Tulsa King episode 3: Dwight has found the traitor to the organization! It is…see more

The third season of Taylor Sheridan‘s Tulsa King, the Sylvester Stallone-starring series about a rising Tulsa mob, is finally premiering. It was notable out of the gate for being Stallone’s television debut, as well as for being a Sheridan small-screen project outside his growing Yellowstone empire. Season 1 introduced viewers to Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone), a loyal mafioso released after 25 years in jail. His loyalty is “rewarded” when the mob sends Dwight to Tulsa and, wanting to build something for himself while repairing relationships with his family, he makes the best of it.

Dwight ends up involving a hodgepodge of very different people in his piecemeal mob, including cabbie Tyson (Jay Will) and the brilliant-but-slacking pot dispensary owner Bodhi (Martin Starr), gradually running afoul of the old guard mobsters back home and local competition alike. Season 2 ratchets everything up with the addition of menacing new villains, local big shot Carl Thresher (Neil McDonough) and Kansas City mafia head Bill Bevilaqua (Frank Grillo), the latter of whom he ends up partnering with in his growing expansion into marijuana.

Manfredi begins Season 3 under the harsh lights of an interrogation room, thanks to his capture at the hands of Special Agent Musso (Kevin Pollak) at the end of Season 2. Musso’s motives are mysterious, but he knows everything about Manfredi’s criminal endeavors, including killing a man chained to a radiator in a burning house 25 years ago. Dwight pulled the trigger on said man, who happened to be Musso’s informant, so Musso wants a new informant… Dwight. Informing on whom? Musso’s playing coy, but Dwight’s released. He arrives and apologizes to his beau, Margaret (Dana Delany), for the disruptive invasion of her ranch at the end of last season. Driving with Bigfoot (Mike “Cash Flo” Walden) after promising her he’d square said threat and protect her, he receives an unwanted call from old mob connection Quiet Ray (James Russo) before hanging up. “It never f**king ends,” he complains to the massive enforcer. Cue eyeroll and intro credits.

Love Interests Come Calling in the ‘Tulsa King’ Season 3 Premiere

Dwight visits his old Little Italy stomping grounds, first seeing his sister and grandchildren at the Feast of San Gennaro. He then pivots to see Quiet Ray at his home, with Bigfoot and capo Goodie (Chris Caldovino) in tow. Ray delivers Dwight an olive branch to make good on the promise he was offered in exchange for that 25-year stint: they’ll make him his own family, grant him a territory, and he’ll have carte blanche to run it his way. Manfredi turns the offer down, liking what he’s built in Tulsa. That isn’t what Ray wants to hear, and he says it’s finally time for Dwight to share with the New York families. “It’s very disrespectful when you don’t share with your real family. Do I have to paint a f*cking picture for you?” he asks. “No, Ray,” Dwight says. “You can keep all the paints out of this, I get the picture. And you’re right, sharing’s good, as long as you’re sharing with somebody you want to share with.” The pair exchange more tense words before Dwight sees himself out.

Back in Tulsa, we return to Manfredi’s right-hand man, Mitch Keller (Garrett Hedlund), trying to sell a woman on an El Dorado at his car dealership, Mitch’s Auto City, when he’s interrupted by old flame Cleo Montague (Bella Heathcote), whose family runs an old, distinguished distillery that’s going under and up for sale. They’ve been under pressure from the dangerous Jeremiah Dunmire (Robert Patrick). She suggests Mitch stop by the Distillery for their “yard sale” the next day. Cut to Dwight’s rural casino, and Margaret sits down with Dwight. He tells her that he’s just an “old goombah” who brings her trouble and has a dark history, and wonders why she wants him around. She chides him for trying to push her away, exclaiming, “I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” and gives him a custom five-star broach she had made, reflecting his moniker “The General.”

A Few Hiccups Mar ‘Tulsa King’ Season 3’s Distillery Deal and the Drop

Mitch pulls in, complaining how depressed he gets running a car dealership — but he has an idea, and informs Dwight about his old girlfriend’s distillery on the market. Mitch sells the idea with a glass of their finest. Getting into the whiskey business sounds good to Dwight, but Mitch admits they’re being “strong-armed” by Dunmire. Dwight promises to handle the latter intimidator. Back at the dispensary, Bodhi is sent to Kansas City to deliver their share of the marijuana money. He’d rather do just about anything else, given that Bevilaqua’s men shot and killed his best friend, Jimmy The Creek (Glen Gould), in last season’s events. Bodhi and Grace (McKenna Quigley Harrington) head out to pick up Tyson (Jay Will) for the journey.

Elsewhere, Dwight arrives at the Montague Distillery yard sale (which, funny enough, was indeed a yard sale — a true family-run business!) to chat with the Montague family patriarch, Theo (Brett Rice), who has a “handshake deal” to sell the distillery to the Dunmires. An honorable man, he refuses to discuss the terms of their informal deal, but Dwight promises to double it. “Tempting,” he says, but turns him down nonetheless. Back at the garage sale, Mitch continues to rekindle his flame with Cleo when Cole Dunmire (Beau Knapp), Jeremiah’s son, arrives. They clearly don’t like each other. Cleo asks what Cole wants, and he says he’s there to deliver a message from his dad to hers: “Good seeing you.”

Bodhi Turns The Tables in ‘Tulsa King’ Season 3’s Premiere

Bodhi, Grace, and Tyson are traveling to Kansas City in Bodhi’s bright, lime green electric vehicle when it runs out of sufficient charge to make the rest of their journey. Tyson calls Dwight, complaining they need to change the location on the KC money hand-off because “Bodhi’s toy f*cking car lost the charge prematurely.” Bigfoot calls Bevilaqua and hands the phone to Dwight, who connects him to Tyson, and they’re all on a three-way call to see if Bevilaqua can send his guys to Bodhi, Grace, and Tyson. They’re testy, but Tyson wants to take the lead and asks Bodhi to “play the mute instead of the Jester.” Bevilaqua’s men arrive, and Tyson, acting like a big shot, apologizes for the location change. “These are not my regular peoples,” he says, but Bevilaqua’s crew just want the money.

Grace brings a bag, but it’s full of magazines. “I grabbed the wrong duffel,” Bodhi explains, “That’s my duffel for OCC, the Oklahoma Comic Convention, I’m sure you’re familiar.” Bevilaqua’s crew is mad, and Bodhi implores them to follow him to the shop where the cash is. “You know the way, right?” he asks, a thinly veiled reference to the shooting that killed Jimmy the Creek. Bodhi leaves with the gangster who killed Jimmy, while Tyson and Grace stay with the other members of the KC crew as insurance. Back at the dispensary, Bodhi gathers cash while the KC mobster observes, before Bodhi asks him, “Are you familiar with the term ‘photographic memory’? He goes on to explain that he can revisit any memory in great detail, and the mobster has a “very memorable face, I see your face maybe 50 times a day.” Bodhi turns around with a gun. “Are you out of your f*cking mind?,” the KC mobster asks, to which Bodhi says he did, after he killed his best friend. “You were trying to kill both of us,” but “you’re a terrible shot.” After forcing the gangster to say “thank you for sparing my worthless, sh***y, stupid life,” Bodhi appears content to let him leave, dropping the gun.