Dopesick
Season 1
8 listed hours · 2021 · Hulu
From the desk
How this season is filed
Michael Keaton's fury as a doctor watching OxyContin eat a county, cut against Purdue boardrooms that sold a lie with a smile. Hulu's opioid-crisis prestige connected policy to people without turning Appalachia into scenery. Watch for pharma-accountability television that still feels like a public record, not a true-crime snack with a sad piano.
TV Flash files Season 1 of Dopesick (2021) on Hulu as the only listed season — 8 listed hours, 2021-10-13–2021-11-17 from “First Bottle” (S01E01) to “The People vs. Purdue Pharma” (S01E08). Titles, dates, and synopses on file — no invented recaps.
Desk essentials in this season
- S01E01 First Bottle
First Bottle as the Hulu contract: Michael Keaton's doctor watching a county get eaten, Purdue already smiling in the cut, Appalachia not scenery.
- S01E08 The People vs. Purdue Pharma
The People vs. Purdue Pharma as the eight-episode close: pharma-accountability television with a finished shape, still people against a lie sold with a smile.
- S01E02 Breakthrough Pain
Breakthrough Pain as the titled marketing: the hour where the slogan becomes the wound, still Keaton's fury, still policy cut against a county.
- S01E03 The 5th Vital Sign
The 5th Vital Sign as the protocol hour: the titled metric, still boardroom craft, still a limited series connecting the lie to the people who swallowed it.
- S01E04 Pseudo-Addiction
Pseudo-Addiction as the named dodge: industry language as episode title, still prestige that refuses to turn Appalachia into a sad establishing shot.
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S01E01 First Bottle
Richard Sackler begins to launch a powerful new painkiller, a rural doctor is introduced to the drug, a coal miner plans her future, a DEA Agent learns of blackmarket pills, and federal prosecutors decide to open a case into OxyContin.
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S01E02 Breakthrough Pain
OxyContin is on the market but faces a potential threat, Purdue's vast influence reaches the town of Finch Creek, Bridget steps outside her DEA authority, and the criminal investigation of OxyContin begins.
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S01E03 The 5th Vital Sign
Doctor Finnix begins to taper Betsy off OxyContin, Bridget sees the toll the drug is taking on communities, Rick and Randy investigate the world of "pain societies", and with sales climbing, Richard Sackler makes bigger plans for his new drug.
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S01E04 Pseudo-Addiction
Sky-high OxyContin sales are threatened by reports of abuse, prosecutors investigate a claim central to OxyContin marketing, and Finnix begins to question the safety of the drug.
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S01E05 The Whistleblower
With OxyContin abuse spreading across the country, Bridget brings the fight to Purdue while Rick and Randy seek to find a whistleblower within Purdue to tie their case together.
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S01E06 Hammer the Abusers
Richard Sackler faces a catastrophic challenge to Purdue's bottom line, Bridget takes her fight to the FDA, Finnix reassesses his life as Betsy struggles to kick her addiction, and Rick and Randy find a bombshell piece of evidence.
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S01E07 Black Box Warning
Richard Sackler and Purdue work the system to prevent their drug from being reigned in, Bridget has a breakthrough in her mission, Betsy has hit rock-bottom while Finnix explores new avenues, and Rick and Randy ready their criminal case.
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S01E08 The People vs. Purdue Pharma
Rick and Randy's criminal investigation now threatens Richard Sackler's empire, activists take action against Purdue, and Finnix tries to heal his beloved community that's been ravaged by addiction.
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