Diksha Sundriyal
Dwight Manfredi returns in the fourth season of Paramount+’s ‘Tulsa King.’ After the turbulent war with Jeremiah Dunmire, it feels like things are finally going to be easier now. But trouble is always around the corner, and the first episode lays out all the ways things can and will go wrong for the Manfredi family. The episode begins with Dwight shopping with Joanne, who wants to update his wardrobe to match his status as a successful entrepreneur. However, he refuses to part with his shoes. It turns out that shopping is just another marker of Dwight leaning into his business’s legitimacy. He is starting fresh under Friedman Enterprises (an anagram of Manfredi), and he makes it clear to everyone that, in the future, things should be legal, at least on paper. Be creative, he says, and sends them off into the world. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Tyson’s Plan Creates New Enemies
Mitch takes Dwight’s words to heart and comes up with a pretty creative idea. He tells his men to scour the whole state to find the exact make and model of the cars in their store. But while their cars are in pristine condition, these new cars should be something right out of a scrapyard. His men are confused, but they comply with his orders, and soon, he has a bad replica of every good car. Later, he brings in Paul, the DMV guy, and makes an offer that Paul immediately refuses. Mitch wants him to register all the hundred or so cars he has bought. In return, he is ready to pay up to $150,000. At first, Paul is reluctant to engage in something illegal, especially when Mitch tells him he will burn the cars and collect insurance on them.
However, by the end, Paul is convinced that the money would go a long way to help his family. By the end of the episode, Mitch has one car burned down, and the process of insurance fraud begins. Meanwhile, Tyson and Spencer wish to continue selling ecstasy, because it has turned into too profitable a business to be given up so easily. Bodhi advises them against it, especially considering Dwight’s speech about going legit. Still, they go forward with it. Then one evening, they have an altercation in a club with a guy named Santiago. He claims the club as his territory, but Tyson and Spencer refuse to back down. In any case, the situation becomes pretty antagonistic, prompting the duo to talk to Goodie about it. He tells them to think about what Dwight would do.
Tyson’s mind immediately goes to robbing Santiago and showing him who’s boss! But Goodie corrects him, saying that Dwight would have found common ground with the guy and gotten him to pay a cut of the club’s sales. Still, both Tyson and Spencer are convinced that robbing the guy is the best course of action. So, instead of letting them do it on their own, Goodie decides to join them as backup. In Santiago’s house, they are surprised to find a huge stash of pills. But things go awry on their way out. Tyson drops a bag, spilling the pills all over the floor. While he tries to pick them up, Santiago comes out with a gun, prompting Tyson to shoot him. He and Goodie run away from the scene, but trouble has been caused. At the end of the episode, Santiago is in the hospital. He is visited by a British guy who demands to know who stole his pills.
Ray Takes Over the Invernizzi Family in New York
Montague whisky is a success, and Dwight is planning to take the sale nationwide. But this means encroaching on Ray’s territory in the Northeast. At the same time, Bill returns, suspecting Dwight of having him arrested by the Feds. Meanwhile, Ray has called a meeting, and Dwight decided to go a little early to clear the air. Still, Bill warns him to be careful, saying that he wouldn’t even trust the guy to water his cactus. Dwight takes note of it. When he meets Ray, he proposes a 25% stake to him in return for distribution rights in the Northeast. At first, Ray does not agree, but then settles on a deal, with the condition that he will send an emissary to Tulsa because he doesn’t trust Dwight.
Later, in the meeting with everyone else, Ray reveals that he is taking over as the head of the Invernizzi family, with Vince serving as his capo. When the rest of the men note that Luca is not in attendance, Ray reveals that Luca had some reservations about accepting him as a leader. So now, his severed head is in attendance. This is also a clear message to the likes of Dwight, who think they are now independent of the crime family. Later, Bill visits Ray and, while speaking of Dwight, warns him to be careful because he wouldn’t trust the guy to water his cactus. Later, Bill calls Dwight, and they discuss what the meeting meant. It seems that Bill is playing some game, pitting Dwight and Ray against each other.
A Shocking Tragedy Springs Dwight Into Action
Thresher has become the Governor, with Amanda Clark working as his Lieutenant. He likes her because she has a strong work ethic. Because she handles most of the things, he can focus on other stuff, like getting the Fennario ranch to Margaret for the exorbitant price of $100. In return, he wishes for her to join him at his next event. She isn’t too thrilled about it but agrees to go with him. Later, she and Dwight go on a date, where they have fun banter about their anniversary and whether Dwight is losing his marbles. They order wine and dip breadsticks in it for fun. One thing that stands out is the sommelier who introduces himself as Leonardo Timpone. He makes a point of letting Dwight know he knows his name.
Later, he appears at the bar to deliver a whole case of the same wine he served to Dwight and Margaret the night before. He meets Bodhi, introduces himself, and notes that the wines are being sold to Dwight at a discounted price. Later, Dwight goes to Thresher’s office with Margaret, where he meets Amanda, who refuses to shake hands with him because her whole job is to maintain law and order. The part about him being the one who disrupts that is left unsaid. Dwight leaves, saying he is looking forward to doing great things together. In the evening, the whole Manfredi family, except Margaret, celebrates at the bar, where Dwight reminisces about how far they have come.
Everyone is served the newly delivered wine, and no one, except Bodhi, notices that something is off about it. He further looks into the brand and becomes even more convinced that something is not right, though he cannot yet put a finger on it. Everyone goes home, while Margaret is on the plane with Thresher. Shockingly, everyone, including the pilots, is unconscious. There is a call on the radio asking them for updates, but there is no reply. A few hours later, a crying Joanne wakes up Dwight to tell him she saw the news about the plane crashing into the ocean. She doesn’t say anything about the survivors, but it casts doubt on whether Margaret is still alive.
It is clear that this was not an accident, that someone did something to make everyone unconscious on the flight. The first thought would be to believe that this is the work of one of Dwight’s enemies. However, a detail from earlier in the episode also stands out. Amanda tells Thresher about the continued push of a tech company to build AI farms. Thresher is vehemently against it because he is not ready to hand over the land from the farmers to a tech bro. It is possible that someone didn’t like this and planned to have Thresher removed from the equation. Of course, they didn’t think about how deeply Dwight would be affected by it, which means more conflict with the unknown enemy is on the horizon.
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