Summary
Tyson’s grief over what happened to his father leads him down a dangerous road, making his character a little frustrating, but “Life Support” raises the season’s stakes further still.
Tulsa King took a while to get going in Season 2, but things started to heat up – quite literally – in the previous episode when Tyson’s father, Mark, got blown up in Dwight’s Lincoln Navigator. Episode 7, aptly titled “Life Support”, picks up directly from this tragedy, with Dwight investigating who might be responsible and Tyson drawing his own conclusions.
I like Tyson as a character but he frustrated me here. He has been consistently banging on about wanting this life, wanting to be like Dwight, but his inability to process the guilt he feels for what happened leads him to imperil everyone with rash decision-making. It’s all downhill from here.
Jackie Blew Up The Lincoln
As speculated in the previous recap, the white Prius came courtesy of Jackie, acting behind Thresher’s back in an effort to stop him talking about Dwight all the time.
This was an obvious development but it takes Dwight all episode to make any grounds in the investigation, and even then he still doesn’t know – the audience do, though, because we see Jackie kill the driver and have the car crushed, much to Thresher’s horror.
But it leads to a lot of funny scenes in “Life Support” with Dwight visiting each of the likeliest suspects in turn and barking threats. The obvious culprit seems to be Bill, especially since the Kansas City mob has a history of car bombings, but Dwight rightly intuits that’s too obvious. Next up is Chickie, which is funny because Dwight insists on talking to Vince instead, and then Armand, and then Thresher, who shrinks very rapidly when Dwight makes it clear that if he had anything to do with it, he’ll make him pay.
Of course, Thresher did have something to do with it – he just didn’t realize.
Vince’s Coup
As mentioned above, Dwight is acting as if he’s dealing with Vince now, and so is everyone else. When Bill calls Chickie he asks about Vince too. It’s clear the tides are turning and Chickie isn’t long for his position of authority in the Invernizzi family. Vince will make sure of that.
To that end, in Tulsa King Season 2, Episode 7 he sits down with the other New York crime families, and not-too-subtly implies Chickie isn’t fit for purpose. He’s right, of course, and his argument is welcomely heard, especially since the other bosses never agreed with how Dwight was treated anyway. A peaceful future with Dwight, brokered by Vince, seems to be in everyone’s best interests.
Well, except Chickie’s, obviously.
Tyson Ruins Any Plans For Peace
Vince’s idyllic future of peace and cooperation is threatened immediately by Tyson, who parks up outside Bill Bevilaqua’s place, armed and ready to avenge what happened to his father – even though he’s barking up the wrong tree.
Stupidly, Tyson implied what he was going to do to Mark, and Mark regained consciousness just long enough to call Dwight and warn him. Just when it seems like Dwight might have talked Tyson out of it, Bill’s impulsive right-hand man opens fire from the driveway. Tyson shoots back, and the man is wounded, perhaps fatally. Tyson is able to flee the scene, but as far as Bill and the KC Mob are concerned, Dwight has made a move on them. And they’re going to want to respond.
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