by Tim Gordon
If the season premiere reintroduced us to Dwight “The General” Manfredi’s (Sylvester Stallone) new reality, episode two sharpens the edges of every conflict circling him. “The Fifty” leans into power struggles, personal vendettas, and business plays that intertwine bourbon, blood, and betrayal. With so many forces closing in, it’s no longer a question of if Dwight’s empire will be tested, but how hard and how soon.
A House in Flames, A War Ignited
The episode begins with the smoldering aftermath of Theodore Montague (Brett Rice)’s house fire, a blaze that looks suspiciously like a Dunmire calling card. Dwight is enraged. The bourbon deal he thought he secured is now tainted by ashes, and worse, it’s a direct message from Jeremiah Dunmire (Robert Patrick) and his clan: we’re coming for you.
That simmering hostility erupts at Montague’s funeral. Dwight, accompanied by Cleo (Bella Heathcote), crosses paths with Jeremiah and his son Cole (Beau Knapp). The meeting is tense, almost operatic, as Jeremiah warns Dwight, “I’m not the type of man you should fuck with.” He offers to buy Dwight off at three times Montague’s price, but the General refuses. When Cleo spots Cole and lashes out, believing him tied to her father’s death, the uneasy truce dissolves. In one charged sequence, all the key players are pulled into each other’s orbit, and the lines of battle are clearly drawn.
Bourbon and Betrayals
Bevilaqua (Frank Grillo) also resurfaces, bristling that Dwight’s bourbon operation has left Kansas City cut out of the profits. He demands his share, and when Dwight dismisses him again, Bevilaqua’s fury boils over. He calls New York, making sure Dwight’s “family” knows that Tulsa isn’t playing by the rules. It’s another front opening against Manfredi, and the fallout promises to be bloody.
Meanwhile, the Montague 50 is finally flowing. Dwight, Mitch (Garrett Hedlund), Tyson (Jay Will), and Bodhi (Martin Starr) hustle to get the bourbon bottled and ready for distribution. But tension simmers in the ranks. Tyson brings his father into the fold, only to be met with cold disapproval. His father, still skeptical of Dwight’s influence, tells his son that his mother “doesn’t even recognize the man you’ve become.” It’s a gut punch that underscores the generational strain at the heart of Dwight’s surrogate “family.”
Politics in the Shadows
In one of the episode’s most fascinating turns, Dwight sits down with gubernatorial candidate Cal Thresher (Neal McDonough), a former enemy turned unlikely ally. With an offer of support comes an unspoken pact: when Thresher wins, he’ll owe Dwight a favor. The exchange is classic mob politics, reinforcing Dwight’s ambition to move beyond small-time hustles into legitimate influence. But Thresher may not be ready for the storm that comes with aligning himself to Manfredi, as Dunmire makes it clear later that anyone siding with Dwight is fair game.
Cleo, Cole, and Brewing Tensions
Cleo, growing closer to Mitch, becomes a pawn in the Dunmire chess game. Jeremiah warns his son Cole to take something from Dwight that he truly cares about. Cole interprets that as Cleo, making an awkward attempt to woo her, only to be brutally rejected. The rejection leaves Cole rattled, but it also signals that Cleo’s presence is going to complicate matters far more than Dwight or Mitch anticipate.
Cleo also becomes Dwight’s guide into Montague’s hidden world. She shows him her father’s secret stash: a cache of 50-year-old bourbon worth millions. It’s a revelation that reframes the conflict: the bourbon isn’t just heritage, it’s power. Whoever controls it controls the next chapter of Tulsa’s underworld.
Bodi, Guilt, and the Kansas City Beef
Bodhi continues to spiral, consumed by guilt and anger over the death of his friend Jimmy. When ordered to make a drop with the Kansas City crew, he sabotages it, forcing a confrontation with Jimmy’s killer. In a moment of restraint, he demands an apology rather than revenge, but the decision doesn’t heal him; it just pushes him deeper into resentment. The truce with Kansas City grows shakier by the episode.
The Sit-Down: Fear vs. Strength
The episode culminates in a cinematic showdown at Dwight’s casino. Jeremiah arrives for a sit-down, while Cole waits outside, inadvertently earning goodwill by stepping in to protect one of Dwight’s employees from an abusive patron. Inside, the conversation between Dwight and Jeremiah is straight out of Michael Mann’s Heat, two men circling one another, each declaring their intent to obliterate the other.
Jeremiah frames his vendetta as strength. Dwight counters that it’s really fear. The dialogue cuts to the essence of the conflict: two aging titans fighting for legacy, territory, and family. Neither man flinches, and both know blood will follow.
Final Thoughts
“The Fifty” deepens the season’s central tensions. Dwight isn’t just battling local rivals; he’s caught in a four-way squeeze: Jeremiah Dunmire in Tulsa, Bevilaqua in Kansas City, Musso’s looming federal vendetta, and the lingering shadow of New York’s Old Guard. Add in his fragile bonds with Tyson, Mitch, and Cleo, and the bourbon business feels less like a prize and more like bait for enemies to circle.
The brilliance of the episode lies in its balance of equal parts mob drama, Western grit, and Shakespearean family tragedy. Stallone grounds it with world-weary gravitas, and the supporting cast adds texture that promises more betrayal, more deals, and more blood to come.
Season Three is heating up fast, and if “The Fifty” is any indication, Dwight’s empire may burn brighter or collapse under the weight of too many enemies at once.