Has Tulsa King's Dwight Met His Match? Read Season 3 Premiere Recap And Grade The Episode!
You can't keep a good man down. Or a made man, for that matter.
Tulsa King's Season 3 premiere, which begins streaming today, opens in the dark interrogation room where Dwight "The General" Manfredi was tossed at the end of Season 2. We quickly find out who took him and why; thought it's not the best news Dwight's ever gotten, it doesn't take Manfredi long to get outta there, get into a suit and get back to business.
And what, exactly, is the business at hand this season? Bourbon — a spirit that'll get him into trouble with his most formidable adversary yet. Read on for the highlights of "Blood and Bourbon."
MEET MUSSO | Dwight is handcuffed to the table in the dark room with a spotlight on him. A man in a suit comes in and introduces himself as Agent Musso (played by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Kevin Pollak). Musso assures Dwight that Margaret is safe and back at her ranch. Then they get into it: Richard "Ripple" McCleavy, the man Dwight shot when he was burning alive and chained to a radiator, was Musso's informant. His death destroyed the agent's two-year path to take down the Invernizzi family.
Musso calmly informs Dwight that he's aware of the more recent deaths — "the bikers, Chickie — I know everything" — but he's not going to charge him with murder... at least, not now. He threatens to charge Dwight's whole Tulsa crew, including Margaret, with crimes related to Dwight's exploits, but he won't, if Dwight will do what he asks, when he asks it. "Or," Musso says as he leaves the room, "it all goes very dark for all of you."
Once free, Dwight goes to Margaret and tells her that she doesn't need the kind of trouble he brings into her life. She disagrees, but he won't hear it. "You're too good a person," he says, breaking up with her (I think?) and walking away.
QUIET RAY ENTERS THE PICTURE | Right after, someone named Quiet Ray calls Dwight and summons him to New York. So Dwight heads north, joining Joanne and the grandkids at the San Gennaro festival in Manhattan's Little Italy. Goodie and Bigfoot wait outside.
The older man, who clearly holds a position of power in the New York mob, doesn't waste time. "I wanna give you what you were promised: your own family, your own territory," he says. Dwight politely declines, saying he likes what he's got in Tulsa. But, of course, Quiet Ray isn't really offering so much as demanding that Dwight "share" his wealth. Dwight also declines that, angering Ray. After the meeting ends, Goodie says that maybe Dwight might think about the retirement Ray offered? "Not happening," The General replies.
CLEO & THE DUNMIRES | Back in Tulsa, a woman named Cleo Montague (Bella Heathcote, The Man in the High Castle) shows up at Mitch's car dealership; the way his eyeballs nearly fall out of his head upon seeing her indicates that maybe there was a little somethin'-somethin' between them in the past. Her father owns a distillery but is selling it; a man named Jeremiah Dunmire is first in line to buy it. "The tyrant of Tulsa," Mitch remarks. "Bad people getting away with bad things," she says. She gives him a bottle of her dad's bourbon and they kiss before she leaves; on her way out, she invites him to her dad's yard sale the next day.
MARGARET IS MAD | Spencer has a new job: She's a bartender at the casino, and she greets Dwight when he returns from New York. She also serves Margaret when she shows up, orders a beer and then goes straight to Dwight's booth with fire in her eyes. Ms. Devereaux demands to know why he just walked away the other day. "I know [the Feds] are going to ask me to do some dark s—t, and knowing that, I don't want you around this, or me," he says, but she tears up as she lets him know she's serious about wanting to be with him, regardless. Touched, Dwight takes her hand and relents, and that's that: They're still a couple. As such, she hands him a gift she'd gotten him before they were hauled from their beds under cover of night: A circle of stars lapel pin for The General.
Next to slide into the banquette next to Dwight is Mitch, who has realized he hates being a used car salesman. However, he thinks that maybe buying Cleo's dad's distillery (and the liquor license that comes with it) is a good move for Dwight — and when Dwight samples the wares, he agrees. Still, there's the matter of Dunmire. "Let me handle him," Dwight says.
Mitch brings Dwight and Goodie to the Montague's, where Papa Montague says the distillery is already spoken for by Dunmire. Without knowing what Dunmire has offered, Dwight says he'll double it. "It's complicated," Mr. Montague says, adding that he can't back out of the handshake deal he has with Jeremiah. Dunmire's jerk son, Cole, later shows up to further antagonize the Montagues.
BODHI'S REVENGE | Bodhi isn't happy when Joanna tasks him with taking a payment to the Kansas City crew; she doesn't care, though, and tells him to take Tyson and Grace and think of it as "team building." When Grace finds Bodhi filling a satchel with money, she asks if he's all right. "Excellent," he snarks. "Just dropping off cash to the guy who killed Jimmy. Why wouldn't I be OK?"
The road trip goes awry when Bodhi's lime green electric vehicle runs out of charge a few miles before the rendezvous point. It goes even more awry when the Kansas City guys open the bag and find a bunch of comic books inside: Bodhi grabbed the wrong satchel. He climbs into the car with one of the KC guys and drives back to Even Higher Ground to get the money; the other KC guys stay with Grace and Tyson, holding guns on them until they return.
At the shop, Bodhi pulls a gun on the KC guy and accuses him of killing "my best friend." He pistol-whips him, then makes the guy thank him for sparing his life. "Grab your money and get the f—k out," Bodhi says. The guy does.
Bevilaqua calls Dwight that night, livid that Bodhi terrorized one of his guys, but Manfredi doesn't care: Bodhi told him what happened, "and I'm backing his play," Dwight says.
THE SOFT SELL | Dwight visits Cleo's dad, Theodore, once more to remind him that he doesn't have to sell to Dunmire. "When I partner with someone, their friend is my friend. Their enemy is my enemy," Dwight promises. Still, Montague worries that Dunmire will "react" if he backs out of their deal.
Later, Musso calls Dwight; he knows he's been spending time at the Montague place. "You got eyes on me?" Manfredi wonders. "I'll be in touch," Musso says.
UP IN FLAMES | When we finally meet Jeremiah (Robert Patrick, 1923), Cole is telling him that there's a problem with the Montague deal. So Jeremiah visits Theodore Montague that night. "You forced my hand, my family's hand. You've been forcing it a long time," Montague tells him, adding that he got a better offer from "someone who respects what we've built here." Dunmire says he gives his blessings on the new endeavor. But when he leaves, Cole and his men enter the house and beat Theodore badly, then set the building on fire while Jeremiah watches outside, unbothered.
Now it's your turn. What did you think of the season premiere? Grade it via the poll below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!