According to Hulu’s “Dopesick,” Richard Sackler is a real Dick. On Wednesday’s new episode, Sackler (Michael Stuhlbarg), the head honcho over at OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, instructs his lieutenant to “hammer the abusers” during an upcoming law-enforcement conference on opioids abuse. Purdue’s marketing head Michael Friedman (Will Chase) then has the undesirable task of telling Sackler — his (very scary) boss — why he should probably sit this one out personally.
After all, people skills aren’t exactly the Richard Sackler special. One could probably argue that creating and pushing highly addictive medication with deadly consequences and lying about its dangers for ill-gotten profit and internal power within a family legacy business is more his game. One could, as “Dopesick” does.
Watch our exclusive sneak peek of Episode 106 via the video above.
“Dopesick” examines how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. The series takes viewers to the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Big Pharma, to a distressed Virginia mining community, to the hallways of the DEA, the show’s logline reads.
It continues: “Defying all the odds, heroes will emerge in an intense and thrilling ride to take down the craven corporate forces behind this national crisis and their allies.”
The limited series is inspired by the bestselling book by Beth Macy.
In addition to Stuhlbarg as the bad guy, “Dopesick” stars Michael Keaton as Dr. Samuel Finnix, Peter Sarsgaard as Rick Mountcastle, Will Poulter as Billy, John Hoogenakker as Randy Ramseyer, with Kaitlyn Dever as Betsy and Rosario Dawson as Bridget Meyer. Guest stars include Phillipa Soo and Jake McDorman.
The six-episode series was written by Danny Strong (“Empire”) and directed by Barry Levinson (“Paterno”). Beyond Strong, Levinson, Keaton and Macy, executive producers also include John Goldwyn (“Dexter”), Warren Littlefield (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and Karen Rosenfelt (“Twilight”).
New episodes of “Dopesick” roll out each Wednesday on Hulu.