Abhiroop Das
Created by Taylor Sheridan, the second season of ‘Landman‘ follows Tommy Norris as he navigates the boomtowns of West Texas to manage M-Tex after Monty Miller’s passing. As one secret after another is unearthed in the Norris family, pressure builds from Cami, nearly pushing Tommy to the brink. The previous episode ends with Cami and Dan Morrell, AKA Gallino, making contact with Cami at last, while Tommy loses his allies left and right. In episode five of the sophomore season, titled ‘The Pirate Dinner,’ his inner turmoil is brought to the surface, and both his family and company gear up for something huge. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Norris Family Tries to Heal its Cracks
‘Landman’ season 2 episode 5 begins with T.L. facing the morning sun, this time not from Prairie View Assisted Living, but Tommy’s home. While things are currently at ease, Angela knows that she needs to lighten the mood before all hell breaks loose between father and son once again. The plan is to host a grand supper, and to finalize the theme, Angela heads straight to T.L., quizzing him about his death-row meal. When the patriarch replies with a string of seafood delicacies, Angela decides to mold her party in the image of pirates. Tommy isn’t too keen on this development, knowing how wild the parties can get, but hopes that it will have a positive impact on his father.
Elsewhere, Cooper and Ariana wake up to a cozy morning, musing about their future. While Cooper is soon to be a rich man, he realizes that his paycheck hasn’t quite arrived yet, and that bugs him. However, the conversation quickly changes gear when the prospect of a serious relationship is brought up once again. This time, Ariana is crystal clear about wanting complete committment, which indicates marriage. While Cooper is eager to say yes to tying the knot, his partner reminds him that there are steps, and the first one is to go to her father and ask for his approval. Not sure of how Ariana’s parents feel about him, Cooper determines to brave through it all, but not before talking to his own father.
Tommy Realizes That His Son Has Been Played
More trouble brews for Tommy and his company when he discovers a collection of invoices from Cooper’s investments in the oil rigs, which are directed to M-Tex, not Sonrisa. Suspecting foul play, Tommy brings up the subject in his conversation with his son, only to realize that Gallino has played the young man. While he is superficially in charge of funding the entire operation, he intentionally withholds payment, letting the debt stack up while simultaneously raking in his share of the company. Realizing that he has made a blunder, Cooper comes clean to his father, revealing that he has assembled an entire crew on the assurance that he is a Norris family member and that they will be paid.
Tommy only has one solution in mind for his son’s crisis, that being an M-Tex takeover. While he prepares to cover all of the payments, this also means that Cooper’s enormous wealth, as such, is now gone. Although he is hesitant to fall back into season one’s cycle as an M-Tex employee, Cooper has no real choice, and bids his imaginary fortune goodbye. From there, Tommy next heads to the site of the accident that we saw in the previous episode. He is particularly infuriated that the Sheriff didn’t tell him first, and instead alerted Rebecca about it. While the accident is largely the mystery-car’s fault, the M-Tex truck was also speeding, which can lead to trouble for the company. Still reeling from the fallout of the H2S scandal from the previous episodes, Tommy realizes that he is losing his iron grip on the company.
Elsewhere, Angela and Ainsley return to the old-age home where they volunteer after the police controversy in episode 2. Angela has lied about her birth date being today to get her elderly friends active and celebratory. While the cake-cutting ceremony goes perfectly, the birthday gifts prove to be increasingly perverse, adding to the scene’s comedic dosage. At home, T.L. is sunbathing when he chances upon Shelby, a friend of Ainsley. When she praises T.L. for his voice, the conversation quickly becomes flirty, and T.L. looks pleased to have some fresh company in life. However, for Tommy and M-Tex, things go from bad to worse, as Rebecca’s second round of negotiations with the insurance company fails. Instead of settling for the original deal, they tighten their demands instead, asking M-Tex to produce a rig in 45 days or risk bankruptcy.
Cami Makes a Deal With the Devil
As Tommy makes his way to Gallino to sort out the Cooper situation, he gets an urgent call from Rebecca, who relays the new developments. A meeting is set up with Cami, but first, the landman has a score to settle. Gallino appears to be waiting for him and playfully brushes off allegations of intentionally playing with Cooper’s business. While Tommy has it under control for now, he realizes that his options are far more limited in the battle for $400 million. Gallino doesn’t let go of the pressure either and illustrates how any other route other than his own is destined to take M-Tex down, one way or another. Still, as if delaying the inevitable, Tommy chooses to stay out of trouble, but only for so long.
At the meeting, both Nathan and Rebecca believe that the deal with Dan Morrell’s company, Angelus Investments, is a smash hit, but Tommy knows a little too much. Realizing that he must reveal the truth to Cami, he empties the room before recounting how he earlier made a shady agreement with Dan, who is really Gallino, to save his own life. While Cami is shocked by the news, her desperation for funds soon takes over. Hoping for plausible accountability, she reiterates her wish to sign the deal. When Tommy presses harder, Cami retorts sharply, reminding him that she is the one in control of the company. With the cartel deal now an inevitability, Tommy realizes that his professional life is about to take a turn for the worse.
Cooper and Ariana are All Set to Tie the Knot
While M-Tex’s fate is being decided, Cooper drives all the way to the coastline, where he is supposed to find Ariana’s family. And though that doesn’t prove to be a hard task, he is still barely able to open up about his wish to marry Ariana. Gearing up to ask for her dad’s blessings, he ends up subverting this whole plot beat. Turns out, Ariana’s family respects her individual decisions, and Cooper didn’t really need to ask for permission, as such. This entire thing was a test of committment, and Cooper appears to have passed. Here, we also get a glimpse into her family situation, with her father struggling with jobs, and her mother battling cancer. These glimpses help further contextualize Ariana’s character to an extent.
Meanwhile, by pure chance, Tommy winds up at The Patch Cafe, where he appears to be familiar with the senior bartenders. Ariana’s presence there comes as a surprise, and the two strike up an awkward conversation that ends with her getting a two-hundred-dollar tip. It is clear that he respects her sense of initiative and has already given his personal go-ahead to her and Cooper’s marriage. Back home after a particularly weary day, Tommy is surprised to find pirate-based augmentations taking root everywhere. Not only is the cuisine tailored to the theme, but the entire house is also decorated to evoke the ambiance of a ship, complete with costumes and a real sword. With a joyous mood and delicious food to boot, both Tommy and his family realize that they are enjoying family time in its truest sense.
Read More: Is Landman a True Story? Is Tommy Norris Based on a Real Landman?
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