Tulsa King S3E5 Review: Is Cole the Weakest Link or Pulling the Strings?

Episode 5 of Tulsa King season 3 finally stops flirting and actually swings. After a slow simmer, 'On the Rocks' dumps a full tray of chaos onto Dwight and his crew — booze, blood, betrayal, and one very bad night at a launch party.

Where we pick up

We are still living in the fallout of the liquor heist. Tyson botched it, got benched, then promptly redeemed himself by sniffing out Serenity's double-cross. That leads to the stolen booze finding its way back home. Small victory, brief exhale.

The launch that blew up

Montague Distilleries throws its big coming-out party, which should have been good news. Instead, it turns into a minefield: a surprise visit from a health inspector, a 'did that really just happen' accident in the barrel room, and a betrayal that puts everyone back on their heels. The show has been edging toward something like this all season, and here it is — finally.

What worked, what dragged

Story-wise, this one is a mixed bag, but the good outweighs the clunky. The party setup takes its time, yet you can feel the tension humming underneath. Dwight juggling his business, loyalty tests, and personal stuff actually lands with some nuance. The scenes with Dwight and Bill are the episode's spine — especially one loyalty moment that hits harder than expected.

On the other hand, the Cole and Spencer subplot feels like padding compared to the rest, and the political/business chess slows the momentum just enough to notice. That said, those slower beats are clearly planting seeds for later. I can live with it if the payoff is coming.

Performances that hit

Sylvester Stallone is dialed in — calm, hard, tired, dangerous — the show is better whenever the camera just sits with him. Bigfoot delivers the episode's coldest moment, and it is genuinely icy; the actor plays it deadpan and it lands like a gut punch. Jeremiah (Robert Patrick) and Cole bring the sharp edges you expect, though Jeremiah could use one more scene to round out his motivations so he doesn't drift into cartoon-villain territory. The rest of the ensemble keeps the tension grounded without chewing scenery, which helps the big swings actually work.

The barrel room and the cuffs

This is the episode's sledgehammer: Bigfoot makes a split-second choice and crushes Leery's head with stacked barrels. It is brutal, fast, and immediately changes the temperature of the whole show. Right after that, Bill gets arrested — edited against his heated talk with Dwight — and the whiplash is very intentional. It raises all the obvious questions: Did Dwight quietly set this up? Is Musso listening in and leveraging his bug? Or did Jeremiah just make a power play? However it shakes out, the stakes jump two levels in about five minutes.

• Heist aftermath: Tyson is sidelined, then exposes Serenity's double-cross and the crew recovers the liquor.
• Montague launch: surprise health inspection, rising tension, and one lethal 'accident' in the barrel room.
• Bigfoot's move: Leery dies under the barrels — quick, dark, and game-changing.
• Bill's loyalty moment with Dwight: strong character beat that pays off emotionally.
• Bill arrested: snatched mid-episode, and everyone's motives are suddenly in question.
• Side thread: Cole and Spencer's subplot feels like filler, but likely setup for later plays.

So, is it worth it?

Yeah. Even with a few stumbles, Episode 5 gives the season the jolt it needed. The barrel room death and Bill's arrest inject fresh energy, and the show manages to balance grit and suspense while peeling back more of Dwight's world. If you're here for character tension with sudden, nasty turns, this checks the box. Casual viewers might find the maneuvering a bit heavy in spots, but the payoff is there.

Feels like the calm before a bigger storm. Did Dwight actually put Bill in the crosshairs, or is he about to find out someone else is playing puppet master? And that health inspector situation — is it a lingering problem or the messy advantage Montague ends up using?

Tulsa King season 3, episode 5 is streaming now on Paramount+.