Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Tulsa King season 3, episode 9.Samuel L. Jackson made his debut as Russell Lee Washington Jr. in Tulsa King season 3, and he showed how Taylor Sheridan’s crime series can make basically unlimited spinoffs in the future. Samuel L. Jackson joined the cast of Tulsa King as Russell Lee Washington Jr., a mob hitman who was sent by Quiet Ray to kill Dwight Manfredi.
Jackson’s Tulsa King debut is great for the show, but it’s even better for the franchise. Jackson is set to lead the Tulsa King spinoff show NOLA King, which will see Lee start his own criminal empire in New Orleans. It’s fairly clear to see how NOLA King will happen after Tulsa King season 3, episode 9, but Jackson’s character also uncovered the perfect formula to make even more spinoff shows in the future.
Russell Lee Washington Jr. Knew Dwight From His Time In Prison
Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) and Russell Lee Washington Jr. (Samuel L. Jackson) sitting at a booth in Tulsa King season 3
As previously mentioned, Russell Lee Washington Jr. is a hitman for the mob, and Quiet Ray hired him to kill Dwight in Tulsa King season 3, episode 9. Lee obviously didn’t, and he decided to go to New Orleans instead. There was one crucial detail about Lee’s backstory that makes it possible for Tulsa King to make more spinoff shows in the future: Lee met Dwight while they were both in prison.
As Dwight briefly mentioned, he met Lee while doing 25 years in prison after taking the fall for the murder Chickie Invernizzi committed in Tulsa King season 1. During that time, they clearly became friends, and Dwight even said that he knew Lee was an honorable man. The connection they made in prison is the whole reason Lee didn’t kill Dwight and instead warned him about Quiet Ray’s hit.
After NOLA King, Tulsa King Can Keep Introducing People From Dwight’s Past
Brian Douglas / Paramount+
Russell Lee Washington Jr. and Dwight’s connection in prison isn’t just a great way to introduce the character and his relationship to Dwight. It’s also the perfect formula for future Tulsa King spinoff shows. If Tulsa King wants to introduce a new spinoff’s protagonist, the show could just create a new character from Dwight’s past. It would be as simple as introducing Lee was in Tulsa King season 3.
Dwight was in prison for 25 years before the events of Tulsa King, and he was a high-ranking New York mobster for decades before that. He probably has an enormous network of criminal connections at his disposal, both in New York and in Tulsa. The friends Dwight made in the decades before Tulsa King present an endless fount of new characters to base spinoffs around.
Tulsa King Season 3 Release Schedule
Title
Release Date (Sundays @ Midnight ET)
Blood and Bourbon
September 21
The Fifty
September 28
The G and the OG
October 5
Staring Down the Barrel
October 12
On the Rocks
October 19
Bubbles
October 26
Art of War
November 2
Nothing is Over
November 9
Dead Weight
November 16
Out of Adventure
November 23
Future seasons of Tulsa King could simply rinse and repeat season 3’s strategy with Lee. Introduce a new character that has some connection to Dwight, send them on the run from their own past, and plop them into any city in the United States. It’s a great formula with a perfect way to introduce new characters and give them a backdoor pilot in Tulsa King itself.
As an added bonus, Dwight’s past isn’t the only source of new characters Tulsa King can draw from. Mitch was also in prison for a number of years, and he likely has a fair few criminal connections himself. If Tulsa King wants to do a spinoff following a younger character, it can just connect them to Mitch. Thanks to Samuel L. Jackson, Tulsa King now has a way to make as many spinoff shows as it could ever want.
Release Date
November 13, 2022
Network
Paramount+
Showrunner
Dave Erickson, Terence Winter
Directors
Allen Coulter, Benjamin Semanoff, David Semel, Guy Ferland, Joshua Marston, Kevin Dowling, Lodge Kerrigan, Jim McKay
Writers
Joseph Riccobene, David Flebotte, William Schmidt, Taylor Elmore, Tom Sierchio, Regina Corrado, Stephen Scaia, Terence Winter
