Tulsa King season 1, episode 5 recap – who dies in “Token Joe”?

We recap the Paramount + series Tulsa King season 1, episode 5, “Token Joe,” which contains spoilers.

Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) is traveling back to New York City and pretty much received the cold welcome he was expecting. He lost his brother and is there for the wake, where he hugs his sister Joanne (Annabella Sciorra). He says goodbyes to his brother and sees his daughter in the crowd. Meanwhile, the Black McAdam’s are zeroing in on Dwight’s crew that took their stash. (Well, they took it, too, go ahead and read last week’s recap). Either way, episode 5 solidifies Stallone’s Manfredi as one of television’s best new characters.

Tulsa King season 1 episode 5 recap

Dwight puts on his best suit and flies to the big apple. Why? His brother has passed, and the wake is today. He arrives at the funeral home in Brooklyn and sees a family he has not laid eyes on in a quarter century. When he leaves, he asks Joanne if he could say a few words at the funeral tomorrow on Joe’s behalf, but she says that may not be a good idea. That’s fine because Manfredi receives a call from his boss, Chickie (Dominick Lombardozzi). He knows “The General” is in town and must announce his arrival when entering the Chickie family airspace. Dwight pretty much tells him off without doing so, and Chickie tells him he needs to go to the hospital first thing in the morning to see his father, Pete.

Again, Dwight tells you to know what without telling him and arrives after Joe’s burial. When he arrives, Chickie’s crew, including Nico (John Cenatiempo), Vince (Vincent Piazza), and Goodie (Chris Caldovino), are sitting playing cards with their women seated in hospital seats behind them. Vince’s wife is sneezing up a storm and hands her a handkerchief. A simple thanks for her to Dwight and a comment to Vince from her saying, “now that’s a gentleman,” gets Vince’s ire up. He challenges Manfredi again, Chickie tells him to shut up, and Nico steps in between them. Dwight practically laughs Vince off and tells Nico he should be a lifeguard, inferring how he keeps saving Vince’s life.

Meanwhile, the Black McAdam is taking matters into their own hands by getting local Tulsa cops on their payroll to run a plate on a car they saw at the site of the incident. That automobile is owned by Dwight and the cops pull over Tyson (Jay Will). They ask him about his boss, throw him in the slammer, and confiscate his belongings, including his cell phone. When he has to use the bathroom, they let him use it unless he gives them the password.

Tyson does, and they hand the phone off to the biker gang, who tracks down Bodhi (Martin Starr), and Waltrip (Ritchie Coster) threatens to gut him like a pig. However, he finds Bodhi is more than willing to talk because Dwight is extorting him. They deliver him back to Mitch (Garrett Hedlund) at his bar. The issue is the cops who drop Bodhi off no longer realize his bar is on protected indigenous land owned by the Cherokee. Mitch tells him they should get their bodies filled with “cottage cheese” off his property.

Ending Explained

The show ends with a shocking revelation for Dwight that Nico sexually assaulted his daughter. How does Dwight find out Nico sexually assaulted his daughter, Tina? He doesn’t exactly, but she infers it. After a disastrous post-funeral brunch where his daughter, Tina (Tatiana Zappardino), walks out, he goes to her flower shop for one last try. She points to why he is upset. He stopped writing everyone. It wouldn’t grant visitors. It was Joe who sat outside the school during her school dance, making sure her date didn’t try anything. However, her main complaint is how he left them living paycheck to paycheck. However, something much worse happened. She found out why he was called “The Package” for a reason.

Tina refuses to say what happened and begs The General not to do anything or keep asking. He obliges but goes right to Chickie’s place, where he finds his boss, Vince, Goodie, and Nico, sitting around a table eating. Dwight grabs Manfredi by the head, gives him a couple of Balboa punches, holds his head down, and gives his freshly shaven face a nice sear on a red hot plate. He then chokes him with an electrical cord, drags him to the middle of the kitchen, and lays him there. Dwight then looks up at Chickie and Vince then stomps on Nico’s head. You hear an unspeakable sound and see blood under the kitchen table slowly expanding over the tile.

“Clean this up,” Dwight tells them. The General then leaves for the day.

What did you think of Tulsa King season 1, episode 5? Comment below.

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