First impressions of Tulsa King would have suggested that Taylor Sheridan and Terence Winter’s latest crime drama television series was preparing Sylvester Stallone to become the indisputable king of Tulsa, Oklahoma. For the most part, Tulsa King sticks to this depiction of its protagonist, Dwight “The General” Manfredi. Throughout the season, the action takes a back seat to allow the tension to take over. As Manfredi tries to take over Tulsa, he starts facing opposition from Ritchie Coster’s Caolan Waltrip, the Irish leader of a local outlaw biker club called “The Black Macadams.” While the two opposing figures do not confront each other directly for the majority of the season, the anticipation builds with each passing episode. By the time the curtain falls on Tulsa King’s first season, it becomes easier to gauge why the expected climax would have been underwhelming.
For a crime drama, Tulsa King clearly values exploring the complexities of its character relationships more than diving into its criminal side. Regardless, through much of its first season, Tulsa King feels like it’s preparing for a final payoff where Stallone’s Manfredi will come face to face with Coster’s Waltrip. Anticipation for the faceoff builds, by virtue of the sheer personas Stallone and Coster bring to the table with their characters. For eager viewers waiting for the moment to happen, Manfredi and Waltrip do end up meeting in what feels like a Western duel. However, it comes a little earlier than anticipated and passes quicker than what one would have wanted. For a moment, it seems that the audience will have to settle for a lackluster finale. But Tulsa King saves the best for the last.
‘Tulsa King’s Finale Breaks the Trend
From the get-go, Tulsa King made the obvious choices and in doing so, managed to carve an identity of its own. From delivering impeccable fan service for Stallone fans to employing the most obvious tropes, Tulsa King clearly opted for more tried and true narrative choices. But in its finale, Tulsa King finally breaks this trend.
A long-drawn and action-packed fight, between the two opposing alpha male figures at the center of Tulsa King’s action would have made for great TV. Ritchie Coster’s Waltrip feels like a menacing figure behind an otherwise controlled demeanor, providing the right match to Stallone’s over-the-top character, Manfredi. But when D-Day finally arrives, it’s reduced to a prologue to the actual climax – an action-packed breather before the final tragedy. For a moment, it gives the impression that maybe the writers did not have much to offer for a series that did not really raise the bar with storytelling.
An Emotional Finale To Sylvester Stallone’s TV Debut
For its finale, Tulsa King sacrifices the action for some emotionally packed tragedy. When at last, Manfredi is arrested, faced with another long jail sentence, the deception that Tulsa King employed all along becomes evident. It becomes clear that Waltrip was never going to take Manfredi down. This angle would have deviated from the trend that Tulsa King followed when it came to portraying its protagonist. Instead, the invincible protagonist is brought to his knees again by betrayal – a repetitive element when it comes to Manfredi.
By allowing Stacy Beale (Andrea Savage) to strike a dent in Manfredi’s emotional makeup, the show embraces the fact that it was always less about guns and bullets. It’s important to note here that Manfredi is a man who spent 25 years of his life in jail, only to later discover that all of it was in vain. When Stacy uses the same pen drive which Manfredi gave her to turn him in, the mafia capo is again handed a lesson in betrayal. The pain translates in greater magnitude as Manfredi will once again has to abandon his daughter, Tina (Tatiana Zappardino). Tulsa King establishes a precedent for its future seasons. Tulsa King did not forgo what made it great by opting for a climax with higher emotional stakes for all its central characters. Tulsa King made the most daring choice when it mattered the most by going against its inherent tendency.
‘Tulsa King’s Finale Strengthens the Storyline
Through the finale twist, Tulsa King achieves two things. Firstly, it avoids the pitfalls of delivering an overly pitched action climax for a story that doesn’t need it. Secondly, by doing so, it embraces the strengths it had developed over the season by devoting time to Manfredi’s relationships with Stacey and his daughter, Tina. Tulsa King’s finale embraces the fact that the series’ true strength was never its focus on the action; it acknowledges that there’s only so much left to do with Stallone when it comes to action. Instead, Tulsa King banks on the emotional spectrum to bring recurring trauma and some hard choices in front of its characters. By making such a choice, the show acknowledges that it will have to rise beyond obvious antics and plot points to leave a lasting memory with viewers.
Moreover, the finale episode just adds to the complexity that characters will have to tackle going forward. For Manfredi, Stacy, Tina, and the rest of Manfredi’s gang, Manfredi’s departure will have consequences. Everything Manfredi has done throughout the season to make up for his past mistakes comes down like a house of cards by the final moment of Tulsa King. The consequences are particularly grave for Tina who remains in danger as Manfredi has attracted new enemies through his actions in Season 1. With no one left to protect his daughter, Manfredi may resort to desperate measures in the future, if there is to be one. But despite all this, it goes without saying that Stacy’s actions in the finale have made Tulsa King’s storyline more complex than it ever was. In this sense, the finale episode makes itself the most consequential of all the episodes, as it should be.
Tulsa King’s success can be attributed to the high levels of self-awareness the creators have shown while building this show. From Episode 1, Tulsa King knew its limitations and depended on its strengths to attract eyes. While much of viewers’ initial fascination likely stemmed from Stallone’s star power, the show eventually found its own legs. Despite all the easy choices and understandable weaknesses, Tulsa King manages to thrive because it always embraces its ability to successfully explore and heighten character relationships and emotional arcs. By the end of its finale episode, its clear that the strongest path forward for future seasons of Tulsa King lies in its ability to capitalize on its characters’ emotional stakes rather than its tendency to opt for the obvious.