After making what could’ve been a grave mistake, Armand (Max Casella) finally made things right and set it square with Dwight (Sylvester Stallone) on the penultimate episode of the season on Tulsa King.
After stealing half a million dollars from the dispensary by holding up Goodie Carangi (Chris Caldovino) at gunpoint, Armand went on the run and found himself at a very literal crossroads. Instead of taking off with his cash, though, he decided to turn around to face the music with Dwight, asking his boss to take his life so he didn’t have to do it himself.
Though Dwight might’ve been tempted to do just that in a former life, as the General of Tulsa, he decides to be merciful and make good use of Armand’s desperation. With Armand’s intel and a tentative truce between Dwight, Cal Thresher (Neal McDonough), and Bill Bevilaqua (Frank Grillo), Dwight gets the upper hand on Jackie Ming (Rich Ting) and takes his entire crew out, getting revenge for the attempted assassination and saving Margaret’s (Dana Delany) ranch from becoming collateral damage.
But with Chickie (Domenick Lombardozzi) on the way with the green light from New York to take Dwight out, well, the dust hasn’t settled just yet.
So why didn’t Armand just make a break for it? And what’s ahead in the season finale? TV Insider caught up with Max Casella to talk about the character’s big redemption arc and what’s next.
Why do you think Armand decided to turn around at that stoplight?
Max Casella: I think that’s up for interpretation. I think it was the fact that he had always said that he would never run again at the end of the first season. He said, “I’m not ever gonna run from my problems again. I ran for 19 years, and then Dwight shows up out of nowhere and turns my life upside down. I lose my family. I lose the house, I lose my wife and kids and everything and I’m not gonna run anymore. At least if I’m gonna come out of this with one thing, it’s that.”
But throughout Season 2, the pressures mount with his financial obligations and his drinking and his emotional turmoil. One thing leads to the other spiraling down and down until he finds himself doing something completely drastic and suicidal and then running for the border. And I think he turns the car around because I think he’d probably end up committing suicide if he kept going. He might do that anyway. He’s basically going to Dwight saying, “Do it for me, but I can’t run anymore. I’m not gonna run anymore.”
Do you think he seriously wanted Dwight to kill him? Or was that kind of a play on his emotions, maybe?
I think in that moment, he definitely wants Dwight to put him away.
Do you think the reason that Dwight didn’t and decided to forgive him is because he also lost his family in the episode again?
That’s open to many interpretations. I think on the one side of things, Dwight, post-Oklahoma, isn’t behaving like a real true gangster anymore. Otherwise, I think he would definitely kill Armand, he would do a lot of things differently than he would have had. He’d been gone away for 25 years and then just been exiled. He’s no longer part of the family. He’s on his own. He’s gone rogue and he does things by his own rules, not by mafia rules. He’s a gangster with a heart of gold but he’s not at this point, I don’t think, behaving like a real mafioso anymore and that he believes in second chances. He himself wanted one with his daughter and got one with life post-prison. And he could have easily clipped Tyson. But with Tyson, he says it: “If this was the real mafia, I would have grounds to take you out.” It’s not the real mafia. It’s Dwight in Tulsa, Oklahoma, putting together a ragtag group. That’s the whole premise of the show. He’s not Tony Soprano, right?
So do you think Armand is going to be loyal to Dwight now, in his own mind?
I hope so. I hope we can find out. I hope we have a third season. I don’t know that yet. I hope so. At the end of the season, Armand gets redeemed. He gets another chance yet again. I mean, he’s got to be like three strikes, you’re out. I mean, he’s got to fly right now. I don’t know what’s coming down the road. I just hope so.
Do you have any theories on what Armand might have done if Cal Thrusher had taken him up on the offer to hire him?
I think he’d be working for Cal Thresher.
Do you think that if his family had agreed to go into witness protection, that he would have done that?
Absolutely. I think he’s in love with his wife. He loves his children. He loved being a father. It was the only thing that makes sense to him. I mean, he was born into the Invernizzi crime family. He’s not a tough guy. He was very good with numbers but because his father, his uncles, everybody around him was in this, he also was in it. They put him in charge of the sports book because he’s not a tough guy who’s very good with numbers, right? And then that’s who he was. And then one thing led to another and he ends up running away to Tulsa. And I think that he loved being a family man flying under the radar. I mean, now that I say that, maybe he was not living his life to the fullest, but I think he really is in love with his wife.
What he does in telling Dwight about Ming and helping lure him to the ranch, do you think he’ll make amends with the owner and get his job back?
Well, we’ll see that in Episode 10… At the end of nine, he says, “Do you think Margaret will have me back?” And Dwight says, “I’ll talk to her in the morning, I guess.” And we have to wait and see till 10. The army gets to live another day and I think he’s now going to have to try to piece his life back together, try to get his family back, try to get his job back if he can’t get his family back, try to get his kids back in his life. Who knows?
What’s next with Cal and Bill and Dwight? I mean, is this truce gonna last?
A lot will be revealed in the finale… all will be revealed.
What else can you tease about the finale? I know Chicky is on a train out West.
I think he’s been pushed aside, humiliating pushed aside and maybe he’s going out there to try to team up with Dwight…
The first season was really about redemption for Dwight. The second season was about organizing and growing his crew. What direction would you hope to see Season 3 going?
I couldn’t possibly guess. I didn’t see Season 2 going the way it went. I just hope we get a Season 3. I couldn’t imagine which way they go with it. There is something that happens in [Episode] 10 that would suggest a direction. I don’t even know if that thing that happens in 10 is still in the episode so I can’t even speak on it. If it is, it’s a good indication of where it’s going and in a potential third season; otherwise, I have no idea. I just hope we get one and I hope Armand has wonderful things to do in that third season. Hopefully not going outside of Dwight’s Circle anymore.