Sylvester Stallone’s Dwight “The General” Manfredi is back, and the Season 2 premiere, “Back in the Saddle,” makes a credible case for the return. Stallone’s physical stillness and blunt authority are still the show’s main draw, and the episode moves quickly from the Season 1 arrest cliffhanger into a larger business-and-turf-war setup. That momentum is entertaining. The quick release and several new plot threads, however, can make the hour feel more mechanically convenient than it needs to be. The word “overdue” is this review’s frame, not a verdict shared by critics. This review covers the premiere that Paramount scheduled for Sunday, September 15, 2024, in the U.S. and Canada, with international markets following on Monday, September 16.
Episode details at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | “Back in the Saddle,” Season 2, Episode 1 |
| Runtime | 42 minutes, as listed by Paramount |
| Rating | TV-MA, as listed by Paramount |
| U.S. and Canada premiere | Sunday, September 15, 2024, per Paramount’s season announcement |
| International launch | Monday, September 16, 2024, per Paramount’s season announcement |
| Official synopsis | “As Dwight and his crew prepare for the opening of their casino and new weed shop, the law comes knocking.” (Paramount+ episode description) |
Spoilers: how the premiere picks up after the arrest
The following section describes plot events from the premiere. If you have not watched it, skip to the next section.
Bail, release and a crew that held together
Season 1 ended with Dwight in custody. The premiere resolves that cliffhanger quickly: Tina posts $3 million bail, and Dwight is out and back with his crew, who kept the operation running in his absence. The speed of that release is the first thing to weigh. A longer detention would have raised the stakes for the people around him. Instead, the episode treats the arrest as a brief interruption, which keeps the story moving but reduces the sense that Dwight has lost ground.
Dwight’s shift toward a “straight-ish” operation
Dwight begins to think about making the business “straight-ish” as the casino and cannabis operations take shape. That idea gives the premiere its emotional logic: a man whose career was built on the margins is trying to build something that can survive scrutiny. The episode suggests the change is partial and self-interested, which is consistent with the character, though the hour does not stay with that tension long enough to test it.
#1 Best Overall
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The fundraiser and Cal Thresher
At a fundraiser, Margaret introduces Dwight to Cal Thresher, played by Neal McDonough, a powerful local businessman. Thresher makes clear that he knows Dwight’s history and does not welcome his arrival. This is the most important new relationship in the premiere, and it is set up as a rival rather than an ally. The scene works because it is quiet and cold, which is closer to the show’s best register than the louder crime beats.
New York: Chickie, Jerry and Bevilaqua
The New York storyline stays active. Chickie responds violently when Jerry raises the power vacuum that followed his father’s death and defections from his camp. Thresher then calls the mobster Bevilaqua, played by Frank Grillo, after learning Dwight is back in town. That phone call links the Tulsa and New York threads and signals that Dwight’s past is now a live problem on both coasts of the story.
Rank #2
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How the Tulsa operation expands
The premiere’s central structural move is to widen the frame. A casino and a new weed shop give the crew legitimate-looking businesses to protect, and the official synopsis places the law at the door just as those openings approach. Paramount’s season announcement adds two outside pressures: the Kansas City mob and the local businessman, along with Dwight’s effort to protect his crew and family and unfinished business in New York.
That scope is what separates Season 2 from a single-arc continuation. The operation now has physical stakes, public-facing openings and several rival power centers. The risk is that the expansion arrives faster than the characters can react to it, so each new piece functions as a plot device rather than a consequence of choices the audience has watched Dwight make.
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Rank #3
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Jokes, crime plot and new threats: does the balance hold?
Cliffhanger payoff versus convenience
The arrest creates an immediate question, and the premiere answers it on the first day of the episode’s action. That is a good instinct for a serialized show. The problem is that a bail resolution this quick deflates the danger before the new threats have a chance to build. Viewers who expected the arrest to carry into the hour get a fast reset instead.
Stallone’s persona versus ensemble chemistry
Stallone’s screen presence works as comic shorthand. A slow look or a short line can carry a scene because audiences already know what kind of man he plays. The ensemble has room to react to him, and some of the best moments come from that friction. The weakness is that the local crew sometimes exists mainly to set up Dwight’s next line, which is why critics have read the same episode in different ways.
Rank #4
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Expansion versus focus
The casino, the cannabis business, Thresher, Kansas City and New York all generate forward motion. Too many threads at once can leave individual characters with less screen time than their arcs need. Several supporting figures are present in the premiere without much to do, which is the main reason the episode can feel crowded even when its pace is pleasant.
Crime fantasy, not documentary realism
The episode works on heightened crime-comedy terms. Its mobsters, feuds and business deals are dramatic conventions, and that is how it should be judged. Nothing in the premiere justifies treating the plot as a realistic account of organized crime, and this review does not make that claim.
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How critics and Paramount have described the premiere
Rotten Tomatoes lists three critic reviews for the premiere. That is too small a sample to describe as a consensus, so the reception is best called mixed.
| Critic and outlet | Score | Core point |
|---|---|---|
| Sean T. Collins, New York Magazine/Vulture | 2/5 | Skeptical of Stallone’s persona and of how the ensemble accommodates it |
| Carissa Pavlica, TV Fanatic | 4.25/5 | Describes the premiere as a “very decent premiere” |
| Brittany Frederick, CBR | 5/10 | Argues the premiere’s best character appears least |
Paramount has made its own claims about the premiere’s performance. In a September 26, 2024 press release, the company said Paramount+ reached 5.4 million global active subscriber households in the first seven days. That figure is Paramount’s own announcement and has not been independently audited. In the same release, Paramount Global Co-CEO and President/CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios Chris McCarthy said: “Tulsa King’s return shattered records with 2M active sub households on premiere day and over 5M globally for the week, fueling Paramount+’s continued momentum as the fastest growing SVOD four years in a row.” Read that as a studio statement, not independent confirmation.
Is the return overdue?
The episode earns the return in one specific sense. Stallone is still the reason to watch, and the premiere uses his stillness well in the Thresher scene and in the quieter New York beats. It does not earn the idea of a long-awaited comeback in every respect, because the arrest that was supposed to change things is cleared almost immediately, and several new threats arrive before the audience has time to care about the old ones. The premiere is entertaining, and its problems are mostly about pacing and convenience rather than tone. For a viewer who came for Stallone and the crime-comedy mix, that is enough to justify the hour. For a viewer who wanted the return to feel costly, the episode is more reassuring than it should be.
Where to watch and what to check before buying
- Paramount+: lists “Back in the Saddle” for streaming. Regional access and subscription terms can change.
- Prime Video: lists Episode 1 and Season 2 for digital purchase. Prices and current terms are set by the storefront and should be checked at the point of purchase.
- Physical media: a March 2025 entertainment listing identifies Tulsa King: Season Two as home video, and a May 2025 library DVD list includes Season 2. Those listings do not confirm current stock, a specific edition, or whether a Blu-ray release is available, so confirm the exact item before buying.
Availability and prices change, so check the listing in your region before you watch or buy.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Source note: the episode facts come from Paramount’s season announcement and the Paramount+ episode description. Plot details about the bail, the fundraiser and the New York storyline come from a recap of the premiere. The critic scores come from Rotten Tomatoes’ listing of three reviews.
Quick Recap
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