“Tulsa King” – Review, Season 2, Episode 1: “Back in the Saddle”

Tulsa King

Back in the saddle

Season 2

Episode 1

Editor’s Rating

2 stars

**

Photo: Brian Douglas/Paramount+

It feels weird to say that Sylvester Stallone was miscast in Tulsa Kinga show that only exists because Sylvester Stallone is in it. That’s like saying Godzilla was miscast in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. In both cases, these properties are delivery mechanisms to give people the giants they know and love. I’m going to complain that the Stallone-o-tron spat Stallone at my feet for me to watch? I’m not going to go to Dunkin’ and complain that there are too many donuts.

And yet. Despite his normally light tone, Tulsa King is, after all, the story of a mob boss who takes over a city through extortion and violence. Violence is something we know Stallone can do, as well as anyone who has ever done it historically. But it’s the mob boss thing that doesn’t quite work. Stallone has played killers before, to put it mildly, but once he became a star, he never played a notable villain again. The closest he came were his appearances as villains in the first and fourth Rambo films, but Rambo is Frankenstein’s monster, not Dracula. (In this metaphor, Dr. Frankenstein is Uncle Sam.)

Stallone is, through no fault of his own, a born babyface. He just doesn’t seem mean enough to be a gangster. That was the premise of Rockyremember? He was a low level leg breaker who didn’t play with his heart! Tulsa King does its best to show that Stallone’s character is a kinder, gentler guy – his murders include an assisted suicide, a series of self-defense acts against worse criminals, and the execution of the man who sexually abused his daughter, so you don’t have to feel particularly bad about him committing these murders – but there’s still a disconnect between the actor and the role that makes the whole thing seem artificial. It’s like watching Sylvester Stallone pretend to be a mafia boss and a bunch of talented actors pretend to be him. not Sylvester Stallone pretends to be a mafia boss.

This makes the behind-the-scenes reshuffles that took place before this season interesting. Showrunner Terence Winter resigned from his post, reportedly due to creative differences with the series creator (and Yellowstone Impresario) Taylor Sheridan. Winter now serves as head writer, while Craig Zisk directs and executive produces the season in lieu of an official showrunner. And a familiar name has joined the writing team: Sylvester Stallone, who co-wrote the season two premiere (and finale) with Winter.

Theoretically, the result could be quite impressive. Winter, one of the best authors on The Sopranos (“Pine Barrens”! “Long-term parking”!), also created Boardwalk Empirethe most underrated and morally unshakeable drama of the second wave of the New Golden Age. (Five seasons, it’s on Max right now, with every good character actor in the world, what are you waiting for?)

Stallone is a fascinating filmmaker, to be honest. Remember that the man is not only in Rocky And First bloodwhich are both simply great films — he wrote them. If it weren’t for the bombastic and countless sequels, people would remember these films as elegiac late echoes of the New Hollywood style. (Admittedly, Stallone wrote and directed most of these sequels, so the tarnished legacy of the originals rests largely on him.)

Unfortunately, none of the virtues of either man’s best work are on display in this second season premiere. Winter doesn’t plumb the moral abyss at the heart of violent men. Stallone doesn’t explore the cinematic spectacle of his own suffering. It’s really as simple as a one-sentence synopsis: Stallone plays a Mafia capo who moves to Tulsa, where shenanigans ensue.

Stallone’s character, Dwight “The General” Manfredi, ended the first season of the series by asserting his independence from his nominal boss Chickie Invernizzi (Domenick Lombardozzi, aka Herc from TheWire). Chickie’s eponymous crime family in his native New York, which he inherited by secretly drowning his old man in the bathtub, includes Dwight’s main rival, the underboss Vince Antonacci (Vincent Piazza, alias Lucky Luciano from Boardwalk Empire). The two men have had enough of the independent-minded Dwight, who was given Tulsa as a fief because the younger generation had no place for him in New York when he was released from prison after 25 years of silence. What a reward!

Dwight’s unorthodox crew probably has something to do with it. It includes two defectors from the Invernizzi family: Armand Truisi (Max Casella, aka Benny from The Sopranos), who deserted the Mafia years ago and moved to Tulsa because he was fed up with the murderous crap, and Goodie Carangi (Chris Caldovino, aka Tonino from Boardwalk Empire – see a pattern in the casting here?), Chickie’s former consigliere switches sides when the feud between the two would-be bosses becomes a borderline. (Pardon the mixed metaphor: Dwight, who spent all his time in prison reading and quoting Oscar Wilde from memory, would not approve.)

But Dwight’s operation is more of a ragtag group than a mafia crew: There are only three Italians and two macho guys to speak of. Tyson (Jay Will) is Dwight’s ambitious and extroverted black driver and his man-for-all; Mitch (Garrett Hedlund, who is like a young Sam Elliott) is a mild-mannered ex-rodeo rider and ex-con who runs a bar that Dwight has turned into a casino. Bodhi (Martin Starr) is the deadpan owner of the marijuana shop that Dwight burst into as soon as he arrived in town, and makes his employees – heavily tattooed Grace (McKenna Quigley Harrington), burly security guard Fred (Justin Garcia-Pruneda) and ex-white guy with dreadlocks Clint (Dashiell Connery) – part of the gang as well. Local marijuana farm owner Jimmy (Glen Gould) and mountainous newcomer Bigfoot (professional wrestler Mike “Cash Flo” Warden) complete the cast.

Since the Tulsa King is also a rich man, we must mention the two beautiful middle-aged women he is romantically involved with. The first is ATF agent Stacy Beale (Andrea Savage), who protected Dwight because of their ongoing sexual relationship (she initially thought he was 20 years younger than him, which is very flattering to Sly) before betraying him to save her career. The other is ranch owner Margaret Devereaux (Dana Delany), a woman Dwight describes with characteristic verbal agility (!) as “the kind of hair the poets write about.”

In this episode, Margaret invites Dwight to a fancy party where she introduces him to an arrogant marijuana baron named Cal Thresher (Neal McDonough). It’s a lot of fun to see the whole gang in their own Sunday best while trying to impress high society. But Dwight and Thresher end up not seeing eye to eye. I think we have our antagonist for this season, folks.

But the most important woman in his life is his daughter Tina (Tatiana Zappardino). When she revealed last season that one of Dwight’s mob friends had sexually abused her in prison, he brutally beat the man to death at Chickie’s father’s club, contributing to their New York breakup. She has since moved to Tulsa after her husband was beaten in revenge, and has raised the money Dwight needs to get out on bail after Stacey facilitated his arrest in the season one finale.

You know what they say about mobsters, though: They always end up dead or in jail. With option B temporarily off the table, Chickie seems to be considering option A. He kills a Dwight sympathizer to make his point, then contacts the mob’s man in Kansas City, Bill Bevilacqua (the always delightful Frank Grillo). Will he just sit there and take it while another mobster tries to carve out an entire city from his territory? I think we have antagonist number two.

The Tulsa King The formula is simple. Stallone struts around, knocking out men decades his junior with one punch, wooing beautiful women and boosting the confidence of his ragtag crew while enlisting them in shootouts with biker gangs and so on. “Benevolent Mafia Boss” is as much a “trying hard and working cop” as “television fiction” that glosses over crappy institutions. Still, I don’t think anyone is in any danger of believing that’s actually how the Mafia works. The question is simply, how much fun do you have watching Sylvester Stallone Goodfellas If you see Stallone in a serious Role in a serious Story about crime, corruption and redemption, Copland is currently streaming elsewhere on Paramount+. Tulsa King is here for a good time, whether you have one and are watching or not.