“Tulsa King” is the story of gangster Dwight David Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone), who is released from prison after 25 years. However, the world has changed a lot in all these years, and so has the hierarchy of power in the Invernizzi crime family, the family he worked for in New York. He is told to shift to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and begin a new regime there. Annoyed and disrespected, Dwight arrives in Tulsa. Establishing his authority will take time, patience, and strength. Will he be able to do it? “Tulsa King” is the story of his journey.
Spoilers Ahead
Things Are Tough
Dwight David Manfredi is released from a Pennsylvania federal prison after 25 years. He had wanted to be a gangster since he was 17 but doing time in prison wasn’t on his list of goals. However, now that he is out, he is willing to find out if his gangster life will come back to him. On the way to his family, he is awestruck by the new world around him. Skyscrapers, electric scooters, VR headsets, Uber, and all the rest are new to him. But all this is for later. For now, he has business to attend to.
He is brought to the Invernizzi crime family’s Long Island mansion. There, he meets Don Charles Invernizzi, AKA Chickie, the family’s de facto leader, Vince Antonacci, one of Chickie’s capos or captains, and Pete “The Rock” Invernizzi, the former boss of the family and Chickie’s father and guide. As happy as Dwight is to meet them all after so long, he realizes that a lot of things have changed in the family as well. Things are tougher now in organized crime than they were when Dwight was around. But it is not how things have changed, but the way he is being treated, that appears unacceptable. Apparently, Dwight went to prison after taking the fall for Pete and his son Vince’s murders. His wife Marie left him, and he hasn’t seen his daughter Tina in 18 years. She hates him. But all this didn’t make him give up the truth because he took an oath to protect the Invernizzi crime family. But in the name of compensation, all that he receives is Tulsa, a remote city in Oklahoma where he can rule however, he wants. Why in Oklahoma? Because there is nothing left for Dwight in New York. With nothing in return for his sense of honor, Dwight leaves for Tulsa.
Some Fresh Air
Dwight arrives in Oklahoma, a.k.a. Sooners State. The State has got its name from the famous football team “Sooners” of the University of Oklahoma. Outside the airport, he meets Tyson, a cab driver who Dwight asks for a ride; he gives him a ride to any good hotel there is in Tulsa. On the way, Dwight finds out that marijuana is legal in Tulsa. They stop at a store, The Higher Plane, that sells marijuana, and Dwight decides to have a look inside. He tells Tyson to wait and walks in. There are all kinds of pots available. Realizing that the place makes a lot of money, he decides to meet its owner, Bodhi. He tells the guard, after the guy at the counter declines, to get Bodhi. The guard pulls out pepper spray and tells him to leave. Dwight quietly goes outside, takes Tyson’s steel bottle, comes in, and throws the bottle at the guard, who then collapses unconscious. Bodhi comes out of his office after hearing all the chaos. Dwight asks him about the store’s ledgers and files. He makes it clear that he isn’t from the government. Bodhi is intimidated and shows him the ledgers. The Higher Plane is making quite a fortune, and Dwight soberly asks Bodhi to show him the safe where all the money is because he knows that the money isn’t in the bank. The only way for Bodhi to escape any harm is to show Dwight the safe, and so he does. Dwight finds half a million dollars in the safe and declares that he will take 20% every week, and in return, he will provide Bodhi with protection from gangs and the law. Bodhi has no say in the matter. The deal is thus made. Dwight then comes out of the store, gives Tyson some money, and tells him that he is Dwight’s driver now. He also gives him some more money to get a new car, a Lincoln Navigator. Tyson is very happy, to say the least. He drives Dwight to the hotel, the Western Plains. Dwight comes out of the car and tells Tyson to wear a collared shirt the next morning. It seems that Tulsa has a new debonair king, Dwight David Manfredi.
New Place, New Pals
That night, Dwight arrives at the local bar, Bred 2 Buck Saloon. What follows is a warm, friendly conversation between Dwight and his new pals about lizard boots and ribs over shots of bourbon. The next day, Tyson arrives on time but not in a Lincoln, as he was told to. When Dwight asks him why, Tyson replies that the owner of the car shop threatened to call the police, calling him a crack dealer. Dwight decides to pay the owner a visit.
At the car shop, Dwight barges straight into the owner’s office and asks him about the matter. Tyson is present there as well. The owner, Donnie, tells Dwight that it must have been some kind of misunderstanding. But he can’t hide the truth from Dwight, who knows that Donnie judged Tyson on the basis of his skin color. Donnie sees a young black guy with so much money, and the first thing that must have come to his mind is that he has to be a drug dealer. But when he sees Dwight in a nice suit, he isn’t afraid anymore. The irony is that Donnie is afraid of the wrong guy. And Dwight makes him understand the irony by punching him in the face. Dwight and Tyson leave the store with their new car, the Lincoln Navigator, loaded with gas.
Dwight and Tyson then go to a mall and have ice cream. There, Armand Truisi, who works for the Invernizzi crime family, recognizes him from a distance. Dwight and Tyson then visit Bodhi to pick up the weekly 20%. The Higher Place has made a little over five grand. Dwight also learns from Bodhi that the weed they sell comes from a guy named Jimmy, who owns a licensed greenhouse and a 40-acre farm some hours north of their location. But Dwight doubts that the farm is a front for cartels, which is often the case in such businesses. This can be risky. Also, there is the possibility of the cops breaking into the store and seizing all the stuff. The only way to avoid any danger is to launder the money at clubs and pubs. Dwight, in turn, finds out from Bodhi that the Western Plains, where he is staying, is a dump. Dwight is annoyed and comes out of The Higher Place and asks Tyson to take him to the best hotel in Tulsa, The Mayo. He also tells Tyson that in the future, if anyone asks him what Dwight does for a living, the answer will be that he is an industrialist.
‘Tulsa King’ Episode 1: Ending Explained – Who Is Stacy Beale?
Dwight is back at Bred 2 Buck having a drink. This time, he introduces himself to the owner, Mitch, who was a bull rider before he got busted for addiction to painkillers. This is when Dwight reveals that his parents were immigrants who named him after the greatest general of the 20th century. Both have served prison sentences—25 years for Dwight and eight years for Mitch. This is when the first woman approaches Dwight and asks if she and her friends can take a picture with him. He respectfully denies it. She is offended and goes back. Then her friend (2nd) comes to Dwight and tells him that he lost the golden opportunity of being invited to the girls’ party, a Karaoke Castle. But Dwight doesn’t accept that as a party and takes the girls to a strip club instead. At the club, a guy tries to get physical with one of the girls. Dwight walks up to the dude and punches him in the stomach, then returns to his seat. A few minutes later, the second woman approaches Dwight and asks him to dance. Dwight says he doesn’t dance. She seems interested in him and asks if he wants to show her his minibar. In other words, his place. Dwight takes her to his room at the Mayo, and after what seems to be a love session, Dwight finds out that she is in the middle of a divorce. She, on the other hand, is taken aback when Dwight tells her that he is 75 years old. She apologizes, stating that between them, there is not an age gap but an “age canyon.” She then changes from his robe to her clothes and leaves without telling Dwight even her name. The next morning, Dwight dresses up, puts some money in his bag, and is ready to go to work. Tulsa and everything in it now belong to Dwight David Manfredi.
Armand Truisi calls a friend to ascertain that the person he saw at the mall was indeed Dwight David Manfredi. At the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Stacy Beale is with her co-officers in a meeting about the latest updates on illegal firearms. This is when the officer in charge informs them of Tulsa’s new visitor, Dwight Manfredi, a high-ranking mafia capo recently released from prison. To Stacy’s dismay, it is the same guy with whom she slept the previous night.
“Tulsa King” Episode 1 ends with a sneak peek into Episode 2, which will deal with Dwight meeting Jimmy, the owner of the marijuana farm. Stacy will meet Dwight and ask him about his real family. Dwight will thus look up to his daughter Tina after 18 long years. It seems that while Tulsa has many new things to offer Dwight, he will have to face his past as well. And for a guy like him, the past isn’t something that he would want to catch up to him.
Trivia
Dwight tells Mitch that his parents named him after the greatest general of the 20th century. Here’s more on the general. Dwight D. Eisenhower was an American soldier and statesman before serving as the country’s 34th president. As a commanding general during World War II, he led the triumphant forces in Europe. It was also during his tenure as the president that an armistice was signed that brought an end to the Korean War in 1953. Now, we can take the name at its face value, but if we consider some inner meaning, it seems that Dwight Manfredi, despite his gangster background, will prove his worth as a righteous Tulsa King, protecting Tulsa and its people and keeping things in check.
