Landman season 2, episode 1 saw Cami prove to a room full of investors and bank managers just how tough she is, while Cooper finally watched his dream start to become a reality out in the field. Meanwhile, Ainsley managed to get into university thanks to her father’s connections, and Angela began making demands for a house fit for an oil company president. And with the introduction of T.L., Tommy's father, his life is made harder from all sides.
Episode 2 picks up right where the premiere left off, shifting its focus to the cost of ambition. Cooper may be riding the high of hitting oil, but the episode wastes no time showing how fragile that victory is. And Tommy has to plan a funeral while dealing with more money issues at M-Tex.
Cooper continues living the dream in Landman season 2 episode 2
Or is he? For a moment, it looks like everything he’s ever hoped for is finally happening. All six wells his crew dug in that field hit oil, but he seems worried things are too good to be true. At home, it looks like history is repeating itself — Ariana is angry he’s not answering her calls, sitting alone all day and slipping back into that familiar fear of not knowing where he is or if he’s okay. Much like his mother would reproach his father.
He reaches out to Tommy to talk through his problems. Proving his father's point that he's too new to the oil business and not exactly able to handle it by himself. He partnered with a sketchy company that paid for the construction of his wells, expecting a small percentage of the profit. He has a contract that no one but himself looked over, and everything suggests it might connect to Gallino.
As for his problem with Ariana kicking him out of her house, Tommy shares from his experience. He urges his son to sit and listen to her instead of trying to fix everything on his own, to make her dream come true for once. Money ruins families, Tommy warns, and they’re the best example.
One problem might be easy to fix, but Cooper's budding business is hanging by a thread. Just as Tommy must have feared, Nate's digging reveals that Sonrisa is owned by Gallino, making him officially Cooper’s partner.
Landman season 2 episode 2 gives us a father and son heart to heart
Tommy delayed his trip to plan his mother's funeral because Cooper needed to talk, and now they both are heading north. After picking a coffin, Tommy and Cooper go see T.L. The old man opens up about a time when Tommy’s mother was different from how Tommy knew her — a bright light, prettier than the sunsets T.L. so loves. Something later shifted in her, and T.L. even tells Cooper it's best he never met his grandma.
On the drive back home, Tommy tells his son a bit about his troubled childhood. His father worked the rigs his entire life, and Tommy is bitter about him working himself into becoming a cripple. But the dissatisfaction goes both ways — T.L. thinks Tommy is cheating people for a job.
But the revelations don't stop there. The mother Tommy knew turns out to have been a drug addict, and T.L. turned to drinking to deal with it, taking his frustration out on Tommy. Tommy says the way a father raises his son becomes the way that son will raise his own son — a cycle that's almost impossible to break. He claims he only avoided it, never truly broke it.
When Cooper steps in, the moment softens. They finally have a heart to heart, and Cooper tells him he loves him, and that Tommy did his best to raise him — “and your best is good enough for me.”
M-Tex has more money problems for Cami and Tommy to figure out
Back at M-Tex, Cami receives a court citation — and her guards nearly shoot the messenger. It’s a breach of agreement: a well blew out, M-Tex got insurance money to drill another well, and that replacement well was never drilled. Now they need to find where the money went before this turns into a trial.
Cami spends the night digging through Monty’s papers, hunting for anything that explains the missing funds. Meanwhile, tension keeps building between Rebecca and Nate. He thinks she’s the wrong person to negotiate when she doesn’t know the business, but the whole idea is that negotiating is exactly what she does well. Tommy gives her due credit.
M-Tex might have been able to keep problems at bay for now, but for Cooper's new business, things aren't looking so good. Will he ever be able to get out of Gallino's grip?