Tulsa King’s Biggest Character Misstep — And The Smart Fix Taylor Sheridan Can Still Pull Off

Paramount+ has a hit on its hands with Tulsa King, but the show is doing that maddening TV thing where a good character gets stuck in lukewarm writing while the production itself gets noisy behind the scenes. So yeah, let’s talk Tyson, Jay Will’s attitude about the heat, and why the show’s creative leadership looks like musical chairs mid-shoot.

Tyson deserves better than cool suits and plot armor

Tyson Mitchell started Season 1 as a genuinely promising arc: the young driver caught between responsibility and ambition. That was a smart setup. Since then, the show keeps handing him baffling choices that read less like growth and more like indecision. He’s framed as Dwight’s loyal guy, but almost everyone around Dwight is loyal. If that’s your defining trait in a crew where loyalty is the baseline, it isn’t a character—it's a job description.

Worse, Dwight’s obvious favoritism has Tyson feeling protected instead of proven. That makes his wins feel handed to him and his losses feel like minor speed bumps, which undercuts his impact on the story. Fans aren’t wrong for wanting more than slick tailoring and eager energy. Tyson needs agency and competence, not another rookie gag or shrug-off mistake.

The good news: Jay Will can absolutely handle it. He’s a strong performer who can carry emotional weight; the problem is the writing, not the actor. Give the character a more grounded, grown-up path and Tyson could still snap into focus as the multidimensional piece he was clearly meant to be. Fans have already floated fixes in that direction—Taylor Sheridan just needs to take the handoff.

Jay Will is not ducking the noise

Since debuting as Tyson in 2022, Jay Will has been busy—Rob Peace, It Doesn’t Matter, and more—while also keeping his head in the craft. He says he wants the full reaction from the audience: not just cheers, but the backlash too, because agreement means he didn’t push hard enough. He also credits Sylvester Stallone as a constant on-set mentor who pushes instinct over perfection. Will is back as Tyson in Season 3 and sounds fired up about it, promising to just do his thing this time.

The off-camera situation is... not calm

• Variety reports Season 4 is filming in Atlanta without a clear showrunner.
• In that vacuum, 101 Studios executive Scott Stone has effectively stepped into the showrunner lane, despite not being involved in writing or directing.
• Former stunt coordinator Freddie Poole says Stone told him the production was going forward without a traditional showrunner, and that 101 would steer the ship.
• 26 crew members were reportedly fired across sound, stunts, transportation, and hair. Poole called the way it happened unprofessional and unnecessary, adding that many were told only days before production.
• This isn’t new turbulence for the series: Terence Winter ran Season 1 and left; Season 2 moved ahead without an official replacement; Dave Erickson boarded for Season 3 but later exited after creative friction.
• Stallone, unhappy with the situation, pushed for Winter to return. Winter did come back—not as showrunner, but as head writer and executive producer.

"We’re not going to have a showrunner. 101 is the showrunner."

That’s a pretty wild way to describe a production structure, especially for a show of this size. When you combine that with a character like Tyson who’s begging for a real arc, you can feel the growing pains onscreen and off.

Still, the pieces are there. Jay Will’s approach, Stallone’s constant coaching, and Winter back in a key writing role could be the nudge Tyson needs to finally step out of Dwight’s shadow as more than a protected favorite. Tulsa King is streaming on Paramount+.