Taylor Sheridan’s crime drama Tulsa King has added a few new characters for season 2, and it seems to have learned from a great Yellowstone casting trick. Tulsa King season 2 has promised to be even bigger and more exciting than the first installment, and the show has made a few moves to ensure that happens. As the new season approaches, two major new actors have been added to Tulsa King‘s cast of characters, and they’ll both add quite a bit of talent to the show. One of them, however, could mirror a trick Yellowstone used to great effect.

Since Yellowstone season 5, part 2 will see the end of the series, many viewers have wondered which one of Sheridan’s shows could replace it. Sheridan has written a wide variety of acclaimed shows, such as Mayor of Kingstown, Lawman: Bass Reeves, and all the Yellowstone spinoffs. The competition is quite steep, but Tulsa King may have given itself an advantage by copying a casting trick used by Yellowstone. If Tulsa King‘s new character proves to be as good as Yellowstone‘s was, it would make Tulsa King season 2 even better than the first season.

Tulsa King Season 2’s Villain Casting Copies A Brilliant Yellowstone Trick

Tulsa King season 2 added Neal McDonough as a villain, a move that seems to come straight from the Yellowstone playbook. He played Malcolm Beck, the antagonistic head of the Montana Liquor Board in Yellowstone season 2. It’s a brilliant move for Tulsa King: McDonough is fantastic as a villain, and he should be able to bring his talent of portraying evil, unlikable characters to Tulsa King. The similarities run even deeper, too, as McDonough will be joining Tulsa King in its sophomore season, and he’ll likely significantly raise the show’s stakes, just as he did with Yellowstone.

What We Know About Neal McDonough’s Tulsa King Season 2 Character

With Tulsa King season 2 still a few months away, not much is known about McDonough’s character in the show. It has been confirmed that he’ll be playing a character named Cal Thresher, who was described as “a powerful and extremely territorial businessman in Tulsa,” (via Variety). Based on that description, it seems clear that Cal will be on a collision course with Dwight and his criminal empire. As Dwight’s gang continues to expand, Cal will likely try to stop anyone from cutting into his profit margins. Cal’s status as a businessperson also, interestingly, makes McDonough’s characters in Tulsa King and Yellowstone even more connected.

In Yellowstone, McDonough also played a ruthless businessperson in the form of Malcolm Beck, with an emphasis on ruthless. Beck, along with his brother, was absolutely diabolical in Yellowstone: he used a militia group to openly attack both the Duttons’ and Dan Jenkins, he had Tate kidnapped by white nationalists that permanently scarred him emotionally, and he had two of his men attempt to sexually assault Beth, among many other crimes. The Beck brothers were awful people, and if McDonough can play such an easy-to-hate villain again, Tulsa King season 2 could be very interesting indeed.

Source: Variety