Key Takeaways
- Plot Overview: In Season Four, Dwight faces numerous threats while trying to protect his empire and crew.
- Character Development: The relationship dynamics between Dwight and other characters evolve significantly this season.
- Season Tone: This season shifts towards a darker, more violent narrative compared to earlier seasons.
- Finale Impact: The season concludes with cliffhangers that set the stage for future developments.
Plot: In Season Four, Dwight fights to legitimize his empire and protect his crew as corrupt politicians, dangerous new enemies, and a crushing personal loss hit from every direction. However, every hard-won gain comes with even harder truths: about loyalty, leadership, and the cost of ambition. Each move drags Dwight deeper into the street instincts he left behind in New York – turning Tulsa into a battleground and Dwight into the one threat no one can afford to underestimate.
Review: When Tulsa King premiered back in 2022, it was a fish-out-of-water drama that had a lot of humor. As the first significant role for Sylvester Stallone on the small screen, it offered an alternative to the various Taylor Sheridan-created or produced series that were airing on Paramount+. There were a lot of rumors about behind the scenes that there was animosity between Sheridan and series co-creator and head writer Terrence Winter. Since then, seasons 2 and beyond have evolved into an exploration of Dwight Manfredi and his crew in Tulsa, Oklahoma, bringing more humor and levity to a very violent gangster story. With new antagonists and new business ventures on his plate, the story of Dwight Manfredi and his cohorts has been consistently enjoyable. This new fourth season, if we weren’t already aware that there was a fifth on the way, feels like a bow on the story that’s been built over the last several years. Ditching quite a bit of the humor that’s been a signature of Tulsa King, the fourth season is violent, bloody, and satisfying for fans who stuck with it from the very beginning.
At the end of season three, Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) was facing threats from the Council of Crime Families headquartered in New York, with new leader Quiet Ray (James Russo), as well as from FBI agent John Musso (Kevin Pollak), and corrupt Oklahoma businessman Cal Thresher (Neal McDonough). As this season kicks off, Dwight’s various business ventures, including his bourbon distillery and weed empire, are under threat as Quiet Ray seeks to take down Tulsa by reengaging the vicious assassin Turco (Robert Davi). Cal Thresher is elected governor, which puts Dwight under political pressure, especially with Thresher having a determined lieutenant governor, Amanda Clark (Gretchen Mol), in the wings. This also doesn’t address Russo using his power through the FBI to keep taking from all of the criminals he is supposed to be investigating, setting up challenges from so many different angles that Dwight may not be able to get himself out of it this season. We also see how the relationship between Dwight and Bill Bevilacqua, played by Frank Grillo, has shifted from being antagonistic to aligned on the same side and then back again. How their relationship evolves this season is a highlight.
This also doesn’t include all of the side plots involving the rest of the Tulsa King cast. Bodhi (Martin Starr) and Tyson (Jay Will) work together on Tyson’s burgeoning music career, which takes a detour involving Spencer (Scarlet Rose Stallone) and lots of drugs. There is also Mitch (Garrett Hedlund) and his car dealership, which is running its own schemes under Dwight’s oversight. Because of the numerous legitimate businesses that Dwight runs alongside his sister, Joanne (Annabelle Sciorra), the danger from Thresher in the governor’s office and Musso in Washington, D.C. adds a lot of intensity to the events of this ten-episode season. Some of the sideplots this season definitely feel like filler to stretch out the overall story, especially those involving Tyson and his musical aspirations. These characters are all so likable that it’s hard not to be entertained by what we’re seeing, but honestly, I would have rather just focused on Dwight and his challenges with Quiet Ray and Musso. I appreciate the return of Dana Delany as Margaret Deveraux, and her positioning as a go-between for Dwight and Cal is a major element of how this season develops.
A lot happens this season compared to prior seasons, with these episodes feeling full to the brim with death and violent events that shape where the story is going. I was fully committed to Dwight’s actions this season, with only a few things standing out negatively. For instance, this season incorporates AI in Dwight talking to a chatbot to help him understand his actions and what he should do. It would be hard to imagine any feature like Goodfellas or Casino or The Godfather incorporating a gangster as intelligent and calculating as Dwight Manfredi speaking with a computer for advice; but it’s 2026, and this is where we are now. The chatting with AI is the weakest part of the season, but I can forgive it because this is the closest thing that we’ve gotten to a full gangster series on television since Boardwalk Empire or The Sopranos.
Sylvester Stallone was directly involved in the previous season, having scripted multiple episodes while Terence Winter scripted none. This season, things are reversed; Stallone is not credited on any of the ten episodes while Winter shares writing credit on three episodes and writes the premiere on his own. Other writers include Bradley Paul, Thomas Kelly, Joseph Riccobene, Matthew Shire, Michael Notarile, and Andrea Ciannavei. Guy Ferland and other legacy directors from prior seasons return. Season 3 boasted a cameo by Samuel L. Jackson to try to set up his spinoff, Frisco King, but this season is much more focused directly on Tulsa and all our favorite characters. Winter has taken what he and Taylor Sheridan originally developed in the first season and turned it into something all its own. The fingerprints of what Taylor Sheridan has brought to other series feel less visible in this season than ever before. I personally have been feeling a little bit of Taylor Sheridan fatigue on other series; it’s nice to see that Tulsa King is getting to stretch out outside of that formula.
Tulsa King is still a showcase for Sylvester Stallone, who continues to be an awesome presence on screen. At 80 years old, Stallone still has it as an intimidating physical presence; his performance as a gangster has become one of the highlights of his filmography. I won’t say what happens at the very end of this season; but when the credits rolled on the final episode, I did wonder if this would be a place where the series could end satisfactorily for fans. Knowing there’s more to come makes me appreciative of how things are being set up for what would come next. Cliffhangers have been key in previous seasons of this series; leading fans to wonder what we were in store for next. The end of this season leaves us asking that same question but in a very different way. Tulsa King remains fun, violent, and entertaining; this season being its most bloody and gruesome yet. It may not be as funny as the first three seasons; but I think this might be one of its best so far.
Tulsa King premieres on October 16th on Paramount+.
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