Tulsa King Season 2 Review: Stallone’s Crime Drama Expands on Paramount Plus

Tulsa King Season 2 finds Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) firmly established in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his criminal empire growing alongside legitimate business ventures. The show expands its scope with new rivals, deeper character arcs, and higher stakes, while Stallone continues to bring an unexpected warmth and humor to the role that has become the best late-career showcase of his entire career.

How We Reviewed: Our assessment is based on assessment of pacing decisions and their effect on engagement and analysis of writing, direction, and ensemble performance. Ratings reflect full-season viewing, critical analysis, and production quality assessment. None of our selections were paid placements or sponsored content.

The Expanding Empire

Dwight’s operation has evolved from Season 1’s improvised hustles into something more organized and more dangerous. His marijuana dispensary, his bar, and his other ventures are generating real money, which means real enemies. Season 2 introduces threats from both the Kansas City mob — whose territory Dwight has been encroaching on — and a local political figure who wants Dwight’s operation shut down for his own reasons. The dual-antagonist structure keeps the season from becoming predictable, and the escalating conflict forces Dwight to make harder choices about how far he is willing to go.

Stallone remains the show’s engine and its biggest asset. He plays Dwight with a gravel-voiced charm that makes even criminal activities feel oddly endearing. There is something genuinely touching about watching a man in his seventies build a new life from nothing, even if that new life involves drug distribution and intimidation. Stallone brings a physical authority and emotional vulnerability to the role that few would have expected from the Rocky star, and his comedic timing — particularly in scenes where New York mob culture collides with Oklahoma hospitality — is consistently delightful. A standout moment has Dwight attempting to explain the concept of a sit-down to his bewildered Tulsa associates, and Stallone’s exasperated delivery is comedy gold.

The Crew

The supporting cast has grown into one of the show’s strengths. Martin Starr’s Bodhi, the hapless marijuana grower who has become Dwight’s unlikely right-hand man, provides consistent comic relief and surprising loyalty. Jay Will’s Tyson continues to develop as Dwight’s protege, and their mentor-student dynamic gives the show its most emotionally resonant thread — Dwight sees in Tyson the son he never had, and the show earns that connection through accumulated small moments rather than grand declarations. Andrea Savage’s Stacy Beale, the ATF agent whose relationship with Dwight blurs every professional boundary, faces increasingly difficult choices as the season progresses, and Savage plays the internal conflict with convincing turmoil.

New additions include a Kansas City enforcer whose professionalism contrasts sharply with Dwight’s improvisational style, and a rival businessman whose legitimate facade conceals connections that make him more dangerous than he appears. The chess game between Dwight and his new adversaries provides the season’s tightest plotting.

The Tone

Tulsa King is not prestige television, and it does not try to be. It is a well-crafted crime drama with a charismatic lead, entertaining supporting characters, and enough plotting to keep viewers engaged across its ten-episode season. The show has a lightness that distinguishes it from Taylor Sheridan’s more self-serious projects — it knows that a septuagenarian New York mobster running a weed empire in Oklahoma is inherently funny, and it leans into that comedy without sacrificing the crime drama stakes.

The Oklahoma setting continues to be a strength, providing beautiful landscapes and a cultural specificity that feels authentic rather than condescending. The show treats Tulsa and its people with genuine affection, and the local characters are drawn with enough detail to feel like real residents rather than regional stereotypes.

Verdict

Tulsa King Season 2 delivers more of what made the first season work — Stallone’s charisma, the fish-out-of-water comedy, and enough criminal intrigue to maintain suspense. It is reliable, entertaining, and exactly the show it wants to be.

Rating: 7/10

For more Paramount Plus content, see the Paramount Plus Best Shows and Movies Guide and the Best Crime Shows Streaming in 2025.