SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Tulsa King Season 3, Episode 4.

After Tulsa King dropped a huge bombshell on the audience with the end of Episode 3, the Paramount+ show undoes most of the resulting suspense in Episode 4. “Staring Down the Barrel” solves the crew’s biggest problem in 42 minutes. Of course, there are threats made and intense staredowns, but the sense of calamity has largely faded away.

The theft of the Fifty at the end of Episode 3 was a shock that put Dwight Manfredi and his crew behind the proverbial eight ball. But one of the big reveals in Episode 4—that Serenity, the exotic dancer whose life Tyson saved, is actually working for Jeremiah Dunmire—is not a shock at all. Audiences likely guessed that from the moment Serenity appeared on screen. So when Tyson finds out, it’s more of a “finally” than a real surprise. All that bit of information does is reinforce how Tyson has no business being a gangster.

At least that leads to one of the better scenes in “Staring Down the Barrel.” Mark teams up with his son on a stakeout, having been in contact with Dwight, and gives his son some wise words based on his own history. Michael Beach is such an underrated piece of Tulsa King, and it remains great to see him continuing in the Taylor Sheridan universe after his character’s violent end in Mayor of Kingstown. The dynamic between Tyson and his father is something special and a counterpoint to the life Tyson thinks he’s building for himself.

The episode actually belongs more to the returning guest stars from Tulsa King Season 2. Frank Grillo has a great scene as Bill Bevilaqua returns to help Dwight locate the missing bourbon and get revenge for the murders of his men. Bill storms into a henchman’s house, goes through his threatening spiel—but then has to shoot the other man when a weapon gets pulled. Grillo is wonderful at the menacing part but even better when Bill has to explain to Dwight what happened. He’s anxious and frustrated and almost manic. Bill is going to have a larger part to play, too, as the closing scene of “Staring Down the Barrel” sees New York reaching out to him, clearly in another misguided attempt to get Dwight under control.

Elsewhere, Cal Thresher meets with Margaret Fennario about teaming up to get him elected Governor. This is also something that was put in motion at the end of Episode 3, but it’s a brief opportunity to be reminded that Cal and Margaret had history before Dwight ever came into the picture. It also allows for Margaret to have more to do than be Dwight’s love interest. For everyone else, the episode is pretty much a wash. Grace comes up with the idea to create an AI influencer as a publicity stunt to promote the Fifty. This subplot gives her, Bodhi and Joanne something to do, but it comes across as filler—and not good filler at that.

“Staring Down the Barrel” comes to a head when Dwight and company confront Dunmire at the warehouse where he’s holding the Fifty. Dwight offers him an exchange: his son Cole for the bourbon. It’s cringe-worthy how little Dunmire cares for his son, though fans may have figured that out as well from their interactions in prior episodes. Still, the standoff ends with Mitch Keller driving the bourbon back to where it belongs. In that sense, this episode just closes the circle. Dwight has the bourbon, and Dunmire will try again to get it.

Tulsa King Season 3, Episode 4 feels like a stop on the way to bigger things. Or hopefully that’s what it is, because taken on its own, this episode lacks much rewatch value. The audience feels like they’re ahead of the characters at this point, and that’s not somewhere fans usually want to be. Yet if the show can engage its cast more, there’s still opportunity for some fireworks.

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.