I SAW TULSA KING: SEASON 3 (CONCLUDING COMMENTS)

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. 

TULSA KING #3: FURTHER, FAUSTIAN PULP

From what I can discern, Tulsa King: Season 3 will depict executive producer Sylvester Stallone's one-time, fish-out-of-water general, Dwight Manfredi, in FBI custody and sometime thereafter combatting resentful crime clans, as a seasoned, NY assassin stirs the contentious pot. (Frank Grillo, now soaring high on Peacemaker, Robert Patrick, also soaring high on Peacemaker, along with Samuel Jackson and Beau Knapp, comprise Manfredi's circling competition.) These details are appreciated, but just knowing there's a new season (no matter the plot) has been reward enough.  

For me, the anticipation comes down to a type of preordained timing. In recent years, I've grown fond of Mafia and gangland fables, thanks to their pulpy, Faustian undercurrents: something I became most aware of when viewing The Many Saints of Newark.  

This Faustian angle thrives in The Godfather saga (and is alluded to in its making-of, The Offer), but let's not forget Scarface 1983, Goodfellas, Casino and (per its intricate entirety) The Sopranos. In addition, this forbidding, committal denominator permeates earlier, cinematic, gangster examples, like The Public Enemy, White Heat, Little Caesar, Dead End and Scarface 1932, where the pursuit of something sweet dangles from something wrong. One bite can ruin a life or for that matter, end it.  

Stallone does a great job exemplifying the concept. I rank his Manfredi right up there with Rocky Balboa, John Rambo and Barney Ross. Manfredi has admirable bite, even though it's filtered through a subdued facade, but through that cool, the other characters, whether protagonists or antagonists, are defined by Manfredi's leadership prods within a modern, western context.

Now, there are those who'll scoff at my Tulsa King interest. These are the let's-tap-our-softie-side ideologues who wouldn't give any Faustian, balls-attached adage the time of day. It's just the way these characters are made, always demeaning what they'd like to be, since they're too craven (or lazy) to become it. 

I really don't get it. You see, to me, sitting through something like, oh let's say, Yentl is nothing short of Chinese water torture. Big Fish (despite its deft cast) gets me hot under the collar for all of its romanticized lies; Too Wong Foo ... is so gaudy as to be dry; and even though it may be classic Disney, Fantasia ain't nothin' but one big-ass bore (and that's even taking into account its Lugosi tribute). Yeah, my detractors may say that Tulsa King is pedestrian, juvenile and outdated in its sensibilities, but I got more than enough critiques to hurl at them, and I guess for the sake of this post, I already have. 

Be that as it may, Tulsa King: Season 3 begins September 21 on Paramount+ and will last ten episodes. When the run is done, I'll return with my assessment, which my virile inclination tells me, will be favorable.