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Episode 5 of Dealer begins with Tony in handcuffs, questioned over what he’s doing with the gang. Franck and Thomas film from afar as Tony is told to give the crooked cops Steve. If he can do that then they’ll be square and forget about this indiscretion. The officers take the drugs Tony has stashed, and take off. On the back of this, Tony talks to Jess and explains that his record deal is going to change everything. He’s doing this to better his life but Jess is well aware of his torn allegiance. After all, there’s no way he can run a network and be a famous rapper at the same time. He needs to pick which one is going to better his career. Afterwards, Tony takes the duo out and mentions how the cameras were filming the entire time he was with the police. As they discuss Tony’s operation, he tells them that rapping is just as dangerous as the drug trade. Franck is incredulous and explains how he’s barely making enough to sleep in his job, admitting it’s pretty stressful what he’s doing. Up on the rooftop, Tony oversees his men and explains how they’re all operating and on look-out duties. Tony explains the whole set-up to the duo, going on to mention how he has his men positioned purposefully. If the cops do roll round they can get out quickly enough not to cause too much of a fuss. In fact, he’s going to try and smooth things over with Steve, and wants to quit the trade in favour of rapping.
The Episode Review
Episode 5 feels like a crossroads of sorts, as we see Tony start to question his life choices and make a big decision over the direction of his life. In fact, by the end of this episode we learn he’s going to pack in all of this and chase his dream of rapping instead. It’s a nice touch, seeing Tony’s character arc change and progress over time, and this episode does help that it’s almost filmed exclusively with one camera. This helps to get engrossed in the story being told while developing the characters in a pretty compelling way. Still, the format sometimes betrays the tension though, especially given the lack of characterization given to Thomas. The ending certainly leaves the door wide open for where this one may go next though.
