Tulsa King Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Dwight Teeters Between Meltdown and Masterstroke

Last week was a mess. The distillery fiasco blew up in everyone’s face, and I figured we’d be unpacking that for a while. Instead, Tulsa King Season 3 Episode 6, 'Bubbles', slams the gas and shoves every character somewhere riskier. It’s Dwight at his best and worst: cool on the surface, boiling underneath, power-playing like it’s a sport and treating mistakes like mortal sins. By the time the credits hit, you’re either worried he’s cracking or convinced he just evolved into something even more dangerous.

The fallout from the distillery disaster

Quick reset: the explosion left the crew scattered and raw. Mitch is in permanent cleanup mode, Bodhi is stuck in trauma loops about Jimmy’s death, and Cleo’s barely holding it together. This week turns that stress into strategy. Dwight’s fix? Stop waving flags for law enforcement. Move product off the books, keep the profile low, and somehow still push toward national distribution. It’s a classic Dwight swing: cunning, ambitious, and terrifying if you’re the one standing next to him when it all goes sideways.

Dwight drops a bomb on Joanne

The episode opens with Dwight finally letting Joanne in on the secret he’s been carrying: the feds have him on a mission, and failure isn’t a negotiable outcome. The scene is quiet, but the weight is obvious. He plays it calm; the subtext is a storm.

Cole gets shredded, then detonates the truce

We need to talk about Cole. Dunmire spends the hour grinding him down, needling him in public with this smug, cruel routine. He even drags Cole’s late brother into it, reminding him he served 'with distinction' while mocking Cole’s camo shirt like a punchline. You can practically see Cole shrinking.

So when Cole finally tries to swing at Dwight at the resort, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. He whiffs, chaos erupts, gunfire follows, and whatever uneasy peace existed evaporates on contact. It’s messy, sad, and darkly funny in the way this show does better than it should: pride meets pressure, and the fallout is instant.

Dwight and Tyson: road-trip mentorship, with yacht music

Best dynamic of the episode goes to Dwight and Tyson on their Arkansas run. It’s part father-son, part sparring partners, and occasionally just Stallone grumbling about yacht music like an Italian Tony Robbins. The banter’s sharp, but there’s a beating heart in there: Tyson’s figuring out what loyalty to Dwight actually costs, and the show keeps that tension alive even when it’s cracking jokes.

Cleo’s armor is starting to rust

Cleo has been pure fire since Season 1, but the endless scramble with Mitch is wearing her down. The road is long, the adrenaline is emptying out, and reality is catching up.

'Tulsa never ends well for me.'

It’s simple, and it lands. She’s still tough, but the edges are fraying. I’m rooting for her to find the spark again, because this episode makes it clear she’s more human than myth right now.

The endgame this week: bodies, pressure, and question marks

• Armand turns up dead under murky circumstances, which is bad news and worse timing.
• Mitch and Cleo survive their road trip, barely, and feel the cracks forming.
• Dwight has to deal with Quiet Ray without a clean leverage play.
• Bill Bevilaqua and Agent Musso still have strings to pull, and we don’t know whose hands are really on the puppet yet.
• Ellen, Julia, and Henry are now tied to whatever move Dwight makes next, which is not a relaxing place to be.

So… is 'Bubbles' worth an hour of your life?

Absolutely. Sheridan’s series isn’t just a mob show with muscles; it layers tension, bleak humor, and character work in a way that feels specific and mean in all the right ways. Plans implode, moral lines get blurry, and it’s never boring. This one especially feels like the end of the calm-before-the-storm era. One wrong move now is going to topple everything, and Dwight might be the smartest guy in the room who still gets blindsided.

Also, yes, I laughed at Tyson’s music bit and then winced through Dwight’s lecture. That’s the ride.

Tulsa King Season 3 Episode 6 is streaming on Paramount+.