In episode 9 of Landman Season 2, Ainsley had an “unpleasant” encounter with her roommate at TCU, Paigyn, and although she was advised by Greta to adjust to them, Ainsley decided to rope Angela into this situation. Instead of giving her daughter the same advice that Greta did, Angela decided to shift Ainsley as well as her whole cheerleading team to a posh hotel, thereby preventing her from growing as a person. We witnessed some progress in Thomas and Cheyenne’s relationship; it was platonic because neither of them had any romance left in them. Cami fired Tommy from M-Tex because he wasn’t enthusiastic enough about the offshore gas drilling project that she had greenlit with Dan’s money. Tommy didn’t react or retort; he just silently watched the rig being hauled into the Gulf like he was watching the future of M-Tex getting dragged into the depths of the sea. In addition to all that, Cooper got into a physical altercation with Johnny while trying to stop him from raping Ariana. How were these plot threads furthered in the finale? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Nate Resigns From M-Tex
Tommy informs Thomas that he has been fired from M-Tex, which prompts Thomas to ask the most obvious question: what does Tommy intend to do next? Tommy says that working for a different company won’t be a major problem. But Tommy isn’t sure if he wants to keep working anymore. He doesn’t want to go back to being a landman. And he doesn’t have enough savings to retire because that money has gone up in flames thanks to Angela. Dale joins this conversation and asks Tommy if he can do something to help him out with this situation. Since Dale is working on Cooper’s wells, which have been leased by M-Tex, Tommy tells him to focus on that and let him figure things out. That said, the topic of Cooper’s wells triggers an epiphany in Tommy, and he rushes to Nate to tell him to give those contracts to him, because they have only been signed by him, not Cami. Nate tries to explain the legal implications of doing so and Tommy just says that he’ll hand him a check that’ll motivate him to take care of all those issues. Their conversation is interrupted by a semi-naked Cheyenne walking around in the kitchen, which causes Tommy to wonder if something raunchy has happened between her and Thomas. However, Thomas clarifies that her car broke down; hence, she slept with him for the night, and by sleep he does mean slumber, not something sexual. Dale says that he’ll get her car running in no time. In the meantime, Nate gets a call from Cami. Nate informs Tommy that Cami wants him in Fort Worth; Nate assumes that he’s going to get fired, but Tommy says that she’s probably going to make him president of M-Tex.
While Nate ponders on that, Tommy takes the documents for Cooper’s wells and heads out. He tells Dale to put a hold on all activities around Cooper’s wells until he says otherwise, and he advises Cheyenne to put on some clothes, because she is riling up the people in the neighborhood. After hitting the road, Tommy tells the M-Tex aircraft’s pilot to not take off until he gets there. Since word of Tommy’s firing probably hasn’t reached the pilot’s ears yet, he decides to oblige Tommy’s request. Tommy then calls up Bob and sets up a meeting with him. Finally, he reaches the airport and boards the plane with Nate. He tries to get an idea of why Tommy is going to Fort Worth as well, but Tommy keeps things under wraps because he doesn’t want to jinx his plan before he is even close to executing it. Nate and Tommy part ways at the airport, and the former goes straight to his meeting with Cami. As predicted by Tommy, Cami offers Nate the post of the president of M-Tex and Nate, without even taking a beat to process that information, tenders his resignation. On his way out, Nate tells Cami that Monty never intended for M-Tex to outlive him; he wanted to make it so big that he could sell it and live out the rest of his life without thinking about earning another penny. Something went wrong in Monty’s mission and, well, the company ended up outliving him. That doesn’t mean that it should outlive Cami too. Nate says if Cami wants to sell the company, he and maybe even Tommy can help her with that. If Cami wants anything else other than that, she is on her own.
Ainsley and Paigyn Become Friends
Bella tells Dan that she is going to meet Angela in order to lift her mood, because she’s sad that Ainsley is growing up. Dan tells Bella to question Angela about Tommy’s fate, just to get a vibe of what’s going on at Tommy’s end, and Bella says that she fully intends to. So, while ordering at the restaurant, Bella slowly and steadily gauges how much Angela knows about Tommy’s departure from M-Tex, and once she’s sure that Angela is completely in the dark, she drops the bombshell. Angela immediately calls Tommy and it seems like she’s about to have a fight with him, but Tommy pacifies her by saying that he’s going to fix everything without relying on alcohol, which is something that he did in the past when he hit a rough patch. Angela accepts Tommy’s apology and his promise of “fixing everything.” Once Angela hangs up, Tommy, who is barely keeping it together, does a “Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter” routine (from Bruce Almighty) while he’s on the expressway, and that’s exactly when a massive pile-up traffic collision happens. Tommy is unhurt, but he realizes that he shouldn’t toy with the Almighty when he’s already having a bad day, and I have to say that I legitimately cackled for a minute straight after watching this whole thing unfold. Speaking of Ainsley, I am going to admit that I jumped the shark last week while criticizing Taylor Sheridan’s critique of “wokeness,” because as it turns out, he intentionally made Paigyn and Ainsley clash with each other in an extreme fashion so that their eventual union feels heartwarming. In this episode, when I saw Ainsley heading for her daily exercises in the stadium with her team, and Paigyn doing the rounds of the grounds to check if anyone needs any medical help or refreshments, I thought that the show was going to double down on their rivalry.
But to my and, I guess, everyone’s surprise, when Ainsley is taking a break, Paigyn calls her over and puts athletic tape on her ankles so that she has better stability while performing some of the understandably difficult cheerleading exercises. They also give her a rudimentary diet plan so that she doesn’t crumble under the immense physical pressure. Ainsley stays neutral about this gesture; however, during practice, when she notices a bunch of kids who think passing sexually explicit remarks and misgendering people is cool, she goes up to them and stands up for her teammates, which includes Paigyn. Ainsley gets a pat on the back from the coach for doing that on the first day of practice, and then Paigyn approaches her with the intention of burying the hatchet and living together as roommates. Ainsley accepts the olive branch and says that they can surely work something out and reach a middle ground where their room is a safe space for Paigyn and also a place that makes Ainsley comfortable, thereby underscoring the fact that coexistence is key. When Ainsley tells Angela about her decision to stay with Paigyn, she’s sad about it, but I can’t emphasize how glad I am to see this whole subplot taking such a positive turn. While Angela’s worldview is set in stone, Ainsley’s is clearly more flexible, and the same can be said about Paigyn, which is why Angela thinks that the only way to live in this world is by molding things to fit her preferences, while Ainsley and Paigyn are willing to work through their differences so as to find an amicable solution to their problems. I hope this sends the right message to everyone and, instead of letting their prejudices guide their hand, they echo the type of humanity that’s been displayed by Ainsley and Paigyn.
Johnny Is Dead
Cooper brings Miguel home from Isabel’s house while a bruised and battered Ariana wakes up. After some chitchat, Cooper, as politely as he possibly can, requests that Ariana not go back to the Patch Cafe to work. He says that he is ready to pay all the bills and support any passion that she wants to turn into her profession, but, for her sake, he doesn’t want to go back to that dreadful place. Ariana puts that discussion on the backburner for now, because they need to go to the police station to file formal charges against Johnny for what he did. At the station, Ariana is made to strip to her underwear, and while one officer asks her to verbally replay the assault, another officer takes detailed pictures of the injuries on her body. Ariana is visibly uncomfortable, but it’s part of the process, so she has to get through it. Meanwhile, Cooper is taken to an interview room by two investigators who want to go over some of the details of the altercation with Johnny. Instead of supporting what Cooper did to the rapist, the investigators, oddly enough, seem to focus way too much on how many times Cooper punched Johnny.
Because, as per the investigators, Cooper kept hitting Johnny even when he wasn’t a threat. Cooper defends himself by saying that he wasn’t in the state of mind to judge if Johnny was a danger to Ariana anymore or not; he had seen what Johnny was trying to do to Ariana and he did what he thought was right. While all this is going on, Ariana is seen getting impatient because, based on what’s been captured on the CCTV camera, this is an open-and-shut case and there’s no point in questioning her or Cooper. Ariana asks one of the officers to check what’s causing the delay, and, after talking to the investigators, he tells Ariana that she has to wait. The officer even says that he can drop her off at her home if the station is too uncomfortable for her, but Ariana chooses to stay until Cooper’s grilling is done. While she’s waiting, she spots Barney, who tells her that Johnny has succumbed to the injuries inflicted upon him by Cooper, which is why she needs to get in touch with a lawyer before the investigators charge Cooper for manslaughter.
Rebecca Goes Berserk On The Investigators
Ariana calls Rebecca and gives her the lowdown on what has happened so far, even though their last conversation, which was centered around Ariana’s compensation after her first husband’s death, didn’t go that well. Rebecca clearly doesn’t hold on to grudges for too long, and she understands the severity of this situation too. So, she tells Ariana to go into the interview room where Cooper is being kept, tell him to stop talking, put the phone on loudspeaker, and then let her handle it from there. Ariana does exactly that and Rebecca, through the phone, lets the officers know that there’s a storm coming their way and there’s no point in preparing for it, because they’ve messed it up big time. While driving to Odessa PD, Rebecca informs Tommy about Cooper’s case and asks him to send any law enforcement officer that’s willing to bat for them to the station, just in case things get too hairy. Tommy hangs up on Rebecca, calls Sheriff Walt, and essentially orders him to arrange any and every piece of evidence that’ll help him save Cooper from being framed, and Walt obliges Tommy’s request because they go way back.
Walt and Rebecca reach the station almost at the same time and while Rebecca unleashes a flurry of legal punches on the investigators, Walt stands quietly by and watches. Of course, once Rebecca is done speaking her piece, Cooper gets to walk out of the station with Ariana, pretty much unscathed. And as soon as Rebecca leaves the room, Walt asks the question that all of us must have on our minds: why are these investigators on the side of a goddamn rapist? Well, because Johnny was a “big time pipeline supplier,” and whoever keeps these investigators on their payroll thinks that if such a guy is killed in an alley, it “sends the wrong message.” Hence, by putting Cooper on a cross, they tried to paint this image that nobody messes with people in the oil business. I mean, sure, if this was some petty crime that happened without any instigation, then this approach would have been somewhat acceptable. However, Johnny brutally hurt Ariana and sexually assaulted her. Any sane person would forget about who they are working for when the crime is this heinous, but I suppose when the police act like criminals themselves, morality becomes irrelevant to them. Rebecca calls up Tommy and tells him what has happened so far and Tommy then calls Walt and tells him to arrange a meeting with the investigators and the county attorney so that they can put this whole thing to bed instead of taking it to court.
Tommy Shakes Hands With Dan
Tommy meets Bob at a restaurant, and he gives him a concise description of the wells that Cooper has unearthed and the type of deal he’s trying to cut in order to stay afloat after being all but exiled from the oil business by Cami. Bob understands what Tommy is trying to do, but he doesn’t want to do business with someone who doesn’t have solid ground beneath his feet yet. If those wells are completely out of M-Tex’s hands, then maybe Bob will be willing to shake hands with Tommy. Until then, it’s a no-go. Tommy goes off to figure out a way how he can secure those wells without setting off the alarm bells at M-Tex, and as he’s walking out of the restaurant, Bob advises Tommy to just let go of those wells, join him without any baggage, and live out of the rest of his life as VP of Bob’s company. Tommy appreciates the fact that that option exists, but he wants to see if he has the grit to wrangle this beast of a situation that’s currently dragging him through the mud. Tommy gets a call from Angela, who is still yapping about Ainsley growing up, and he tells her to just meet him at the airport so that they can discuss whatever she’s feeling face-to-face. After hanging up on her, he calls Dan and sets a meeting with him. Why? Because he wants Dan to invest in his company. What company? The one whose name Tommy has just come up with: CTT Oil Exploration and Cattle.
Tommy convinces Dan that regardless of how sure he is that he’s going to recuperate the money that he has invested in M-Tex, he’s going to lose. Dan wonders how Tommy is still so sure of that, and Tommy essentially says that he has seen this exact scenario play out hundreds of times, and he knows that it’s going to happen again in the case of Dan and M-Tex. The offshore gas drilling project relies on a fluke, while Cooper’s wells are a sure-shot winner. So, there’s no question of which option is more attractive. Dan sees the light, and he shakes hands with Tommy. That said, Dan gives Tommy a disclaimer: if Tommy messes up the deal that he has struck with Dan, he’ll come for everything that he loves and cherishes and make Tommy regret this relationship. I like how this sort of echoes the ending of the first season, where Dan arrived seemingly out of nowhere to save Tommy from getting killed, and here he is again, saving Tommy from becoming irrelevant in the world of oil. And even though Tommy knows that Dan isn’t kidding when he says that he’ll create a river of blood if Tommy betrays him, Tommy accepts the deal, because that’s how desperate he is to defy fate. On that note, Tommy takes Dan’s leave and reunites with Nate and Angela. He tells Nate that they are back in business, and he assures Angela that he’ll always keep striving to help Angela get whatever she needs.
Tommy Starts His Own Oil Company
After landing in Midland, the first thing that Tommy does is give the detectives and attorney of Odessa PD an earful for harassing his son and backing a bloody rapist. Walt suggests that they go with the narrative that Johnny died of a heart attack and not that he was murdered by Cooper, because it is the truth, and once everyone present there is in agreement, Tommy goes off to meet his son and daughter-in-law. After exchanging a few words of encouragement, Tommy tells them to board his pickup truck and bring Miguel along with them too, because he has a big announcement to make. While taking them to one of Cooper’s wells, he asks Nate, Dale, Boss, BR, Russ, Thomas, Cheyenne, and Rebecca to arrive at that destination. Once everyone has gathered there, Tommy tells them that they have their own oil company now, thanks to Dan and Cooper. He gives a basic explanation of how the profits are going to be split and how much they have to fight in order to make their own space in this oversaturated market. He states that he himself will be the senior VP of CTT Oil Exploration and Cattle, Cooper will be the president, Nate will be the treasurer, Rebecca will be the COO and chief counselor, Dale will be the head of exploration, Thomas will oversee the drilling (with some technological help from Cheyenne), Boss will run the crews, and Ariana will be the office manager.
In the ending of Landman Season 2 episode 2, Tommy goes home to watch the sunset with Angela, and he gets melancholic because he knows that, looking at his own age, his chapter could come to a close any day. However, he has added some blank pages to his book and he is excited to fill them up as best as he can. Angela says that she’ll be beside him through thick and thin to motivate him to keep writing his story. When Angela heads into the house, Tommy gazes at the sunset and spots that coyote that keeps circling around his house, and he tells it, “Not today.” I think that coyote signifies Tommy’s end. It’s always on the horizon, waiting for him to lose his zeal, so that it can take him beyond the veil. Throughout this season, Tommy has been inclined to welcome that end. But there’s that saying that you don’t understand how much you value something until you have lost it. So, as long as Tommy had this job, he couldn’t wait to retire and leave this oil business in the rearview mirror. It’s only after he actually lost it that he understood that he still wanted to do more in this field. He got his mojo back, and he evidently intends to ride this high for as long as he physically can. Things are bound to get really complicated next season, but as long as Tommy is at the helm, watching the complicated machinations of this destructive profession will definitely be fun. Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the finale. If you have any opinions on the same that you want to share with us, let me know through the comments section below.
