It's another week of Tulsa King – the Oklahoma-centric streaming story about a Mafia capo, freshly rehabilitated and out of prison, finding himself in the world of Tulsa’s (somewhat) criminal underground.
When we last left our protagonist Dwight, he was making himself at home like a fish out of water in Oklahoma's second city. He squeezed 20K out of a dispensary, hooked up with an ATF agent, and made sure to hit every trope in the Oklahoma stocks and stereotypes playbook.
Now let's move on to...
Episode: “Center of the Universe” (Ep. 1.2)
The Plot: After getting accustomed to coffee in paper cups, mailing a letter, and the current state of stop signs, Dwight Manfredi tries to apply for a credit card in the Tulsa "Arts District," where according to the show, people still use horses as transportation. He then applies for a driver's license, and, once done, goes to a weed farm and gets high like a motherfucker.
Meanwhile, Dwight's ATF love interest Stacy (Andrea Savage) has information on him. Also, the mafia back east has its own men trying to dig up some dirt.
The Review: This episode was so much better that the debut.
Though the fish-of-water concept is still a little hackneyed, the characters are actually starting to grow real identities, which you could see with Dwight's “drama” in getting an ID and a bank account, and so on.
His interactions with his driver, Tyson (Jay Will) and pot-shop manager Bodhi (Martin Starr), provide genuine humor, and you can see Stallone creating a strong rapport with both of them. I really hope this comic edge continues to flourish.
Also, I am glad ATF agent Stacy is more than a stereotypical gun-moll. While she at first looked like a "special guest", I am glad she has a bigger part, and the storyline looks like to be setting up the main drama of the show. We'll see.
Before I leave, a bit of trivia: the guy that played John Redcorn on the show King of the Hill, Jonathan Joss, essays the role of “Bad Face”, the pot-farm enforcer at the grow-ranch. Small world!
Best Line: “For a guy that’s stoned at eleven in the morning, your pretty friggin’ impatient…” - Dwight Manfredi
Stallone Moment: For the driver’s license photo, Manfredi takes a front-facing picture, and immediately turns to the side, like a mugshot.
(Possible) Oklahoma City Cameo: I think that is a street around N.W. 18th and N. Penn, as Tyson (Jay Will) washes his car in his residence. Probably.
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