What Tulsa King Gets Wrong About the Women in Dwight Manfredi’s Crew

One quick glance at Tulsa King and viewers are able to tell the show is all about Dwight Manfredi. He is the General, the boss, the head of the family, the one to rule the kingdom. However, Manfredi wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything he has without the support of his crew.

While it’s clear that every member has a role and brings specific skills that allow the General to expand his empire, it often feels as though the potential of the women in his crew gets overlooked. It’s as if the show teases fans with what these women could do in a world like this, but then cuts the possibilities short.

The only woman who hasn’t been overlooked is Margaret.

Tulsa King Season 3 gave Margaret a chance to grow and continue forging her own path. By providing Manfredi with exactly what he wanted (Thresher in a position of power), Margaret was able to acquire a higher position.

Nevertheless, at the mere mention of staying on with Thresher’s team and growing in her political role, Manfredi wanted to pull her out. In his mind, her work was done. She had accomplished what he needed, so why would she need to continue?

Once again, the show tried to cut Margaret’s potential in half, relegating her to being simply Manfredi’s girlfriend. Margaret pushed against this and stayed in her new role with Thresher. But is this sustainable for Tulsa King Season 4?

Tulsa King Season 3 was promising at first. Joanne Manfredi got a copy of the keys to the kingdom when Manfredi put the distillery in her name. Joanne’s knowledge of how the mafia works, how to deal with others like her brother, and her fearless persona made her the perfect candidate to be the woman in the crew with the best storyline.

In previous seasons, Joanne had increased her presence by joining Bodhi’s business and making a few innovative changes. What seemed to be a storyline that could lead to more quickly changed to something else when she stepped up to manage the distillery.

However, even that role fell to nothing. Even though Joanne has shown time and again that she is up for the task and knows exactly what she is doing, this role was simply on paper rather than in practice.

Manfredi used his sister’s name for the liquor license because he couldn’t use his own — an appearance that comes quite often in the first episodes quickly dissipates to almost nothing until Joanne is once again needed to expand Manfredi’s own storyline.

A woman with experience, knowledge, and ideas was pushed to the side to become a damsel in distress. Joanne was kidnapped by Dunmire, furthering the anger between the two enemies and making her the perfect excuse for Manfredi to finally take his rival out.

What could have been a season of empowerment for Joanne Manfredi turned into despair. The show made her a pawn in her brother’s game, not allowing her full potential to shine through. But the potential is there, and the show would be missing a huge opportunity if it kept Joanne relegated to the sidelines.

In the same manner, the show keeps forgetting about Grace’s potential. During Tulsa King Season 3, Grace approached Joanne and asked her to teach her everything she knows. This could have been the perfect opportunity for both women to showcase their power.

Unlike Joanne, Grace has often been seen with the crew in the more violent fights. Her knowledge of guns and her fearless nature around them have allowed her to be a more participatory player in Manfredi’s kingdom. Nevertheless, it seems her storyline ends there.

While seeing Grace fight on the same level as the men is a change of pace, her character development ends there. Her worth and her belonging in the crew are closely tied to what Manfredi needs her to do. She is another pawn in the game, but has no room to grow.

Bodhi is the only one who sees what Grace is capable of and is always encouraging her. Their friendship is like a microscope that zooms in on who Grace is, allowing viewers to see her full potential.

It would be interesting if the show utilized that closer view and allowed Grace to be guided by someone like Joanne. Both women would benefit from that mentor/mentee relationship.

Cleo Montague came in as someone who could have a strong storyline following the way in which her father died. However, her character development died there, and she became simply Mitch’s love interest.

Even though love interests are needed to expand the lives of these characters beyond their criminal activities, Cleo didn’t even shine in that storyline. She became irrelevant, and her presence in the show quickly transformed into a blurry memory of someone Mithc used to date.

Tulsa King Season 3 did allow Spencer to take a more central role when she started helping Tyson in his drug deals. She brought in the drugs, the leads, and the customers. Spencer was the level-headed one in a deal that always landed Tyson as the hot-headed one.

Spencer was also the connection Manfredi had to Dunmire, thanks to her relationship with Cole. This allowed her to shine during the season, making viewers understand that her character isn’t just there because it’s played by the leading man’s daughter.

Spencer’s storyline has potential that could be explored if the show decided to take the time to expand on what happened during the season.

There is a potential in every woman who orbits Manfredi, but so far, the show has seemed too afraid to take a step in that direction. Tulsa King Season 4 would be a more rounded and complex show if it gave the women the same opportunities it has given the men.

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Tulsa King is available to stream on Paramount+.

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