Tulsa King takes one step forward, half a step sideways.
The core storyline - Dwight tracking down and reclaiming his stolen 50-year bourbon from the Dunmires - works well, culminating in a tense railyard standoff where Cole becomes leverage. Stallone commands these scenes with the lived-in authority that makes Tulsa King work, and the main narrative threads advance with genuine purpose.
But the episode detours into unnecessary subplots that contribute nothing to the season's momentum, and loses focus. Margaret and Cal's political subplot, Bodhi's AI mascot "Jasper" (which I did like TBH) and the pointless Mitch-Cleo romance scenes.
It's frustrating because the good material is genuinely good - sharp, purposeful, engaging. But Tulsa King keeps sabotaging itself with filler, as if it doesn't trust its own strengths.
The final twist provides intrigue, but getting there required wading through material that didn't earn its screen time.
