You know a show has really gotten under your skin when you don’t even need to brush up on character names before a new season kicks off. Tulsa King has reached that rare place for me.
Dwight “The General” Manfredi and his ragtag family feel familiar enough now that I can jump right back in without missing a beat — and the Season 3 premiere, “Blood and Bourbon,” reminded me why this show is so addictive.
This episode juggles everything Tulsa King does best: mob drama, heartfelt relationships, and sharp comedy. It’s a tall order, but the mix works, and in places, it works brilliantly.
A New Player with Old Baggage
The end of Tulsa King Season 2 left us hanging with Dwight grabbed off the street, but until now, we didn’t know why. The reveal that it’s Special Agent Musso, a fed with a long-standing grudge, reframes that cliffhanger entirely.
That grudge goes back to one of the most haunting moments in Dwight’s past. We saw it in brutal detail: a man chained to a radiator in a burning house.
Dwight tried to save him, but when it became clear he couldn’t, he pulled the trigger. It wasn’t cruelty — it was mercy. The alternative would have been letting the man burn alive.
The man was Ripple, Musso’s longtime informant, and his death destroyed years of undercover work. Dwight went to prison connected to that killing, but for Musso, it wasn’t enough.
He turned it into a vendetta, nursing it for decades. I’ve even known a cop who made the same choice in real life — shooting a truck driver trapped in a burning cab to end his suffering. It’s brutal, unthinkable, and merciful. That’s what Dwight did, but Musso only sees betrayal.
Now Musso has the upper hand. “Keep earning,” he tells Dwight, a fed co-opting mob lingo to make his point. It’s funny on the surface, but it’s chilling.
The leash he puts around Dwight’s neck is as much about manipulation as it is the law: do what I say, or lose the family you’ve built in Tulsa.
What surprised me most was Dwight’s honesty with Margaret. He admits flat-out that everyone in his orbit is threatened. That kind of confession isn’t typical for a mobster trying to keep a woman safe, but it hints at growth.
Dwight still tries to push her away, but Margaret isn’t going anywhere — and that dynamic sets the stage for a fascinating season-long push and pull.
Bourbon Over Buicks
Meanwhile, Mitch has been trying on a new role — car salesman — and it’s every bit as awkward as it sounds.
Seeing him dressed in cowboy gear, insulting customers, and clearly miserable was comedy gold, but it also made me grateful the writers didn’t leave him stuck there. Mitch isn’t built for Buicks, and neither is this show.
Enter Chloe. Although the show tells us she and Mitch share a history, we are meeting her for the first time.
Bella Heathcote makes an immediate impression, playing Chloe as brassy, sassy, and unapologetically tough. She breezes back into town because of her father’s failing distillery, reconnects with Mitch, and instantly stirs up a mix of business and romance.
It’s a clever move. Chloe’s connection to Mitch adds emotional weight, while her father’s distillery offers Dwight and company a chance to pivot into bourbon. Booze is a natural fit for mob storytelling, and this angle feels right in a way Mitch’s car lot never did.
Old Flames, New Foes
The distillery subplot also brings Jeremiah Dunmire into sharper focus, and Robert Patrick makes him instantly unsettling.
He hides behind faith, saying prayers with his family at the table, but the second grace is said, he’s burning a rival’s house to the ground. That combination of piety and cruelty makes him terrifying to watch.
Even more chilling is the role of his son, Cole. On the surface, he’s sweet on Chloe — but when Jeremiah orders him to take out her father, he doesn’t hesitate.
That choice says everything about their family dynamic.
Any real affection Cole might have for Chloe is crushed under the weight of obedience to his father. If he can kill the father of the girl he supposedly cares for, it shows just how poisoned the Dunmire world really is.
And if Jeremiah treats his son like dirt, imagine how he’ll treat his enemies. We haven’t seen anyone like him in Tulsa King so far. Dwight builds his empire by bringing people close and treating outsiders like family.
Jeremiah does the opposite, trampling over blood ties while thumping his Bible. It sets up not only a business battle, but a moral one.
And the irony is that Dwight, the mobster, probably has a better shot at the pearly gates than Jeremiah, the so-called godly man.
Bodhi at a Crossroads
The electric car fiasco was hilarious, yes, but it also set the stage for something more important: Bodhi’s reckoning.
He’s carrying baggage from last season, when Jimmy — his best friend — was killed during what should have been a routine dustup.
The man who pulled the trigger still works for Bill Bevelaqua, and Dwight’s crew ends up face-to-face with him in the premiere.
That’s why Bodhi was on edge. He had a gun in his hand, the perfect opportunity for revenge, and for a moment it looked like he might take it. Instead, he pulled back. He let the guy live, even after pistol-whipping him and demanding gratitude.
On the surface, it was a power move — Bodhi proving he wasn’t afraid. But underneath, it was something else. A man who’s been profoundly changed by loss, who doesn’t yet know if violence will ease his grief or make it worse.
Martin Starr told me in our interview that Bodhi’s arc this season would be about grief and anger, and the premiere delivered the first piece of that puzzle.
His decision not to pull the trigger isn’t the end of it. If anything, it suggests this story is only beginning.
Comic Relief Kings
One of the joys of Tulsa King has always been its willingness to be funny. This premiere leaned into comedy more than I expected, and it paid off.
Tyson dressing like Dwight and trying to exude “gangster” vibes? Priceless. Pair him with Bodhi’s snark and Grace’s grounded eye rolls, and you’ve got a trio of comic relief that balances the darker moments beautifully.
Their car running out of charge on the way to Kansas City had me howling. Nothing says “organized crime powerhouse” like standing around a charging station negotiating with armed goons.
Tyson’s finger-snapping theatrics and Bodhi’s duffel bag mix-up were the cherry on top — a mobster version of amateur hour that still somehow worked out.
And then there’s Goodie. Bless him. If you didn’t laugh when he walked out of the distillery fire sale clutching what looked like a spinning wheel “for his mom,” I don’t know what to tell you.
It’s such a ridiculous image — a capo with an armful of estate sale junk — but it captures the spirit of this show. Yes, it’s violent, yes, it’s dangerous, but it’s also weirdly domestic and human. Dwight calling him Rumplestiltskin sealed the deal. I’ll be laughing about that one all week.
Family Ties
The heart of Tulsa King has always been Dwight’s makeshift family, and that theme continues to evolve here.
He tells Quiet Ray he’s happy with what he’s built in Tulsa, even when offered his own territory and retirement back east. That loyalty means something. Dwight isn’t chasing power for power’s sake anymore; he wants roots, stability, and a legacy.
Of course, that doesn’t mean peace. Ray takes Dwight’s refusal as disrespect, which almost certainly means trouble down the line. But the fact that Dwight chooses Tulsa — and the people in it — says a lot about where his heart really lies.
It’s also worth noting how much more the women have to do right out of the gate.
Margaret isn’t just a romantic subplot; she’s a truth-teller and a partner. Joanne is running operations with real authority. Chloe is more than a love interest for Mitch — she’s a catalyst for the bourbon pivot and a voice of her own.
These shifts make the ensemble feel richer, and I’m here for it.
Parting Shot
“Blood and Bourbon” reminded me why Tulsa King is one of the most entertaining shows on television right now.
It doesn’t shy away from mob drama, but it refuses to get bogged down in grim seriousness. Instead, it leans into humor, character quirks, and unlikely family bonds — which makes the darker turns hit that much harder.
Dwight is under Musso’s thumb, Jeremiah is lighting fires, Mitch is chasing bourbon, and Tyson is playing gangster dress-up. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, Goodie is lugging around a spinning wheel for his mom. And somehow, it all works.
If this premiere is any indication, Tulsa King Season 3 will be bigger, funnier, and even more surprising than what came before. Bring on the bourbon, bring on the blood, and — most importantly — bring on the laughs.
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The post Tulsa King Season 3 Premiere Review: Blood and Bourbon and Belly Laughs appeared first on TV Fanatic.
