Warning: This article contains spoilers from the Tulsa King season 4 premiere.
EXCLUSIVE: As Tulsa King returns for its fourth season, star Neal McDonough is addressing the major twist in the premiere episode.
McDonough joined the crime drama as Cal Thresher during its second season. The Taylor Sheridan-created series debuted in 2022 and centers on Sylvester Stallone’s Dwight Manfredi, a convict who creates a criminal empire in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after being released from prison. The Tulsa King season 3 finale revealed shocking developments, and now fans should expect everything to escalate further.
In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, McDonough opened up about the shocking twist from the Tulsa King season 4 premiere, which saw Thresher’s plane crash over the Pacific Ocean.
He had just won the gubernatorial election at the end of last season in a major victory for the corrupt politician. Everything was going his way, and now that has all come to a screeching halt.
McDonough acknowledged that the show “comes out of the gate swinging” this year, and he doesn’t think it will disappoint fans. Season 3 focused so much on villain Jeremiah Dunmire, but he was finally defeated.
At the end of the day, Tulsa King is a show about Dwight Manfredi, McDonough added, so the focus needs to stay on him. “To now have to go through corrupt politicians, mobsters, people from your past…all these things coming after Dwight Manfredi just makes for fantastic drama,” he explained.
Neal McDonough: “This is Tulsa King, so it’s all about Dwight Manfredi, Sly’s character. Getting through Dunmire last year was massive, and that took a lot. But this year, to now have to go through corrupt politicians, mobsters, people from your past…All these things coming after Dwight Manfredi just makes for fantastic drama for season 4 of Tulsa King.
“I think this season comes out of the gate swinging, and I don’t think it’s going to let the audience down. I think the audience is going to love where it’s going, and what’s about to happen next.”
Thresher’s demise will have major ramifications for the local political scene in Tulsa and Oklahoma, as well as for the characters that fans have watched for the past four years. His dynamic with Dwight has had huge swings throughout McDonough’s time on the show, but with Thresher now gone, their rivalry has vanished, which seemingly sets up Dwight for the future.
But this is Tulsa King, after all, so there will surely be more twists and intense drama on the horizon to keep Stallone’s character on a metaphorical tightrope.
Before joining the cast of Tulsa King, McDonough had starred in movies like Angels in the Outfield, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report, Flags of Our Fathers, Captain America: The First Avenger and Sonic the Hedgehog, and the TV shows Band of Brothers, Desperate Housewives, Justified, Suits, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, American Horror Story and 9-1-1: Lone Star.
His role on Desperate Housewives earned the actor a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
Two years after appearing on 9-1-1: Lone Star, McDonough returned to the small screen when he was cast on Tulsa King, one of many shows that Sheridan has created for Paramount+, along with 1883, Mayor of Kingstown and Lioness.
Every season has earned largely positive reviews from critics, who have given the crime drama an average Rotten Tomatoes score of 87%.
As for the brand-new season, ScreenRant‘s Sean Morrison gave Tulsa King season 4 a 7 out of 10, saying that it’s entertaining and provides plenty of action, emotion and laughter.
With Thresher’s fate sealed, the rest of the season will ramp up the tension and possibly show that no character is safe from danger.
Tulsa King season 4 streams new episodes every Friday on Paramount+.
- Release Date
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November 13, 2022
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Dave Erickson, Terence Winter
