Tulsa King

Introduction

With Season 3 almost wrapping up, it feels like the right moment to look back at Tulsa King as a whole series. What started as a “Stallone-does-a-TV-show” curiosity has slowly grown into one of the more unusual entries in the crime-drama landscape: part mafia story, part culture-clash comedy, and part “old-school gangster tries to survive the age of TikTok.”

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It’s not prestige TV—and thankfully, it doesn’t pretend to be. Instead, Tulsa King leans proudly into its blend of grit, chaos, and humor, creating a show that’s genuinely fun despite (and sometimes because of) its rough edges.

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Genre: Crime Drama / Crime Comedy

Number of Episodes: 29 (About 40-60 min per episode)

First Episode Date: November 13, 2022

Final Episode Date (S3): November 23, 2025

Storyline And Background

The series follows Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a New York mafia capo who spends 25 years in prison and is rewarded with… exile to Tulsa, Oklahoma. His job? Start a new criminal operation from scratch. What actually happens? He befriends a driver he finds at an airport, takes over a cannabis dispensary within hours, forms alliances with people who shouldn’t legally be within 100 meters of each other, and slowly builds a loyal, if slightly confused, crew.

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Across the three seasons, the tone has shifted and expanded:

• Season 1 introduces the fish-out-of-water setup, mixing violence with comedy.

• Season 2 raises the stakes with bigger enemies, deeper character conflicts, and more organized chaos.

• Season 3  is the most polished so far, more confident in its identity and willing to push the humor while still delivering real tension.
   

The series is set firmly in the modern day, but Dwight behaves as if the last time he updated his worldview was 1989—and this constant generational mismatch is a core engine of the show’s charm.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Stallone carries the series with pure charisma
   Even when he mumbles or stares blankly at an iPad, he makes Dwight believable, funny, and oddly sympathetic.
    

2. Strong supporting cast who grow into their roles
   Tyson, Bodhi, Stacy, Armand, and the Season 3 newcomers each bring something distinct. The chemistry feels real.
    

3. The humor is genuinely funny
   Not Marvel-style quips—more “Stallone tries to understand emojis and accidentally intimidates college students.”
    

4. The show improves each season
   The writing gets tighter, the conflicts more layered, and the world-building more confident.
    

5. Surprisingly emotional at times
   The series touches on loyalty, aging, second chances, and the cost of old codes in a modern world.

Cons:

1. Tone can be inconsistent
   Jumping from brutal shootouts to comedic banter doesn’t always land smoothly.
    

2. Some storylines vanish mysteriously
   Especially in Seasons 1 and 2—characters disappear for episodes, then reappear as if nothing happened.
    

3. The villains vary in quality
   For every well-written antagonist, there’s one who feels like they wandered in from a different show.
    

4. Occasional pacing problems
   Certain mid-season episodes slow things down more than they need to.

Review and Comments

As a whole series, Tulsa King is a weirdly addictive blend of mob drama and accidental comedy. It’s the kind of show where you think, “I’ll just watch one episode,” and suddenly it’s 2 a.m. and Dwight has declared war on an entire biker gang without blinking.

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The magic of the show comes from its willingness to embrace its own absurdity without losing the core emotional thread. Dwight’s struggle to adapt to a new world—morally, socially, technologically—is surprisingly relatable, even if most of us aren’t exiled mafia capos.

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Season 3 shows clear improvements: better pacing, clearer stakes, and a more confident balance between humor and tension. But the small flaws continue: certain dramatic moments feel rushed, and the show still occasionally forgets its secondary characters exist.

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Despite this, Tulsa King succeeds because it understands something many modern crime dramas forget: watching TV should be fun. And fun is the one thing the show never stops delivering.