For the first time since he arrived in Tulsa, mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi has met an enemy that genuinely shakes him. The third season of the hit Paramount+ show introduces Robert Patrick as Jeremiah Dunmire, a powerful local businessman who operates on a level of ruthlessness that has even Dwight watching his back. According to the actor behind the new villain, the fear is real, and it signals a major shift for Sylvester Stallone’s character.
The Rise of a New Adversary
The conflict between Dwight and the Dunmire family began when Dwight bought a rival bourbon distillery out from under them. This business move put him directly in the crosshairs of Jeremiah, the patriarch of a powerful old-money family in Tulsa. Unlike Dwight’s previous foes, the Dunmires don’t play by any recognizable rules, old-world or otherwise.
Jeremiah established his terrifying nature early in the season. The premiere episode ended with the shocking murder of Theodore “Theo” Montague, the previous owner of the distillery Dwight acquired. This set the tone for a villain who is cold, deliberate, and acts without hesitation.
A Different Kind of Villain
So, what makes Jeremiah so frightening to a seasoned mafioso like Dwight? Robert Patrick, who plays Jeremiah, explained that his character is on “another whole level” of menace. While many might make violent threats, Jeremiah follows through with chilling precision.
“I’ve said oftentimes, ‘I’ll burn you and your house down,’ but I didn’t literally do it. This guy’s another whole level, right?… When he actually meets me, and I do give him that, and I let him know my intent: ‘Listen, you’re intruding in my life, intruding in my business like this, I’m obligated now with what I have to do? These are the next steps, and I will destroy you,’” Patrick said in an interview.
This is not a bluff. In Episode 3, titled “The G and the OG,” Jeremiah orders his son, Cole, to burn a rival alive inside his own home. This act of brutal violence confirms that Jeremiah’s threats are always real.
The Psychology of Fear on Display
The dynamic of fear was on full display during a tense face-to-face meeting between the two characters in Episode 2. In that scene, Dwight tells Jeremiah, “You’re afraid.” According to Patrick’s analysis, this was not a moment of strength for Dwight, but rather a moment of psychological projection.
“I think he’s trying to work himself out of being fearful of Jeremiah by saying to him, literally, ‘You’re afraid.’ And that’s how I saw it when I read the scene: He’s trying to make me afraid, when actually, he’s really met a formidable adversary,” Patrick explained.
This flip reveals that Dwight, the master of intimidation, is the one who is truly fearful. He is attempting to regain control by projecting his own fear onto his enemy, a tactic that appears to have little effect on the unshakeable Jeremiah.
The Threat to Dwight’s Empire
Jeremiah’s menace is not just personal; it’s a direct threat to the criminal empire Dwight has painstakingly built in Oklahoma. The Dunmires have already struck a significant blow by stealing Dwight’s most valuable asset: a cache of pristine, 50-year-old bourbon known as “The Fifty.”
In the third episode, Jeremiah’s son Cole and his men brutally beat Dwight’s crew member, Tyson, to discover the location of the secret bourbon stash. With the valuable barrels now in Dunmire hands, Dwight’s entire business model is in jeopardy. In response, a furious Dwight has promised, “Dunmire won’t,” live, setting the stage for an all-out war.
A Villain with Layers
While Jeremiah is initially presented as an almost unstoppable force, Robert Patrick has teased that audiences will eventually see cracks in the character’s armor.
“I think you’ll start to see me unraveling, and then I do have some nicks in my armor that are going to be exposed, and you will start to see me be a little bit more vulnerable,” the actor shared. “But I think in the first maybe [Episodes] 1 through 6, I think I’m still pretty headstrong, that I’ve got this handled.”
This suggests that while Jeremiah currently has the upper hand, the battle for Tulsa is far from over. For now, however, he stands as Taylor Sheridan’s darkest villain yet, a coldly calculating force that has successfully made “The General” feel afraid.
Also Read: Tulsa King Season 3 Episode 4: What Happens After Tyson’s Kidnapping?
