Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Tulsa King season 2 and Goodfellas.Sylvester Stallone’sTulsa Kingrecently included one of the best scenes in a gangster movie or show sinceGoodfellascame out in 1990.Tulsa Kinghas been one of thebest shows on Paramount+, and it’s been a major hit for Sylvester Stallone.Tulsa Kingseason 1 boasts a very high 89% score onRotten Tomatoes, and the second season has an early 100% rating. It’s been such a success thatTulsa Kingseason 3 is already confirmed, and the series is making quite a name for itself within the crime genre.
ThoughTulsa Kingis a resounding success, it also has some stiff competition from other entries to the crime genre.Martin Scorsese’s best moviesare shining examples of what gangster stories can be, and some of thebest movies of all timeare about gangsters. To live up to those giants of the genre,Tulsa Kingseason 2 introduced one of the best gangster scenes sinceGoodfellas. It was an intense, suspenseful, and absolutely brutal scene, and it proved thatTulsa Kinghas the chops to live up to the crime genre’s best.
Tulsa King Season 2 Cast & Returning Character Guide
Sylvester Stallone, Domenick Lombardozzi, A.C. Peterson, Andrea Savage, and Martin Starr are just some of the actors in the Tulsa King cast.
Tulsa King Season 2, Episode 3’s Ending Is One Of The Greatest Gangster Scenes On TV
Theending ofTulsa Kingseason 2, episode 3was a fantastic moment for the show, and it was one of the best scenes in any gangster show.Tulsa Kingdid a lot of work to foreshadow a hit that Bill Bevilaqua (Frank Grillo) put out on Dwight. The show made a point of implying that Goodie was going to betray Dwight and of showing all of Dwight’s friends and family giving him a prolonged goodbye. The lead up to the hit made it seem like Dwight would at the very least be hurt, and that some members of the gang could die.
The attempted hit on Dwight’s life was a great moment that was full of suspense, twists, and turns, and it could easily go down as one of the best scenes in a modern gangster show.
Then,Tulsa Kingperfectly subverted expectations by revealing that Dwight knew about the hit all along and was waiting for it.He sent Bigfoot (Mike “Cash Flo” Walden) out to ambush Bevilaqua’s man, and then had Goodie stab him to death in an awesome and satisfying twist. Just for good measure, he then sent the body to Bevilaqua’s estate with a menu from the Bred2Buck. The attempted hit on Dwight’s life was a great moment that was full of suspense, twists, and turns, and it could easily go down as one of the best scenes in a modern gangster show.
Tulsa King’s Execution Was Just As Good As Joe Pesci’s Death In Goodfellas
The end ofTulsa Kingseason 2, episode 3 also had some striking similarities to an iconic gangster scene: Tommy’s death inGoodfellas. Tommy, played by Joe Pesci, was supposed to become a made man, but he was instead killed for some of his past transgressions. It was an iconic plot twist that has gone down as one of the best in the entire crime genre, andTulsa Kingperfectly flipped it on its head. Just likeGoodfellas, the hit on Dwight had a great twist and flawlessly encapsulated the brutality and backstabbing that gangster movies and shows are known for.
Goodfellas
Cast
GoodFellas chronicles the life of Henry Hill, a young Brooklynite with half-Irish, half-Sicilian heritage, as he rises through the ranks of a Mafia family. As he navigates the criminal underworld, he is mentored by seasoned gangster Jimmy Conway amidst the backdrop of organized crime in New York.
Tulsa King Is One Of The Best Gangster Shows In Years
There have been some fantastic gangster shows in recent years, fromThe SopranostoPeaky Blindersand evenThe Penguin.They all deserve their glory, butTulsa Kingis also making a very strong argument that it should be included in the list of the best crime shows. It’s got everything other contemporary gangster shows have, from its ensemble cast to its strong leading actor. The hit on Dwight proves thatTulsa Kingcan do high-stakes gangster drama as well as any other show, but the series has its own unique features as well.
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The Penguin
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One of the best things aboutTulsa King, and one of the things that sets it apart from other gangster shows, is its Western setting. Because it takes place in Oklahoma,Tulsa Kingis able to offer a unique blend of Western stories like cowboys, honky-tonks, and country music, while still delivering great gangster moments like Dwight’s hit and his court case. The show also has some much lighter subplots than series likePeaky Blinders, since it focuses on Dwight’s journey to becoming a better family man. While that’s not for everyone, it does makeTulsa Kingunique.
Again, the crime genre is filled with some all-time great movies and shows. It’s difficult to say thatTulsa Kingis better than some of the best crime shows of the 21st century, likeThe SopranosorPeaky Blinders, but it comes very close. At the very least,Tulsa Kingis a serious contender to be considered one of the best gangster shows in years. Any show that can produce a scene as intense as the ending ofTulsa Kingseason 2, episode 3, deserves to be in the conversation about being considered the best.
Tulsa King
Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi, who, after 25 years in prison, is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, by his boss. Faced with the possibility of betrayal, he assembles a crew of unlikely characters to establish a criminal empire in unfamiliar territory.
