Spoiler alert! We’re discussing the ending of the Season 3 “Tulsa King” finale. Stop reading if you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to know.
Robert Patrick, who plays “Tulsa King” baddie Jeremiah Dunmire, knew his odious crime family leader was going to die in the Season 3 finale (streaming now on Paramount+).
But the “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” villain didn’t know just how “brutal” Dunmire’s TV death would be at the hands of executive producer Sylvester Stallone, who stars as rival Tulsa mobster boss Dwight “The General” Manfredi.
Patrick, 67, recalls a between-scenes encounter in the show’s Bred-2-Buck bar with Stallone, 79, who said offhandedly, “I’m still trying to come up with a great way to kill you.”
“I told him, ‘I’m sure interested in seeing what you come up with,’ “ Patrick tells USA TODAY. “I thought about what it was going to be. I was surprised it was burning me alive.”
How does Jeremiah Dunmire die in ‘Tulsa King’?
That’s how the tied and gagged Dunmire perishes at the hands of his bitter rival Manfredi in “Tulsa King,” taking the series’ traditional season finale death to a gruesome new level. Patrick, whose corrupt cop was shot by Stallone’s sheriff in the 1997 drama “Cop Land,” was thrilled with the new TV takeout.
“It’s a brutal ending,” says Patrick. “But I’ve gotta say, this is one of the top ways to go out, if you have to go.”
Bible-quoting Dunmire is particularly loathsome as a competitor to Manfredi’s expanding bourbon operation. During their first meeting, at an Episode 2 funeral, Manfredi foreshadows events by telling Dunmire, “Imagine you burn your finger. Imagine how that hurts. Now imagine what it feels like to burn your whole body.”
Dunmire is ultimately undone by kidnapping Manfredi’s younger sister Joanne Manfredi (Annabella Sciorra, who also starred in “Cop Land”). Dunmire’s plan is to force Joanne to sign over the rights to Montague Distillers, which are in her name, to distance the business from the criminal enterprise. Joanne stubbornly refuses, and Dunmire’s oft-abused son Cole Dunmire (Beau Knapp) breaks family bonds by informing Manfredi of his dad’s location and key tactical details.
With Manfredi’s crew armed to the teeth, aided by Russell Lee Washington Jr. (guest star Samuel L. Jackson), Dunmire doesn’t have a chance. Manfredi not only saves his sister, but gives chase and pummels Dunmire. The evildoer wakes up tied, with Manfredi ready for the final monologue. Manfredi compares Dunmire to a “Jesus lizard” (aka, a basilisk lizard) which runs across water.
“That reminds me of you because you think you can walk on water,” says Manfredi. “Until you make a mistake.”
Manfredi reminds Dunmire of his funeral warning, lights the pyre and walks away to a version of “Bad Company.”
Robert Patrick stakes this interesting claim to movie villain fame
The TV death is a new addition to Patrick’s villain claim to fame. The actor has been killed by each Hollywood backer of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain.
In “Terminator 2” (1991), Patrick’s T-1000 killing machine met a fiery end by being knocked into a vat of molten steel by OG Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger. Bruce Willis killed Patrick’s Colonel Stuart in “Die Hard 2” (1990), and Stallone shot him in “Cop Land.” Demi Moore − then married to Willis − killed Patrick’s corrupt U.S. marshal in “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (2003).
“I reminded Sly of my footnote in history,” says Patrick. “I’ve been killed by all the Planet Hollywood original owners. And I told him, you’re the only one to kill me twice.”
He’s giddily proud of the achievement.
“I guess it would be ‘unfortunate one,’ if it had a name,” Patrick says. “It’s kind of cool. I dig it.”
