In episode 8 of Tulsa King Season 3, Deacon took Dwight’s money, built the bomb that he was ordered to make, and then went straight to Jeremiah because he didn’t trust Dwight and he had a feeling that, after killing Jeremiah, Dwight would harm Deacon. Since Jeremiah wanted to get back at Dwight, he gladly put Deacon on his payroll. Moments later, Deacon was seen sneaking into a hotel and planting a bomb. What was happening at the hotel? Margaret and Thresher were hosting a fundraiser for the latter’s gubernatorial race. As the timer on that bomb started to tick, Deacon set up a meeting with Dwight under the pretext of getting the rest of the payment that he was owed, while his real purpose was to kill Dwight. Dwight sensed that he was being lured into a trap and informed Musso about it. Musso and his fellow FBI agents escorted Dwight to his meeting with Deacon in the hopes that Dwight would help them get Deacon.
Instead, Dwight, along with Mitch and Bigfoot, kidnapped Deacon, took him to the crypt in the Montague estate, and bludgeoned him to within an inch of his life for all the crimes against humanity he had committed. While they were at the tail end of their torture session, thanks to Cole, Tyson learned that Deacon had put a bomb in the hotel where Thresher was doing a fundraiser. So, Dwight had Deacon stuffed in a coffin in the crypt, and after informing Musso to mobilize the rescue units, he rushed to the hotel to evacuate it. Nobody got grievously injured, and when Musso asked Dwight to give Deacon up to him, he refused. Why? Because as long as Dwight had Deacon and the recording of his confession that he had in fact killed Musso’s partner, he could compel Musso to do anything he wanted him to. With Musso out of the way, albeit temporarily, what did Dwight do next in Tulsa King Season 3? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Ray Sends Russell to Kill Dwight
Episode 9 of Tulsa King Season 3 takes us to Newark, New Jersey, where we are introduced to an assassin named Russell Lee Washington Jr., played by the one and only Samuel L. Jackson. He disguises himself as an electrician that works at R.R. Electric Supply, and after performing a hit job at the Barclay Hotel, he returns to his shop to chill out with a beer. That’s interrupted by Vince, who is there to tell him that Quiet Ray wants to have a chat with him. Russell shuts the door in Vince’s face and then goes off to meet Ray at his dingy apartment. As they start talking, it becomes apparent that Russell owes Ray and is paying off his debt by performing all these assassinations.
Russell was under the assumption that the latest task was his last one, and he was even with Ray, but Ray reveals that he has to go on another mission. If he completes that one successfully, he’ll be allowed to sever his ties with Ray. What does this mission entail? Going to Tulsa and killing Dwight. It’s clear that Russell and Dwight have a history, which is why he doesn’t want to take up this job. However, Ray underscores the fact that Russell doesn’t have a say in this matter; he has to fulfill the task he has been given, or he’ll have to bear the consequences of saying “no” to Ray. Okay, I am a little confused right now. In episode 7 of this season, Ray and Dwight reached an agreement that they’d help each other expand Montague Distilleries, and now Ray wants to kill Dwight? What the hell? Is this bad writing or the writers’ way of showing that these geriatric gangsters can flip on a dime because their heads aren’t working properly? You tell me.
Montague Distilleries Outpaces Dunmire Distilleries
Back at Tulsa, Dwight is seen having a meeting with Musso, who still hasn’t realized that he isn’t getting Deacon or his confession any time soon. By the way, yes, Dwight pretty much confirms that Deacon is dead. I mean, he was beaten up pretty badly, thrown into a coffin, and shoved into a crypt, but he was breathing. Now it seems like he is gone. That doesn’t matter though, because all of his confessions are on a tape, which is in Dwight’s possession, and he decides to use that as leverage to get a federal liquor license. Alright, in last week’s episode, he was ordering Musso to free Bill. I thought he was going to use the confession to put some more pressure on Musso and actually get Bill out of federal detention. However, that doesn’t seem to be a priority for Dwight anymore, and he has moved on to the topic of bolstering his liquor business.
Musso doesn’t verbally agree to give Dwight what he wants, but the fact that the episode cuts to Montague Distilleries taking over Tulsa makes it apparent that Musso probably caved in and gave Dwight that liquor license. And as Montague Distilleries’ business soars, Dunmire Distilleries starts to hit new lows. Yeah, their product is literally returned to the warehouse because nobody is buying it. Well, either nobody is buying their liquor, or maybe Dwight is pulling some strings and forcing sellers to put the Dunmires out of business. Whatever the case may be, Cole is understandably shocked, and he starts wondering how he is going to break this news to his father, who must already be angry, because not only did Deacon’s bomb do no damage to Dwight, but also Deacon is dead and gone. And as expected, Jeremiah throws a full-on temper tantrum after Cole tells him that all of his strategies have failed to impact Dwight in any significant manner.
Russell Meets Dwight
Russell reaches Bred-2-Buck Saloon and watches Dwight going about his day from afar. Tyson gives Dwight a share of the profits that he and Spencer have earned by selling all those confiscated drugs. No, he doesn’t reveal the details of how he and Spencer raked up all that moolah to Dwight, because he probably knows that the big man wouldn’t approve of it; he just says that he and Spencer organized a rave and it was a huge success. Dwight probably knows that Tyson is trying to peddle a white lie to him, but he gives him a pass; hopefully this won’t come back to bite both of them in the butt. Once Tyson has taken Dwight’s leave, Russell goes up to him, and Dwight immediately recognizes his old friend. How do they know each other? Well, it’s not a big mystery; they became friends during Dwight’s insanely long prison stint. After some chit-chat, Dwight asks Russell why he’s in Tulsa. Russell says that he is heading back to New Orleans (yes, there’s a Tulsa King spin-off on the way, with Jackson front and center, titled NOLA King).
Since Tulsa doesn’t exactly fall between Newark and New Orleans, Dwight immediately understands that there’s something Russell isn’t telling him. Dwight knows that Russell is in Ray’s pocket, and he straight-up asks Russell if he’s in town to kill his old friend from the joint. Russell drops the act and admits that he has indeed been sent by Ray to finish off Dwight. However, it seems like Russell isn’t in the mood to honor the deal because, well, he doesn’t want to kill his friend in exchange for his freedom. Dwight invites Russell over to his house for dinner, but Russell refuses that offer because he has to think about his own self-preservation. As soon as Russell leaves, Goodie comes up to Dwight to learn about this recent complication. Dwight tells Goodie that Ray had sent Russell to kill him, but instead of fulfilling his contract, Russell has given him a warning so that Dwight can stay prepared for whatever comes at him once Ray realizes that Russell hasn’t completed his mission. Goodie goes off to activate their network so that they know when Ray tries to move in on Dwight.
Tyson Teams Up With Spencer to Sell Drugs
Tyson meets Bodhi to give him his share of the profits from the drug-fueled rave. I thought that was a one-off event, but then Tyson begins urging Bodhi to get in touch with someone who can provide them with some ecstasy, which means that Tyson intends to make these drug raves a regular affair. Bodhi advises Tyson to just get the raw material and make his own ecstasy. Since that’s too complicated, Tyson insists Bodhi find him a supplier. Going by Bodhi’s reaction, it’s evident that ecstasy-makers are a dangerous crowd and he doesn’t want to deal with them. Still, for Tyson’s sake, Bodhi agrees to reconnect with those guys. That said, Bodhi has one condition: under any circumstances, Tyson can’t sell ecstasy on anything that Dwight owns, because if Dwight gets a whiff of how Tyson is “earning his keep,” he might get incredibly angry.
By the way, Bodhi isn’t the only one who is trying to climb up the proverbial ladder; Grace is looking for a promotion too, and she approaches Joanne with a request to give her a position at Montague Distilleries. Joanne is obviously happy about this, but she’s worried what Bodhi will think about it, because Grace has worked for Bodhi for a long time. Grace assures Joanne that Bodhi won’t mind. So, Joanne immediately starts showing Grace the ropes. Going back to Tyson, he attends a rave (not organized by them) with Spencer, and they try to sell their drugs. But they are caught red-handed and promptly thrown out by security. This subplot is so weird, though. I thought Tyson and Spencer were going to organize their own parties and sell drugs there. What is this cheap behavior of selling drugs at random raves? Tyson is the king of blunders, and I can sense that he is cooking up another mishap. Dwight has given him a lot of leeway, but I have a feeling this drug business is going to be his last mistake.
Russell Teams Up With Dwight
While freshening up at a hotel, Russell gets a call from Ray, as he wants to get an update about his mission. Russell straight-up tells him that he isn’t doing the job. He tells Ray to retrieve his money from the shop so that he doesn’t feel completely ripped off. Ray gets really agitated and hurls some death threats in Russell’s direction, but that doesn’t affect the aging assassin in any significant way. At the Bred-2-Buck Saloon, Dwight learns from Mitch that there’s a hitman from New York staying in a hotel nearby, and he isn’t talking about Russell. Before he can gauge whether or not that’s something he should worry about, Margaret shows up to have a chat with Dwight. She gives him an update about Thresher, who is in constant conversation with the police regarding the attack at his fundraiser. After she takes off, Dwight goes home, and Russell shows up at his doorstep unannounced.
Well, technically speaking, Dwight did invite Russell to dinner, and he didn’t exactly reject that invitation. So, yeah, it’s not all that surprising that he decided to meet his old friend. While having a chat, though, Dwight addresses the elephant in the room by saying that, earlier that day, when Russell came to meet him, he fully intended to honor his deal with Ray and kill Dwight, but he didn’t. After his phone call with Ray, Russell again pushed himself to kill Dwight and get himself into Ray’s good books, but he didn’t. Which means that Russell doesn’t want to be a gun-for-hire. He wants to choose what he wants to do in the twilight years of his life, and as long as he’s under Ray’s thumb, it’s obvious that he won’t taste freedom. Heck, the aforementioned hitman from New York has been sent by Ray to kill Russell regardless of whether he kills Dwight. To be clear, if Russell kills Dwight, that hitman will kill Russell. If Russell doesn’t kill Dwight, that hitman will kill Russell and Dwight. If Russell joins hands with Dwight, things might change for both of them.
Jeremiah Kidnapped Joanne
In the ending of Tulsa King Season 3, episode 9, Russell and Dwight go to the hotel where the New York hitman is staying, and while they are in the parking lot, they strategize how they are going to deal with the guy. As they are talking, they see two guys wearing matching outfits come out from neighboring rooms, which brings them to the realization that they aren’t dealing with one hitman; they have to tackle two. For the sake of convenience, the writers don’t force Sylvester Stallone and Samuel L. Jackson to go through hell to kill two men who, realistically speaking, would have gotten the better of these geriatric gangsters. Dwight walks into one room while Russell walks into another; they casually kill the hitmen and head back home. Right after they have left the scene, Vince arrives—wow, Ray really tried to not leave anything up to chance—and he’s shocked to learn that both of his guys are dead. After that, we get a brief scene featuring Mitch and Cleo. Things had gotten sour between both of them because Cleo wanted to leave this life of crime behind, while Mitch has nowhere to go, or he just doesn’t want to leave Dwight’s side.
Mitch was sure that Cleo would like to stay away from him after the bombing, because if she was shaken by that encounter with the police, there was no chance that she’d feel confident enough to be a part of Dwight’s empire after such a massive explosion. But it turns out that Cleo prefers to be by Mitch’s side through thick and thin than be alone and “safe.” And just when it seems like things are starting to get better, Joanne is kidnapped by Jeremiah’s henchman. They say an injured lion is more dangerous than a hungry one, and this move of Jeremiah’s shows that he is hurting, and that has made him desperate. He should have “taken the L” and spent the rest of his days with whatever money he has in his coffers. Or he should have joined hands with Dwight to stay in the liquor business. However, Jeremiah is too egotistical to choose either of those options. It’s obvious that he’s going to try and compel Dwight to give up Montague Distilleries in exchange for his sister’s life. He knows that Dwight loves her too much and he’s going to bend the knee. What then? Does Jeremiah really think that if the exchange goes through, Dwight will let him thrive? No, he’s going to kill him when he least expects it. Prior to this, Jeremiah had a chance at going out on his own terms. Now, his fate will be written by Dwight. Anyway, those are just my thoughts on this episode. If you have any opinions on the same, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
