After an explosive finale, Tulsa King is heading into its second season with a lot of big questions that need answering. In the final episode of Season 1 called “Happy Trails,” Sylvester Stallone’s mafioso Dwight Manfredi and the rest of Team Dwight, including Tyson (Jay Will), Mitch (Garrett Hedlund), Bodhi (Martin Starr), and Manny (Max Casella) managed to score some big wins over Chickie (Domenick Lombardozza) and local crime boss Caolan Waltrip (Ritchie Coster), but also suffer some pretty heavy losses, leaving fans hanging until Season 2 premiers. As is typical of Taylor Sheridan shows, Tulsa King Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger.
The drama has successfully straddled the Western and gangster genres with its mix of themes that should be too disparate to work, but they do. The Western sprawl is juxtaposed against the mafia urbanity, the criminal scheming undermines the stalwart integrity, and at the center of both genres, loyalty to family and friends. Each of these components has been used to tell a compelling narrative of Dwight’s exile from Brooklyn’s mob scene and rise to power in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but his outlaw tendencies have finally caught up with him, leaving the future precarious for his fledgling operations, the Bred-2-Buck, his associates, and himself as he sits in ATF/FBI custody.
10 Will Dwight Get The Charges Dropped?
The last scene of Tulsa King Season 1 involved Dwight’s face through the window of a police car on his way to be interrogated by the ATF/FBI. Having wired Stacy $1 million dollars by way of an apology, he’d inadvertently allowed himself to be taken down for bribing a member of the ATF. If he gets charged for that, there’s no telling how many more felonies he could rack up for some of his other criminal pursuits in Tulsa, so it looks like everything is over before it really has a chance to get started for Dwight and his pals.
Dwight murdered Waltrip and several of his men, has been selling illegal contraband and participated in lots of other crimes that will make his previous 25 years in prison look like a drop in Tulsa’s Red River. Based on everything we know about Tulsa King Season 2, Dwight is going to need to get the charges dropped before the FBI finds out about everything he’s been up to. If he can’t make a deal or rely on Stacy’s feelings for him, he’s going to need more than Elliot to bail him out.
9 Who Will Take Caolan Waltrip’s Place Now That He’s Dead?
Caolan Waltrip was the leader of the Black Macadam gang before Dwight killed him at the Bred-2-Buck, and there’s going to be a power vacuum in the area. Someone else will take his place as the most notorious crime boss in Tulsa, where most organized crime involves biker gangs, and try to move in on Dwight’s business. He and his team are finally starting to get some notoriety in town and that’s not going to go unnoticed by opportunists in Oklahoma for long.
Tulsa, Oklahoma has an Irish Mob presence, and the series might incorporate more of them now that its resident Irish crime boss is dead. Suffice it to say, Team Dwight won’t be able to make any moves without another heavy hitter noticing, especially now that Waltrip is gone. Besides, Dwight will need another major antagonist to square off against besides the FBI.
8 Is Chickie Going To Come For Dwight’s Operation?
When Chickie, Vinny, and Goodie arrived in Tulsa they expected Dwight to step aside and hand the keys to his kingdom over, but things didn’t go according to plan. During a rooftop meeting between the two gangsters, Dwight told Chickie to leave town and that his debt to the Invernizzi family had been repaid. Not only did he stand up to Chickie, but Goodie decided to leave the Invernizzi family as well and side with Team Dwight, making Chickie’s humiliation complete.
Chickie is irascible, unpredictable, and above all he’s petty, and his embarrassment at Dwight’s hands won’t be something he soon forgets. It seems not a matter of if Chickie will retaliate against Dwight at this point but when, making Season 2 primed for a rematch against the two mobsters. Chickie is going to need to be clever about his next move because in a state where open carry is legal, wiseguys bumping people off isn’t tolerated.
7 Will Stacy And Dwight Get Back Together?
Stacy’s involvement with Dwight was always dangerous, not only because he’s a capo for the Italian Mob, but also because fraternizing with a known criminal could cost her job. Knowing Dwight is the reason she got shot, and the $1 million dollars he gave her didn’t just serve as an apology, but a means to take him down. That being said, it doesn’t mean that the two will never be romantically involved again in Season 2.
After spending time with Dwight, Stacy realized that far from just being an aging mobster, he was intelligent, compassionate, and sensitive. She saw a side of him that most don’t get to see, and he was as vulnerable as he knew how to be, which helped him in turn open up to his daughter more and rekindle their relationship. It’s clear when Stacy betrays Dwight, she feels guilty about getting him arrested, which implies she still cares about what happens to him.
6 Does The ATF Know Dwight Stole Waltrip’s Money?
After finding out from Stacy that Waltrip’s laptop was in ATF custody, Bodhi was able to hack into it remotely and transfer his entire account to Dwight – all $8 million dollars. The ATF discovered the money was missing from Waltrip’s account but didn’t connect it to Dwight or his friends, even when Stacy got a flash drive containing an account with a $1 million balance. When Dwight was arrested, it seemed like they still weren’t aware.
All of this could change when Dwight is interrogated, but he wasn’t a snitch 25 years ago, and he won’t roll over on Bodhi. The money he stole from Waltrip will secure the future of him, his family, and his friends, but their hard-won victory purse might not remain theirs for very long. For most of Season 1, the ATF was portrayed as fairly incompetent and always two steps behind Dwight, but this could change in Season 2 with Stacy being seriously committed to keeping her job.
5 Will Dwight And Margaret Deveraux Become Romantic?
Dwight met Margaret Deveraux out on her horse farm and animal reserve when he posed as a private investigator, and the pair hit it off after she saw through his ruse, and the only thing preventing them from getting together was Dwight’s relationship with Stacy. Given that Stacy turned him into the ATF, Dwight might look to become romantic with Margaret after all. Not only do they both have chemistry together, but Dwight might also want to keep tabs on her ex-husband, who could pose a threat to his business prospects.
Margaret would make an ideal partner for Dwight; she’s closer to his age than Stacy, she has her own business, and she’s also a smart dresser. Margaret could help Dwight make some smart connections with Tulsa’s wealthy elite through the Annie Oakley Society, and they could become quite a power couple. Despite traveling in the same circles Dana Delany has never acted opposite Stallone before, so their date is decades in the making.
4 Will Dwight Build A Good Relationship With His Daughter Tina?
Dwight and his daughter Tina were just rebuilding their relationship when the ATF arrested him for bribing Stacy. Tina had brought her family to Tulsa and was even considering relocating permanently when she discovered that Dwight was still up to his old tricks. When she watched him get put into a police car outside of the Bred-2-Buck, it seemed like all of her dreams about finally having him in her life as a committed father was gone.
When Dwight went away to serve his 25-year sentence, Tina was a teenager, and he missed watching her grow into a capable and successful adult. She resented him for choosing his mob family over his real family, and now seems to be experiencing heartbreak all over again. If the charges against Dwight are dropped, that’ll set up a big Tina change for Tulsa King Season 2, and he’ll have to do even more to earn her forgiveness.
3 Will The Bred-2-Buck Finally Become A Casino?
In the Season 1 finale, the Bred-2-Buck was making its grand reopening but hadn’t yet been turned into the casino Dwight promised it would be. Now that Dwight’s been arrested, those carefully well-laid plans could be in jeopardy. Not only is Dwight in trouble, but his business partners, like Mitch, have become vulnerable. Fortunately, Bodhi and his shop The Higher Plane is safe, but there are other members of Dwight’s crew that aren’t as prepared as Bodhi.
A lot of Waltrip’s money was supposed to be funneled into the Bred-2-Buck to transform it from a roadhouse into a casino. Hopefully, Bodhi covered his digital tracks and made the funds untraceable. Everything was really coming together for Mitch, who was excited about bringing a little razzle-dazzle and sophistication to his bar, and it would be a shame to see it go to waste.
2 Will Anyone Find Out Chickie Murdered His Own Father?
One of the most shocking revelations of Tulsa King was finding out that Chickie murdered his own father Pete, Dwight’s friend and mentor. Manny said Pete put out the hit on Dwight in prison, and he wasn’t known to be a great person, but being murdered by his own son was a brutal way to go. Chickie was sick of being told what to do by a mob boss who couldn’t even take care of himself, so it was only a matter of time before Chickie’s ego got the better of him.
If word gets out in Season 2 that Chickie was responsible or Pete’s death, that could drastically change the dynamic of the family. Capos like Vinnie would leave his employ, not to mention his blood relatives would consider having a hit put out on him as well. The only way Chickie was able to amass power and influence was by killing Pete, but it can all be taken away just as easily.
1 Will Anyone Discover The Truth About Emory’s Assault?
In another one of Tulsa King’s twists, Tina’s husband Emory was brutally assaulted by Chickie. Pete told him to smooth things over with Dwight in Tulsa, but Chickie decided to beat up Emory instead without anyone connecting him to the violence. If word ever gets out that Chickie was responsible for Emory’s injuries, he’ll be in even more trouble from Dwight than he already is.
There’s nothing that Dwight wouldn’t do for Tina at this point, and getting back Chickie for what he did to Emory might be exactly what Dwight needs to repair his relationship with his daughter. If Emory could remember what happened, or if a witness could come forward, then there might be enough evidence to take Chickie down. More than likely, one of Chickie’s tantrums will be the thing that exposes him.