Tulsa King season 2 episode 1 introduces 2 tricky new antagonists

Following The General's arrest during the opening of his new bar/casino in the finale, courtesy of FBI agent Stacy Beale, he's since been released on a cool $3 million bail – meaning he needs to be on his very best behaviour, or seemingly so.

But that's not going to be easy following the arrival of not one, but two new players, who are certain to drag him into a brutal dogfight that will not only threaten Dwight and his empire, but everyone he cares deeply about.

During a fundraising event hosted by ranch owner Margaret Devereaux in season 2's opening episode, he comes face-to-face with Cal Thresher, played by Neal McDonough (Desperate Housewives, Arrow).

The character was described as a "powerful and extremely territorial businessman in Tulsa" when his casting was first announced, and that absolutely proved to be the case during the hostile exchange.

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When Dwight informed Cal that he was "thinking about expanding" his business and made a remark about competition being "healthy", Cal bit back.

"Well, depends who you're competing with," he said. "If it's the wrong person, that could be a very uphill battle."

Cal then warned him outright: "I don't want to sound out of line, but if I were you I'd stay in my own lane, whichever one that is."

"Is there a problem?" asked Dwight.

"There wasn't, until there was," he snarled.

Hear that noise? That's the drums of war being dusted off and taken out of storage once more.

After Dwight and his crew departed, Cal then made a phone call to another new addition, Kansas City mobster Bill Bevilacqua (Captain America's Frank Grillo), to give him a "heads-up" about Dwight.

"Manfredi's doing all this, here?" he asked following Cal's rundown of The General's business operations.

"I thought this was your territory?" he responded, spikily.

Following their conversation, you can see the cogs turning in Bill's mind as he weighs up how he's going to handle this particular predicament, and just how costly it's going to be.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com about joining the show for its second season, McDonough said that "all the villains" and "a lot of the characters" he's played to date have "culminated in this moment".

"And I'm just so honoured to be part of everything that [creator] Taylor Sheridan and [executive producer] David Glasser have done," he added.

"Yellowstone was an awesome hit for me, but there's something about Cal Thresher and Tulsa King that is just a little bit closer to me, way more than Malcolm Beck.

"Malcolm Beck was just a piece, but Cal Thresher, there's just something I really like about Cal, and I think the audience is going to like too."

Tulsa King season 2 arrives on Paramount Plus on 15th September in the US, and 16th September in the UK - sign up for Paramount Plus here. Episodes air weekly.

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