Tulsa King Season 3 Review – Sylvester Stallone Continues to Have Fun with This Breezy Crime Drama

In the land of crime dramas, Tulsa King Season 3 continues to prove that this show is the breeziest of the lot. This isn’t Task on HBO; there’s a wink and nod to the audience that this mob series is meant to be fun and not all that serious. Much like before, Sylvester Stallone returns as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, as the mobster expands his operations in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Season 3 sees Cleo Montague (Bella Heathcote), an old flame of Mitch Keller (Garrett Hedlund), arrive on the scene. Her father is in the whiskey business, so talks commence for Dwight and his crew to take over the operations. There’s one problem, though: the new baddie on the block, Jeremiah Dunmire (Robert Patrick), believes this whiskey business should belong to him and his family – and the Dunmires don’t like to hear the word no. At the same time, Dwight finds himself in quite the predicament after the shocking events of the Season 2 finale, “Reconstruction,” and his loyalties are stretched to their maximum.

Much like the previous season, Stallone co-writes a few of the episodes in Tulsa King Season 3, and it shows in the tone of the material. As demonstrated by the Rocky series, one of Stallone’s greatest gifts is that he knows how to write scenes for characters that accentuate the strengths of performers, including himself. For example: The exchanges between Dwight and Frank Grillo‘s Bill Bevilaqua prove to be hilarious, since both Stallone and Grillo are born and bred New Yorkers. They know exactly how the city’s people speak and engage, especially how they get louder in arguments but the conversation becomes funnier to any passerby. Hollywood needs to give us a Grillo-Stallone buddy comedy pronto.

This season also showcases an air of comfort and ease among the cast members. The first season involved everyone figuring out the tone of Tulsa King, while the second saw them starting to shape and understand who their characters are. Now, it feels more natural as they move through the series and connect effortlessly. The relationship between Dwight and Tyson Mitchell (Jay Will) elevates up another level, for instance, as Dwight fully embraces the mentor role he plays in Tyson’s life, while Tyson continues to harbor a desire to prove himself to Dwight. In fact, it hits Tyson hard when he lets Dwight down. This has been a theme explored in previous seasons, but it gets expanded upon here.

Overall, Tulsa King Season 3 doesn’t deviate too far from its established formula. This series avoids the pitfalls of becoming all doom and gloom like most crime dramas, forsaking the darkness for a bit of light and playfulness. The show embraces its sense of humor and knows how to have fun, even while maintaining high stakes and ensuring you take the events as seriously as you should. In turn, this differentiates it from other programs in its genre, making you look forward to the time you spend with all these characters rather than requiring a bath after all the filthy people you meet.

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