Tulsa King's Andrea Savage Weighs In On Stacy's Big Season 1 Finale Turn
The Paramount+ series "Tulsa King" made waves not only for being the latest from creator Taylor Sheridan but for being the first TV leading role for Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone. Stallone plays Dwight Manfredi, a lifelong mobster who gets out of prison after a 25-year stint and is tasked with setting up a mafia presence in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Among the characters that Manfredi runs into is ATF Agent Stacy Beale, played by Andrea Savage. The two eventually develop a casual relationship before Beale is shot by Caolan Waltrip (Richie Coster) the leader of a biker gang operating in the town, in the season's penultimate episode. This leads to Manfredi going after the biker gang and giving Beale $1 million as a safety net for her to quit the agency after their affair comes to light.
Beale, however, turns around and has Manfredi arrested for trying to bribe a federal agent. But why did she turn on Manfredi after all he had done for her? In an interview, Savage spoke about what led Beale to make this decision.
Savage explained that Beale chose herself, not her job
In an interview with Decider, Andrea Savage was asked about what led to Stacy Beale's decision to have Dwight Manfredi arrested. Savage replied that she liked the decision Beale made because it felt true to the character and what she had been through. She disputed the idea that the decision was propelled by Beale's dedication to her job, positing instead that it was because of how her divorce had affected her. "She has this connection with somebody, shares a part of herself, then asks him to back off because this will ruin her," Savage continued, in reference to Manfredi. "That person completely ignores her and in fact, goes the opposite direction, digs deeper in, really screws her over."
Savage pointed out, however, that while Beale is not loyal to her job, her job is key to who she is as a person. Without her job, Beale has nothing, and she acutely felt that Manfredi didn't consider that in his decision. This ultimately factored into Beale's decision, as she saw who Manfredi really is as a person, and the combination of that with her needing her job as a person, as well as the scars she bears from her divorce, meant that she decided she didn't owe Manfredi anything at her own expense.
Savage said that Beale ultimately came to the conclusion that the only person she can trust is herself. She also speculated that Beale's assertiveness was an unexpected turn for Manfredi, both because of his life in the mob and the years he had spent in prison, all of which meant that he'd never dealt with a woman who made a decision like Beale.