‘Tulsa King’ Episode 1 Stunner: [SPOILER] Deaths Turn Season 4 Upside Down

The Season 4 premiere of Tulsa King ended with the series' most shocking deaths to date. Two characters who seemed destined to stick around until the end were dismissed in one quiet moment.

• Season 4, Ep. 1 of Tulsa King is called "W.W.D.D." and it premiered on Paramount+ on Friday (Oct. 16).
• The show has already been picked up for Season 5, with plot and production headed to New York City.
• Season 1 showrunner Terrence Winter is back as head writer after two seasons away from the job.

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This is your spoiler warning as I'm about to dig deep into the details of Tulsa King Ep. 1 before offering theories about how this will affect the rest of the season. One-word review: RIVETING.

If you've not yet watched Ep. 1 because you forgot what happened during Season 3, this video may help.

Tulsa King, Season 4, Episode 1 Recap

Tulsa King Ep. 1 begins with Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) ordering his team to drop any illegal side hustles.

If you recall, they all worked hard to go legit during Season 3 and were rewarded with a liquor license for Montague Distillers. Now that they can distribute "the 50" nationwide, there's just no reason to hustle.

No one but Bodhi takes this order seriously. Here are all the new schemes cooked up during the 44-minute-long ep:

1. Mitch works to swap the classic cars on his soon-to-be-bankrupt car lot with broken down versions of the same models so that when he sets the place on fire, the insurance company believes he's lost millions in inventory.
2. Tyson and Spencer keep selling ecstasy at the nightclub despite losing their cook (Bodhi).
3. Tyson and Goodie plot to rob a rival drug dealer of his supply and end up killing him.
4. Bodhi notices something about the $3,000-a-bottle wine a restaurant owner named Leonardo Timpone is working hard to get in front of Dwight. Is it a scam or a business opportunity? Or both? I'm not sure yet.

Steve Swisher, Paramount+

In fairness, Dwight also ignores his own orders. He assists Mitch in his insurance fraud scheme by putting him in touch with his reluctant DMV contact so he can forge 150 vehicle registrations. He also takes Tyson's drug money no questions asked.

So yeah, in a lot of ways it's business as usual until Dwight visits New York City.

There he meets with Quiet Ray (actor James Russo), the mob boss who was out to kill him as Season 2 ended. They agree to put differences aside for 25 percent of the distillery profits.

Then, Dwight is introduced as the head of the Manfredi family in Tulsa at a meeting of all the families. It's all good vibes until ...

Steve Swisher, Paramount+

Absent is Luca from Buffalo, and we quickly find out why. He objected to Ray's plan to take over the Invernizzi family (Dwight's old family) and wound up with his head in a bowling bag. That's a callback to a classic scene from The Sopranos on HBO, on which Winter was a writer.

Later, Ray and Kansas City boss Bill Bevilaqua (Frank Grillo) meet, and Bill warns Ray not to trust Dwight. "I wouldn’t trust that prick to water my cactus," he says.

This might be the most low-key interesting thing to happen on Ep. 1, because Bill had previously told Dwight the same thing about Ray as they were making amends in Tulsa. Whose side is he on?

Steve Swisher, Paramount+

Who Died On Tulsa King?

The most prominent new cast member for Season 4 of Tulsa King is Gretchen Mol as Amanda Clark. Quickly we learn she's the state's Lieutenant Governor, and nobody — including Governor Cal Thresher (played by Neal McDonough) — really likes her.

Dwight's love interest Margaret is working for Cal as a way to get her ranch back. After signing those property transfer papers, she hops on a private jet with him to a governor's conference in the Mariana Islands.

I assumed this is where Thresher would make his move on Margaret, something Dwight was very worried about, but he never gets the chance. The pair are asleep in separate seats during the overnight flight. So are the pilots.

Paramount+

Ep. 1 ends with Dwight's sister Joanne waking Dwight up at 4:30AM to tell him the governor's plane crashed, presumably killing both Thresher and Margaret. This is all but confirmed by the official Season 4 description from Paramount, in which we're told Dwight suffers a "crushing personal loss."

Tulsa King, Season 4, Ep. 1 Review

The first episode ended with at least two tantalizing mysteries. First, why were the pilot and co-pilot asleep, and was foul play involved?

Second, whose side is Bill Bevilaqua really on, and will he be friend or foe to Dwight Manfredi? I suspect he'll try to continue to play both sides for his own personal gain and end up dead.

Bodhi's investigation into the 1982 Barolo is also curious, and photos released by Paramount show there's more to come there.

Tulsa King continues to include moments that are either stiff or corny (Dwight's interactions with Margaret were both), but at this point you have to accept this as part of the show's charm. Episode 1 leveled up.

Quiet Ray and Bill Belivaqua are great characters that balance the foolishness others like Tyson bring to the show. Action — not script — has always been this series' strength, and Ep. 1 was action-packed.

I'm really excited to learn more about the governor and Margaret's death and how the Lt. Gov. may or may not be involved. I also can't wait to immerse myself in the tensions between New York, Tulsa and Kansas City.

In a way, we know how this ends. Season 5 is confirmed, with bonus news that everyone is moving to NYC. I don't think that's because Dwight gets whacked.