Tulsa King Season 2, Episode 9, “Triad” could almost be the season finale. It’s a dramatic, violent episode that answers a lot of questions and ties up some loose ends. Except for not settling the matter of who exactly controls Tulsa’s organized crime business, it feels very final — which is both good and bad since there’s one more episode left to go.
“Triad” is an appropriate title in multiple ways. Not only is it a reference to Chinese gangster Jackie Ming, but it also can be applied to how Dwight Manfredi, Bill Bevilaqua and Cal Thresher put aside their differences in order to deal with Ming before he deals with them. The battle that ensues contains a scene that fans will never forget. Yet what comes after that as fans wait to hear about Tulsa King Season 3?
Tulsa King Season 2, Episode 9 Kills Jackie Ming
Rich Ting’s Character Gets a Very Efficient Exit
For all the time spent building Jackie Ming up as the real antagonist of Tulsa King Season 2, the character is killed off relatively quickly once he actually ends up in Dwight’s way. It was back in Season 2, Episode 4, “Heroes and Villains” that audiences saw how dangerous Ming could be, and the next four episodes built him up to be a serious threat to everyone. But as soon as Dwight affirms that it’s Ming behind the car bomb, then Ming (and several of his associates) are killed off in two quick scenes during Episode 9. The only reason that this isn’t anticlimactic is how Ming dies: struck in the head with a tomahawk wielded by Tyson Mitchell.
Tulsa King has enough “taking care of business” moments to fill out the whole above compilation, but this has to be one of the show’s most uncomfortable scenes, and it’s not given to Dwight but to Tyson. Dwight lets Tyson land the fatal blow because it was Tyson’s father Mark Mitchell who was nearly killed by Ming’s car bomb at the end of Season 2, Episode 6, “Navigator.” That makes perfect sense. At the same time, if there was ever any hope that Tyson was going to get out of the gangster life, it’s gone now. One does not slice a man’s head in two and just forget about it. That makes the moment where Mark encourages Tyson and his mother Angie try to make up all the more painful to think about in retrospect.
As such, the moment of Ming’s death isn’t even about him; it’s about Tyson, and to a lesser extent, Dwight. Tyson’s turn from well-meaning driver to full-blown member of the Manfredi crew is complete, and Dwight allows him to take that step. It wasn’t so long ago that Dwight was trying to keep Tyson out of the violent part of the business, and now he’s handing him a murder weapon. That adds new layers to Dwight and Tyson’s relationship, even as it undercuts Ming’s relevance as a character. In the end, he goes from master villain to a piece in the protagonists’ story.
What Will Happen in the Tulsa King Season 2 Finale?
A New Conflict Needs to Fill Ming’s Space
The consequence of dispatching Jackie Ming so quickly is that Tulsa King Season 2 is now reliant on the constant back and forth between Dwight, Bill, Cal and Chickie Invernizzi to fill its whole finale. There are definitely things to settle between the characters, and one figures that at least Thresher’s storyline will be tied up, since Neal McDonough’s antagonist has seemed very much like a one-season player. But therein lies the risk: not only is Thresher’s time running out, but Chickie’s usefulness to the story has become pretty limited, too. (Although the scene of him discovering he’s on the No Fly List is good for a genuine laugh.) So how does Tulsa King untangle the mess between four characters in a way that satisfies the audience? It’s much harder than telling a story about their having one common enemy.
Cal Thresher: Convince Manfredi to sit down and hear us out. If not, we’re all fucked.
Of Dwight’s three rivals, it’s easiest to make a case to keep Bill around for Season 3 — presuming Frank Grillo still has availability with his numerous other projects. Bill is a relatively underdeveloped character, so a third season could explore him further, and a rivalry between Tulsa and Kansas City could easily take the place of the tension between Tulsa and New York that’s kind of run its course. But it’s going to feel pretty convenient if Dwight is able to neutralize Bill, Cal and Chickie all in the course of one 42-minute finale, just because that’s not a lot of time for three different confrontations. And after what happens in “Triad,” viewers are going to expect action-packed fireworks in Episode 10. The pressure is on to make all those ominous phone calls and other threats from earlier mean something.
Tulsa King Season 2 Has Characters to Deal With
Will Everyone Come Back for Season 3?
Tulsa King Season 2, Episode 9 also confirms Jimmy’s death from the drive-by shooting in Episode 8, and he might not be the last character to be written out this season. The show has a number of supporting characters that it needs to figure out future directions for. Another character who’s run out of story is Armand. Even though “Triad” redeems him by revealing that he changed his mind, returned the money and helped Dwight set up Ming, Armand is the same character now that he was in Season 1 — and his “poor me” storyline is more frustrating than entertaining. How is he going to be relevant to any future story, especially since Dwight should never trust him again?
The finale also has to address the future of Dwight’s family, because one area where Tulsa King can improve is in the writing of its female characters. Does Tina Manfredi stay in New York, therefore ending any hopes of expanding Tina’s character? Joanne hasn’t made any huge impact on the story since she was re-introduced. Stacy Beale was written out early in Season 2. And what happens in “Triad” shows how Margaret Devereaux needs more to do. Margaret’s primary function this season has been as Dwight’s love interest; the reveal that Thresher and therefore Ming own almost half her ranch feels like something thrown in to make Dwight’s pursuit of Ming personal. So Tulsa King should end Season 2 with at least some suggestion of where Margaret, if not Joanne and Tina, go from here.
Season 2, Episode 9 serves up the second-most action all season — the wind farm battle still takes the cake — and getting rid of Ming makes the episode one of the most important to the overall plot. Losing Jimmy also tugs at the audience’s heartstrings, while there’s even more reason to worry about Tyson. This outing amps up the tension going into the season finale, but there’s still some work to be done in order to ensure this story has as big an ending as it’s aiming for.
Tulsa King streams Sundays on Paramount+.