“Nothing resolves conflict like a good smack in the chops.”
Sylvester Stallone plays mob guy Dwight “The General” Manfredi. It’s his first television role, and he couldn’t have chosen better than to appear in a Taylor Sheridan show on Paramount+. Sheridan pretty much owns the streaming service, all of it except maybe the Star Trek shows. He knows how to create characters and to then put the right actor in that role. I’ve seen it happen a thousand times now, from Yellowstone to Mayor of Kingstown and a couple of Yellowstone spin-offs. The part appears made just for Sly, and he makes it worth everything he has, all the while making it look effortless. That’s Sheridan’s magic, of course. Create and cast well, and no one has to really work at all. Yeah, that’s a bit of an oversimplification, but it sure looks that way, doesn’t it? Dwight finally got out of prison last season. He’d been loyal to the mob, and now he’s looking to see that loyalty rewarded. He’s in for a bit of a surprise. The old boss was sick and now gone thanks to his son Chickie, played by The Wire veteran Domenick Lomardozzi. Dwight and Chickie were kind of close, and Chickie referred to Dwight as Uncle Dwight. But now he’s a bit envious of the fact that his dad considered Dwight more of a son, and the planned exile to Tulsa kind of backfired on him.
Dwight arrived in Tulsa and immediately planted his flag. He’s picked up by cab driver Tyson, played by Jay Will. Tyson is actually a gangster wannabe, and before long he’s Dwight’s regular driver at a couple of grand a week. On the way to his hotel they pass a pot dispensary, and Dwight sees all of the possibilities at once. They stop, he goes in, and with sheer force of will he intimidates himself into being a 20% partner in the business, and the owner, Bodhi (Starr) doesn’t even know how it happened. Dwight promises to protect his money against gangs, crooks, and the feds. A stop at a bar teams him with bar owner and fellow ex-con Mitch, played by Garrett Hedlund, who also fills the Taylor Sheridan requisite that there be one guitar-playing member of the cast. He also hooks up with a former member of his New York mob in Armand, played by Max Casella. Armand sees Dwight and thinks he’s there to kill him. So he tries to kill Dwight, which then has Dwight actually going to kill him. It’s one of those crazy coincidences, and before a couple of episodes are done, Dwight has himself a crew. When last season ended, Chickie brought some guys out to Tulsa to take care of Dwight, and that move also backfired, and now Chickie’s old right hand Denis “Goodie” Carangi, played by Boardwalk Empire and Sopranos vet Chris Caldovino, is the last piece in Dwight’s new family. And he’s done with loyalty to anyone but his own crew. Finally, this season also sees the entrance of wrestler Cash Flo as Dwight’s bodyguard, Bigfoot. He reminds me of a guy I actually know, and he’s there for muscle and comic relief. I mean, does Sly need a bodyguard? Yeah … I didn’t think so.
“You see, everything is a test. Got to send a message, and since Western Union is out of business, I send my own messages. Watch.”
The season opens by quickly taking care of old business. If you were invested in the first season story arc of Dwight’s romance with a fed and his arrest for bribery, you will be very disappointed with the beginning of Season 2. The story gets quickly resolved and really ends up as a complete throwaway arc for the series. I’m OK with that, because the action and stories from Season 2 here are a lot more fun. It’s just kind of odd the way it was all wrapped up and swiftly pushed to the side. This was all in the service of packing one hell of a group of story arcs in Season 2. This year things are so much tighter, and the stakes could not be higher.
“I simply try to understand people who are very rude before I smash their heads.”
Dwight’s “family” is doing very well. Dwight has truly become the titular Tulsa King. But that means there are more than a few people out there trying to knock him off his throne, and when bad stuff goes down, we don’t exactly know which enemy is behind it all. Dwight is trying to go semi-legit and decides to invest in a wind farm he learned about while in lockup from the con man who went down for it all. He figures they could buy the wind farm, and now they have a lot of power to drive a huge hydroponics pot farm. It’s a great idea, but it will ruffle some feathers.
Feather number one is Neal McDonough, playing businessman Cal Thresher. He’s teamed up with a Chinese gang, and they pretty much own the pot “franchise” in Tulsa. He’s pretty much a rich guy who thinks he’s more of a kingpin than he really is. He happens to also be financially tied to Margaret’s (Delany) horse farm. Margaret has become Dwight’s romantic angle this season. So Thresher makes the usual threats and causes the usual mayhem. I love Neal McDonough. He’s a really complicated but fun villain to have around. This reminds me of his days in the Arrowverse. He’s smart and conniving, but maybe just a little evil that comes through with every expression. He uses nuance to a whole new level, and he’s by far my favorite new character on the show this year. He’s the first guy to come along who holds up to face-offs with Sly. The chemistry these guys have is off the charts, and you’ll want more of these two characters squaring off.
Feather two is Bill Bevilaqua, played by Frank Grillo. He’s the “don” up in Kansas City, but considers Tulsa his territory. He doesn’t like that Dwight has moved in, and he’s not happy with New York and Chickie for sending him out there to begin with. The truth is Tulsa wasn’t worth his attention until Dwight started to build his own “thing” there. He’s not one of those hothead mob bosses, and wants peace. His offers that Dwight merely cut him in don’t go over well. And there could be a mob war brewing which also involves Feather Three, which is Chickie and his New York guys.
Dwight is a thorn in Chickie’s side, and the show continues to swap locations so we get a little bit of the more traditional mob stuff on the New York end. There’s a bit of a civil war brewing in New York, and Dwight’s not making peaceful solutions very easy. Grillo is also another great face to join the ensemble. And with all of these bad guys, the entire season is guessing game. Someone is coming hard, and it might even be another player on the board. I’ll leave that to your own discovery, and you’ll love every minute of trying to figure it out.
Stallone carries the weight of the show. He ends up having to hurt some folks, naturally, but those moments where he gets his way just by staring a guy down are the real magic. He also quickly develops a great chemistry with actor Jay Will. There’s a lot of stuff with just them in the car, and it’s often some of the most compelling moments in the series. I love this relationship, and honestly can’t wait to see more of it. Tyson is one of those characters in need of a mentor, and Dwight’s not quite the mentor he needs, but very much the mentor he wants. That’s also contrary to the wishes of his father, played by Third Watch’s Michael Beach. The only issue I have with this character is we don’t get enough of him. Beach has always been a great actor, and it’s always a treat when he pops up somewhere, but this character has far more potential than what they’re giving him so far.
You can’t say enough about the actual Tulsa locations. It gives a wonderful “fish out of water who is still a shark” persona of Sly’s character here. There’s also a nice balance as we still follow the New York mob story and its inevitable collision with the Dwight Tulsa scene. A lot of compelling characters, played by compelling actors, doing a lot of compelling things. You get all ten episodes on three discs. There’s a collection of features. On the last disc Sheridan manages to turn everything into a western, and there have to be horses. Here it’s a budding relationship with a stables owner played by Dana Delany. You get that extra episode this season, but it’s still not enough. Sly is pushing 80, but he’s still got a lot of physicality to his character. Not sure how much longer he can keep it up, but I’m looking forward to seeing more Tulsa King before he runs out of steam … maybe when he hits 97 or 98. Only Clint Eastwood has been this strong this late into his career. For now Sly’s “not going anywhere so strap in for a long ride”.
