Some Tulsa King Fans Have Harsh Comments On The Show's Writing
Sylvester Stallone's new Paramount+ series, "Tulsa King," has already become a bit of a hit with fans. It currently has a certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 77%, with an audience score of 87%. In a review for Pajiba, Dustin Rowles said about the show, "Tulsa King, the new series streaming on Paramount+, comes from creator Taylor Sheridan [Yellowstone], showrunner Terence Winter [Boardwalk Empire, Sopranos] and star Sylvester Stallone [Rocky]. The combination of the three absolutely should not work, but like peanut butter, Nutella, and bacon, Tulsa King is messy and terrible for you, but also delicious."
According to an article in Variety, the "Tulsa King" premiere even managed to beat "House of the Dragon," HBO's hit "Game of Thrones" spin-off. Just a few weeks after the show debuted, before the first season even finished, it was renewed for Season 2. Chris McCarthy, CEO of Paramount Media Networks, talked to Variety about how "Tulsa King" fit into the strategy surrounding the "Yellowstone" franchise. "'Tulsa King' together with 'Mayor of Kingstown,' '1883' and the upcoming '1923,' undeniably confirm the success of our strategy to franchise 'Yellowstone' and use it to supercharge streaming growth –- none of which would be possible without the creative mastermind of Taylor Sheridan."
Despite the show's success so far, not everyone is pleased with the series. Some fans have had some choice words to say about the latest episode, Season 1 Episode 6, "Stable," with some viewers taking serious issue with the show's writing.
Fans are very disappointed with Stable
In the r/tulsaking subreddit, fans discussed the latest episode, "Stable," and a number of fans had very negative things to say about the episode, particularly the writing. One user, u/csioucs, thought that the scene with the biker shooting up the bar "felt stoopid [sic] and a rather cheapshot." Other users agreed, such as u/Phoojoeniam, who said, "Might be the worst writing in the show this far. Good episode... but that scene was DUMB. Dude was alone and completely out in the open without taking any cover?? Come on..." Then u/HighGuard1212 chimed in by saying that if the shooter was trying to send a message, it would have made more sense to fire a few shots and drive away. Another user, u/CyclonusDecept, similarly criticized the shooting scene, saying it was odd that the shooter seemed to expect no retaliation.
Meanwhile, u/gdg76 had criticisms for the entire episode beyond the shooting scene. "The bad writing and acting is getting hard to ignore here. The whole horse deal, the stable owner, the barista, bar owner and bodhi all seemed contrived and unnatural this episode. I loved the first three but it's fizzling out. Stallone is awesome though." Then u/fish-fingered argued that the dialogue goes too fast in the wrong places.
While the fans on Reddit may have some points, particularly regarding the shooting scene, it's also a show that's only six episodes in and is still finding its footing. For all its success so far, there's still plenty of time for the show to fix any problems it's shown in the first few episodes.