Apple TV+’s mesmerising, funny tale of low-level criminals stealing drugs while posing as DEA agents is fast, furious – and stars Brian Tyree Henry on heartbreakingly wonderful form

Contrary to popular belief, a man’s reach should ideally not exceed his grasp. All hell tends to break loose if it does. Never more so, it turns out, than if a pair of low-level criminals find a semi-lucrative groove posing as DEA agents to fake-bust other small-time drug dealers and relieve them of their cash without real police ever getting involved.

Such is the hustle of Ray Driscoll (Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry) and Manny Carvalho (Narcos’ Wagner Moura): best friends since they met as young men in prison, addicts at different stages of recovery, and now partners in crime moving through the minor crack dens of Philadelphia. The opening set piece is so funny (“Did you just pause the game?” Ray asks incredulously as the armed pair burst into a dealer’s house screaming at the computer-playing addicts to get down on the floor) that for a while the vibe is very much “What if Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s ‘Pontiac Bandit’ Doug Judy took things up a notch from stealing cars?”, with a light dusting of Pulp Fiction as the duo riff before, during and after the action on the power of an authoritative voice, Manny’s relationship, and the necessity of researching a job.