Taylor Sheridan/Paramount+'s Tulsa King: Season 3 didn't let me down. In fact, once it got rolling (and yes, it did take a couple episodes to do so), it exceeded my expectations, thanks to its colliding engagements.
Among James Russo's sanctioning Quiet Ray and Robert Patrick's wine-wrangling Jeremiah Dunmire and his beleaguered son, Beau Knapp's Cole, not to mention Kevin Pollak's nudging FBI Agent Musso, I had no idea how Sly Stallone's Captain Dwight Manfredi would survive the onslaught, but survive he did (not that I had any doubt he would, mind you).
In the series (no matter the season), one gets a good sense of who will rise and fall (this isn't The Walking Dead, after all), but it's the way it's constructed that gives it girth. Tulsa King, perhaps more than any current series, does a supreme job weaving pulpy toughness, Faustian pacts and down-to-earth amusement into one big ball of wax. (It's a swell throwback to the good ol' Sopranos days.)
On the other hand, I'd have liked more of Frank Grillo's Bill Bevilaqua this season, but he sure did shine while he was out in the open (before, that is, Agent Musso, pulled him from the fray). In the same vein, I'd have liked more of Neal McDonough's Cal Thresher, with further insight into how Dana Delany's Margaret Devereaux was streamlining his gubernatorial campaign. More on Anna Sciorra's Joanne Manfredi would have been nice, too, with broadened visits into her entrepreneurial process. Then again, I suppose there was enough of these components installed throughout the ten episodes, but they were just so interesting, I wanted more.
The best marginal elements dealt with Jay Will's Tyson, Matthew Starr's Bodhi and McKenna Quigley Harrington's Grace, especially when it came to their electric cars. (What a hoot!) Chris Caldovino's Goodie and Scarlet Rose Stallone's Spencer (whoa! what a beauty) did a terrific job buffering the trio whenever they could. The results added the right amount of levity, while never going overboard.
The one part I thought might not work, since it seemed geared from left field, was Samuel L. Jackson's late-in-the-game Russell Lee Washington Jr., but by golly, he blended well. I mean, I thought he would be a standard, cameoing assassin, but there was much more at play due to his long-term relationship with Manfredi: a splendid touch, and reputedly, there's a Washington spinoff in the works. Hmmm...
Anyhow, I could go on and on here, breaking down this and that, but I think one gets the gist. I like Tulsa King. I like this third season. I'm glad there's a fourth coming. We need more shows like this: those that aren't afraid to push the envelope but still distinguish good from bad. In Tulsa King's case, regardless of its criminal twists, one knows who to root for, and on that basis, the makers of The Boys and Gen V would be wise to take note. Even if the show's variables are ambivalent on occasion, one can still denote who's the hero and who's the villain. That goes a long way.
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