In episode 1 of Landman Season 2, Cami announced her arrival at M-Tex with quite a fiery speech. Cooper struck gold as the sites that he had chosen to dig wells at were poised to yield a whole lot of oil. Ainsley’s candidature at Texas Christian University was accepted. Since that meant that Ainsley would be at Fort Worth, not Midland, Angela decided that she needed to get in touch with a realtor so that she could build a mansion in Fort Worth and stay close to her daughter. The fact that Tommy had essentially become the head of M-Tex had gone to Angela’s head, and she thought that they were swimming in money, whereas the fact of the matter was that he was dealing with the bad business decisions Monty had made prior to his death. Since there was no point arguing with Angela, Tommy kept mum until they reached home. He got a call from Cooper, who wanted to discuss the topic of the oil wells, and told him to join his family for a little dinner party to celebrate Ainsley’s college admission. That’s where Angela brought up the topic of the realtor again, and this time Tommy had no choice but to shut down that proposition. Angela reacted to that by going on an explosive rant, which prompted everyone in her vicinity to run for cover. When things cooled down, Tommy got a call from Amarillo and he learned that his mother, Dorothy, had passed away. At Prairie View Assisted Living, Thomas, got the same news. Did episode 2 shed some light on this individual’s relationship with Tommy? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Cooper Strikes Gold, Again
In episode 2 of Landman Season 2, we see Cooper at one of his sites overseeing an oil drilling operation. He asks his crew about the kind of progress they are making, and a few seconds later, oil comes gushing out of the ground, thereby answering his question. In fact, given the intensity with which the oil bursts out, Cooper gets drenched in it. Hence, he has no other option but to head back home and clean himself. As he heads home, we see that Ariana is worried sick because she has not been able to get him on the phone, which has evidently been ruined by the oil. She almost commences a rant after spotting Cooper in the driveway, but when she notices that he is covered in oil, she cools her jets and asks him what happened. Cooper, who is in tears, explains that every single spot that they targeted has given them a productive oil well. To normies like us, this sounds like cause for celebration, but the reason why Cooper is crying is because he is afraid that this is too much for him to handle. Oil drilling isn’t a case of trial and error where you go around digging anywhere you want and hope that you strike gold. You have to consult with geologists to assess an area and then drill strategically so that you don’t give away the fact that you are about to become a millionaire, as that attracts a lot of trouble. Cooper can sense the mistake he has made, which is why he isn’t exactly overjoyed about the fact that he has multiple wells pumping out tons of oil.
Ariana Wants To Break Up With Cooper
Cooper’s lack of confidence in himself when it comes to handling all those oil wells rubs off on Ariana, and even though she is focusing on helping Cooper get cleaned up, an idea begins to form in her head: living with Cooper will be detrimental to her and Miguel. I thought that she was going to have a conversation about this after mulling over it for a while, but she just says that she doesn’t want to live with Cooper anymore while he is in the middle of taking a bath with dish soap. She clearly states that she isn’t built for a life of opulence. She has lost people because of their thirst for money. And she doesn’t want to go through that cycle again. This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love Cooper. Actually, she loves Cooper so much that she can’t bear to see the corruption of Cooper’s soul because of this oil. I think if Ariana had tried to cheer Cooper up and urged him to stay on the path to becoming a millionaire, she would have been labeled a gold digger. Now that she has chosen to break up with Cooper, I am afraid that she’ll be harshly judged for being a “confused woman” who can’t let people enjoy things. The way I see it, I think she’s totally right. Life isn’t about having too much; it’s about having enough to live comfortably. The moment you choose opulence over comfort, things tend to go wrong. Every human should have enough money to not have to think about whether they have enough money, but we shouldn’t have so much money that the focus of our lives becomes tax evasion. By the way, just in case Cooper and the audience haven’t got Ariana’s message, the following day, Ariana clearly tells Cooper to move out.
Tommy Deals With Multiple Issues
While heading out to his mother’s funeral, which is happening in Lamesa, Tommy gets a hold of Boss (yes, that’s his name) and tells him that the Barlow Brothers have gone bankrupt. Since the land they leased is right next to M-Tex’s, Tommy wants Boss to see if it can be bought for 60 cents on the dollar. Boss isn’t very confident about it, because the pumpjacks installed there are not of good quality, and replacing them will be a headache. Tommy tells Boss that he won’t have to deal with this alone, Dale will go along with him. That said, they have to work together to make sure that the land is assessed properly and see to it that it is worth the money they are about to put on the table. On that note, Tommy parts ways with Boss and hits the road. While fussing about why the radio isn’t playing music, he gets a call from Angela, who wants to make sure if he is alright after learning about his mother’s death. Tommy assures her that he is fine and that he wants to get the funeral done with as quickly as possible because he doesn’t really have any feelings for the deceased woman. After they hang up, Tommy gets another call; this time it is Cooper, and he wants some advice from his dad about his professional as well as his personal life. Tommy asks if they can talk about it when he returns from the funeral, but Cooper makes it abundantly clear that at least one of his issues needs to be dealt with immediately. So, even though Cooper is at a cafe which is in the opposite direction to where Tommy is headed, he makes a U-turn and tells Cooper that he’ll meet him within an hour. As if all of these problems aren’t enough, Cami gets served. Therefore, while making a pit stop at a gas station, Tommy gets on a conference call with Cami, Rebecca, and Nathan to assess the kind of trouble they are facing and how they are going to deal with it. Rebecca says that there was a gas well off the coast of Louisiana that blew out. M-Tex got a $420 million settlement from the insurance company, but as per company policy, that money should be used to drill another well. Now, the issue is that nobody has any idea where that $420 million is.
Nathan And Rebecca Have A Tiff
Nathan says that he is going to analyse the paper trail or the digital footprint of the aforementioned $420 million and see what they can do. In the meantime, Rebecca is going to sit down with the plaintiff and their attorney, inform them about the change in power at M-Tex, and assure them that Cami is willing to sign off on drilling for a gas well with the aforementioned money. Tommy says that he’ll be returning to Fort Worth the next day. So, until then, Rebecca has to work on buying them some time. Nathan isn’t okay with Rebecca meeting the plaintiff and their attorney on her own, because she has no knowledge about drilling oil wells; and he wants to go with her for that meeting. Tommy tells Nathan to sit this one out and focus on the documents, because Rebecca doesn’t need to have intricate knowledge about oil drilling to keep the plaintiff at bay; she just needs to beat around the bush until Tommy can return and take the reins. When all of them hang up, Nathan again expresses his displeasure over Rebecca attending the meeting without him, but Rebecca puts him in her place because, technically, she is his senior. All this tension is defused by Ainsley and Angela, albeit unintentionally, as the daughter veers the conversation into cheerleading territory while the mother shows off her amazing ability to not remember Nathan’s name. Once Angela and Ainsley exit the house, because they are teaching aerobics at an old age home, Rebecca tells Nathan that they need to get an office so as to avoid running into the mother-daughter duo on a daily basis. Although Nathan was at loggerheads with Rebecca a few seconds ago, he agrees with her that getting an office away from the Norris household is a good idea.
Tommy Learns About Cooper’s Oil Wells
Tommy meets up with Cooper, and they head over to one of the sites where the latter and his team have dug a well. Marty welcomes them, and as they begin to talk, it becomes pretty clear that Cooper has been doing this oil well operation without keeping Tommy in the loop. He says that he “cobbled together some leases,” assembled a crew, and then just began digging at six sites. Tommy doesn’t express any kind of shock at that but when he learns that all six of spots that Cooper and his team have drilled into are yielding millions of dollars worth of oil, he starts to express some fear. Tommy knows that Cooper didn’t have the money to finance so much equipment. So, he asks him about the company that is bankrolling all this. Cooper says that he is being financed by Sonrisa, an establishment based in Odessa. And when Tommy hears the cut this company is going to get versus the amount that Cooper is going to be left with, he tells his son, point blank, that he has been scammed. Tommy tells Cooper that he should have come to him before going ahead with his plan in such a haphazard manner. Cooper argues that if he had asked Tommy for advice, he wouldn’t have allowed Cooper to do anything. Tommy underscores the fact that, for a change, that would have been the sensible thing to do, because it would have prevented Cooper from walking into a trap. However, what’s done is done and Tommy needs some time to assess the consequences of Cooper’s actions. He tells Cooper to accompany him on his trip to Lamesa so that he can read his contract with Sonrisa, while Cooper drives. While browsing through it, Tommy calls up Nathan–who seems to be on the brink of pulling out what little hair he has on his head over the insurance money–and gives him the job of finding some info on Sonrisa. Tommy doesn’t tell Nathan why he wants him to do it, and Nathan, without asking any further questions, starts working on this new task while continuing to investigate the insurance money case.
Tommy Gives Cooper Some Sane Advice
With that Sonrisa business out of the way, at least for the time being, Tommy focuses on Cooper’s relationship issues with Ariana. After listening to him talk about Ariana’s conundrum, the advice that Tommy gives is surprisingly rational and wholesome. Tommy says that Ariana’s apprehensions are perfectly sensible, because he has seen money destroy many families. So, there’s no question of disparaging Ariana’s fears because she isn’t happy about Cooper becoming rich. Instead, Cooper should have a proper conversation with her, but Tommy says that it doesn’t necessarily need to be a dialogue. In this situation, Ariana needs to feel that she is an equal partner in Cooper’s success (let’s call it a potential success, because we still don’t know the degree to which he has been scammed) and that Cooper will take her opinions into consideration. What commonly happens when one half of a couple earns more than the other, is the former takes the steering wheel, putting the latter in the backseat. That leads to toxicity and then breakup or divorce. Ariana has anticipated that, which is why she has decided to part ways before this rollercoaster ride begins. That said, if Cooper truly loves Ariana, he has to assure her that he’ll always listen to what she has to say. Yes, Cooper isn’t the best communicator, but you don’t always need to use your words to show that you have been listening to your partner; you can do the same through your actions. Going by Cooper’s reactions, it seems like Tommy’s words impacted him positively, and he is thankful that he has a father who can give such sane advice.
Angela And Ainsley Are Detained
At Western Skies, Angela and Ainsley can be seen hosting an aerobics class, which is followed by a drinking session. That’s when two inspectors from the THHSC (Texas Health And Human Services) show up and they are horrified to see Angela and Ainsley serving alcohol to all those old people. Of course Angela and Ainsley get into a tiff with the inspectors and they end up physically assaulting both of them. While the mother-daughter duo’s students are incredibly happy about this, the inspectors aren’t. So, they call the police and have Angela and Ainsley detained. While all this is going on, we briefly see Rebecca ruthlessly dealing with the plaintiff’s team of attorneys. Once they have bent to her will, Rebecca leaves. That said, on her way out, she gets an offer to join the company that’s suing M-Tex because the attorneys were under the impression that their case was airtight until Rebecca tore it to shreds. Even though Rebecca declines the offer, because she needs to show that she is not a sellout, she is advised to take a visiting card so that when she starts to feel that M-Tex isn’t paying her enough, she has a backup plan. The focus of the episode then shifts to Tommy and Cooper, who have arrived at the Watson-Malloy Funeral Home to pick out a casket for Dorothy. This is where Tommy gets a call from Sheriff Walt as he wants to let him know that his wife and daughter have been arrested for assaulting a couple of THHSC officers. After getting a good idea of the events that led to that altercation, Tommy comes to the conclusion that Angela and Ainsley are completely innocent and should be freed. Walt has no choice but to follow Tommy’s order, and he lets the ladies go. The funeral home owner is disturbed by the sound of Tommy yelling at Walt. Hence, he rushes over to the casket room to ensure that Tommy doesn’t go empty-handed because he is in a bad mood anyway. Tommy and the funeral home owner’s interaction is quietly hilarious and even a bit endearing, because it’s evident that the latter really does care about people (especially those who are grieving in their own way), and he is not in this business just for the money.
Gallino Has Bankrolled Cooper’s Oil Wells
In the ending of Landman Season 2 episode 2, Tommy and Cooper arrive at Prairie View to meet Thomas and let him know about the casket and the funeral. Through their conversation, we finally learn that Thomas is Tommy’s father (Sam Elliot is 11 years older than Billy Bob Thornton, by the way) and Cooper’s grandfather. While heading back home, we also learn that Thomas was an abusive father, while Dorothy was a cokehead. That’s one of the reasons why Tommy keeps both Cooper and Ainsley at a distance, because he is afraid that he is going to transfer the pain and suffering that he has endured at Thomas’ hands onto his kids. From the looks of it, he hasn’t. That said, he advises Cooper to think long and hard before deciding to raise Miguel, Ariana’s son, because there’s a good chance that there are some qualities of Tommy (that are a result of Thomas’ abuse) that are lying dormant in Cooper which he might inadvertently pass on to Miguel. Cooper assures Tommy that, as a dad, he has done a good job and that he should be proud of himself and his children. That said, in order to do some of that introspection that Tommy has advised him to, and to give Ariana some space, Cooper moves into the Norris household. It’s not peaceful enough to do any kind of thinking, and Cooper gets into a tiff with Ainsley because of her hyperactivity. Ainsley in turn reprimands Tommy for letting Cooper into the house. Thankfully, Nathan cuts through this family drama and provides Tommy with some documents on Sonrisa. The money supposedly comes from a fund in Dallas, and the fund manager is Gallino. While conveying this info to Cooper, Tommy says that they are in a lot of trouble. Yes, that’s the same Gallino who saved Tommy from being killed by Jimenez, and he promised that they are about to embark on a beautiful journey together. I was surprised that he didn’t show up in the first episode itself. But yeah, it’s apparent that he has been working in the background and he has subtly used Cooper to get the upper hand over Tommy. He knows that Tommy will do anything to safeguard Cooper, and that’ll give him the opportunity to make him bend to his will. Gallino is a powerful gangster, but it’s evident that he hasn’t been able to put his foot in the door when it comes to all the oil business happening in Texas. Tommy is an expert at this, and if Gallino can put a leash on him, he can force Tommy to help him become a billionaire. Will Tommy partner up with Gallino or will he cut his losses and kill the deal between Gallino and Cooper? Also, with Cami seemingly taking matters into her own hands regarding the $420 million settlement, will Tommy remain too focused on saving Cooper from Gallino’s clutches to keep Cami from doing something stupid? I suppose we’ll have to wait till next week to get the answers to these questions. What are your thoughts on this week’s episode though? Let me know in the comments section below.
