tries to keep her away, but at the end of this episode, she goes back to the house, telling him that there is a surprise for him. Out of concern for his mother, Ray drives back home, and not unexpectedly, he has danger lurking in the corner. A man comes out of nowhere and shoots him in the leg. He would have finished the job, but the surprise that Theresa promised shows up to save him. It seems that Bart has finally received his parole, and it is quite timely as his presence means that Ray gets to see another day. Bart kills the attacker and takes both him and Ray into the house to take care of them.