Top 10 Stallone Moments on Tulsa King
#10: Car Buying, Gangster Style
“Go West, Old Man”
Driver Tyson Mitchell’s first big assignment under the General’s command is to buy a brand new Lincoln Navigator. Sadly, not everything has changed since Dwight went to prison. He goes down to Donnie Shore’s Auto Corral to confront a fellow businessman about assuming that a well-dressed Black man is a criminal, and being eager to please a well-dressed White man. Dwight then further disputes this double-standard by beating Donnie into selling Tyson the Navigator for $50,000. It’s a profit loss for the car dealer, but at least he gets to keep his teeth. It’s also a memorable first display of Dwight Manfredi as a man of conscience as well as violence.
#9: Western Union’s Out of Business
“Back in the Saddle”
Dwight finds himself in jail on bribery charges at the top of Season 2. He’s handling it better than Harlan Thibodeaux, who’s going down for energy fraud after gambling away a fortune in government subsidies for his wind farm. Dwight advises the white-collar criminal to “send a message” in prison to avoid becoming a pushover. He then demonstrates by knocking out a vulgar cellmate who’s really all talk. This lesson doesn’t come free. A bailed-out Dwight later visits Harlan in prison to purchase his wind farm for a relatively meager $7.5 million. That kind of money can go a long way behind bars for someone less equipped for brawn and business than Mr. Manfredi.
#8: Lunch with Quiet Ray
“Bubbles”
With Jeremiah Dunmire’s threats, Dwight is forced to finally cut Ray Renzetti in on his business. They meet for lunch in Hot Springs, Arkansas, dusting off the General’s old-school repertoire with his New York associates. Then Quiet Ray quits being quiet after demanding 80 percent of the bourbon operation. The restaurant’s upscale atmosphere is further spoiled when Dunmire’s men interrupt the argument with a shootout. Believing that he was the target, Quiet Ray declares war. Now we know what Dwight meant when he said that this former associate could even make him lose his cool. We also needed the reminder that Manfredi’s crew have the combat skills to take on this many enemies at once.
#7: The Dirtiest Deal
“On the Rocks”
Dwight Manfredi has obviously worked with some shady people, but none like Dexter Deacon. FBI agent John Musso is forcing Dwight to entrap this amoral terrorist-for-hire, who visits the Bred2Buck to arrange planting a bomb in Jeremiah Dunmire’s home. Having seen Musso’s crime scene photos, Dwight can hardly contain his disgust at how casually Deacon can calculate causing that much carnage. Never mind having to pay half of the $250,000 price tag upfront. The palpable tension affirms that there is a moral limit to Dwight’s otherwise cool business dealings. Of course, he doesn’t have a problem with later torturing and killing Deacon for working with Dunmire, to name one of many horrible crimes.
#6: “On the Road Again”
“Heroes and Villains”
Dwight loves to talk about history, but apparently has mixed feelings about being there for it. During a road trip with the crew, he derides Tyson and Bodhi for their music while enjoying a “special” lollipop. This prompts him to ramble on about the history of music and how he saw Canned Heat perform “On the Road Again” back in 1968. He never forgave the legendary band for playing so loudly that he developed tinnitus in his right ear. Even when inebriated, the General can weave a compelling yarn about anthropology, philosophy and personal history. What could have been a drawn-out bit of filler hilariously highlights how Dwight’s own mismatched band really jams on the road.
#5: The General Rallies the Troops
“Happy Trails”
Season 1 of “Tulsa King” builds toward war with the outlaw biker crew the Black Macadams. Of course, the real focus is on Dwight building his ragtag team into proper warriors. The Bred2Buck hosts it all, from the shootout that gets Mitch Keller on-board, to the last stand with Caolan Waltrip’s men. In between, Dwight assembles his troops at the bar for a rousing speech about how he’s found a new home, and they shouldn’t be afraid to defend it. This is the real explosive culmination of the season’s character development, setting up Dwight’s fierce leadership and his crew’s unlikely victory against the Black Macadams. Now that’s why they call him “The General.”
#4: Road Test
“Center of the Universe”
Who says that older people can't be skilled drivers? Dwight needs to prove them wrong with a road test to renew his driver's license after 25 years in prison. All goes smoothly until someone takes a shot at him at an intersection. Dwight then quickly and smoothly traverses traffic to ram the hitman, then write out his license plate number with the injured driving instructor’s blood. The poor passenger is shaken, but he can't deny that this student knows his way around a steering wheel. And Invernizzi Family outcast Armand Truisi, who suspected Dwight was in town to kill him, learns that you best not miss a shot at the Tulsa King.
#3: The Nola King
“Dead Weight”
Dwight and his old prison buddy Russell Lee Washington don't reunite under ideal circumstances. Luckily, the New Orleans hitman has enough principles of his own to notify his friend that Quiet Ray has put out a contract on him. When Russell gets one of his own for his defiance, the veteran gangsters team up to ambush the hitmen at their motel. The stakeout lets Sylvester Stallone and Samuel L. Jackson flex their charismatic chops. And the brief but intense counter-assassination displays Dwight and Russell’s efficiency. The whole thing does suspiciously resemble Jackson’s iconic first scene in “Pulp Fiction.” Hey, it's the perfect way for “Tulsa King” to give its blessing to the spin-off “Nola King.”
#2: Not Going Back
“Reconstruction”
Bad blood with Chickie Invernizzi goes back to 1997, when Dwight went to prison for mercifully executing a snitch Chickie left in a building fire. When the scoundrel visits Tulsa after becoming boss through patricide, Dwight welcomes him by quitting the family. But this feud especially carries weight when Chickie tries to coax the General back to New York. The ensuing tirade formally settles Dwight's commitment to his new family and disillusionment with the old one that wouldn’t even visit him inside. Chickie asserts that he’s not going anywhere, and Bill Bevilaqua sees to that by flipping a plot to kill Dwight. Finally free of the mob, Dwight toasts to his crew finally going legitimate.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
Save a Horse, “Staple”
Dwight Relates to a Steed in Need of Another Chance, & Find His Own in Margaret Deveraux
Breaking Up with Beale, “Back in the Saddle”
A Doomed Romance with an ATF Agent Ends on Good Terms, Hotel Break-In Aside
Meeting Bevilaqua, “Oklahoma v. Manfredi”
The Gentleman Gangster Keeps His Cool with the Loudmouthed Kansas City Mob Boss
Self-Driving Car, “Blood and Bourbon”
FBI Agent John Musso Retrieves Dwight with Technology He Doesn’t Know How to Work With
Dunmire Pays His Respects, “The Fifty”
Dwight Would Sooner Fight the Bourbon Baron Who Kills the Competition Than Negotiate
#1: Avenging Tina
“Token Joe”
Dwight is visiting New York when he confronts his estranged daughter Tina at her flower shop. The tough mobster breaks down as he faces difficult subjects with the child he didn’t see grow up. Among them is how she was assaulted by Nico “The Package” Bugliosi, but Dwight promises Tina that he’ll let it go. That changes when a visit with his hospitalized boss Pete Invernizzi causes Dwight to lament going to prison for his crime family, when he should have protected his daughter. He then crashes a card game to viciously beat Nico to death. As complicated as the fallout will be, these extremes of emotional vulnerability and moral brutality nail down what makes Dwight Manfedi such a complex antihero.
What “Tulsa King” moments gripped your attention the most? Make a deal in the comments.
