SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers for Tulsa King Season 3, Episode 1.

The Tulsa King Season 3 premiere doesn’t miss a beat from where the Paramount+ show left off. Dwight Manfredi may once again be in trouble with the law, but there’s little doubt that Sylvester Stallone’s character is the one running the show. However, the episode also introduces a new rival for Season 3 who might be able to knock Dwight down a peg.

Season 2 ended with Dwight being taken into custody by law enforcement yet again; with Andrea Savage’s character Stacy Beale out of the picture, the role of the law is now played by Kevin Pollak as Agent Musso. It’s surprising, given how long their resumes are, that Pollak and Stallone haven’t squared off like this before. But Pollak brings his deadpan delivery to Musso, giving him a personality as he delivers the usual dialogue about how Dwight works for him now. That’s actually the least interesting part of the Season 3 premiere, on which Stallone is credited as a co-writer.

Tulsa King picks up when it introduces the real threat: Robert Patrick as Jeremiah Dunmire. Patrick has worked with Stallone before, most notably on the critically acclaimed 1997 movie Cop Land, and he’s a heavy hitter in his own right. Patrick is well-versed in playing villains and knows how to make them menacing without making them obvious. Season 2 villain Bill Bevilaqua is still around, but Frank Grillo’s character is more of a speed bump in the episode than an actual threat. In contrast, everyone knows that Dunmire’s final scene—the last of the episode—is going to end with him having Theo Montague’s house destroyed, but that doesn’t make the image any less powerful because Patrick knows how to nail that classic “villain walking away” moment. Watching these two battle it out is going to be a thing of beauty, and Grillo’s continued presence is the wild card to make it even more interesting.

Theo’s daughter Cleo is revealed to have a past with Mitch Keller, which suggests that Tulsa King Season 3 will flesh out Garrett Hedlund’s character (similar to how Season 2 gave a full arc to Jay Will’s character Tyson). The screen time between Cleo and Mitch is relatively brief, but Hedlund and Bella Heathcote are able to create an instant chemistry that feels not just like an attraction, but a genuine human connection. Someone else who is aces in the Season 3 premiere is Martin Starr, whose Bodhi is still scarred from the events of the prior season and momentarily shows a much darker side. The best part of the premiere is the new ways it gets the audience to look at these established characters.

The biggest weakness, however, is still with Tulsa King‘s female characters. Dwight briefly visits with his two grandchildren in New York, but his daughter Tina is nowhere in sight—and actor Tatiana Zappardino is definitely missed. Hopefully she won’t completely vanish from the narrative the way that Andrea Savage did. Annabella Sciorra is still a series regular as Dwight’s sister Joanne, but she doesn’t have much to do in the first episode, and Dana Delany’s character Margaret Devereaux is now primarily Dwight’s love interest. Hopefully future episodes will give these ladies more room to grow, the way that Mitch, Bodhi and Tyson are continuing to grow.

The Tulsa King Season 3 premiere serves up everything that the show has made its own. Sylvester Stallone is front and center while Dwight Manfredi continues to expand his business, except this season it’s alcohol instead of marijuana. Stallone is still the toughest guy in the room. But Patrick isn’t far behind, and the episode offers action and snappy crime drama banter to keep viewers interested. It’s business as usual for Tulsa King, and that’s a very good thing indeed.

Tulsa King streams Sundays on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.