All Roads Lead To A Hole – As the seventh episode of Landman begins, Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland) is released from the hospital. Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) asks Cooper to come home instead of going home with Ariana (Paulina Chavez). Tommy warns Ariana that there’s a big bull’s eye on Cooper’s back. The nurse says it’s just like Romeo and Juliet even though she’s never seen the play. Tommy tells her what happened. Ariana takes Cooper to her place where Lucia (Aixa Tovar) is waiting. Cooper doesn’t want to take Ariana’s room, but she says it’s the only one with a bed. She offers him something to eat but Cooper isn’t hungry. Ariana tells him he’s going to eat while he’s there. After the intro, Angela (Ali Larter) and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) attend an exercise class. Monty Miller (Jon Hamm) works out a deal with Danny Blanton (Duvall-DePasquale).

Danny tells him that the private banks won’t touch fossil fuels anymore. He claims he’s offering money the upside. At The Patch Café, Tommy complains about flying into Denver. He tells Dale (James Jordan) and Boss (Mustafa Speaks) a joke. Ellie (Robyn Lively) comes over to check on them. Moments later, Tommy tells Boss that Monty wants the work-over crews started. He says Monty and the Sheriff are aware of the cartel. Tommy asks Boss to use the gangsters. Monty calls Tommy who steps away from the table. Monty tells Tommy that Diamond wants to do a farm-out on a drill to earn. It would be along the Val Verde Basin. Tommy warns him that place is overrun by smugglers. He’d have to set up a fence and get security. Tommy says he’d have to bring on another eight crews and Monty’s split sucks. Tommy asks about the sage flats. Monty wants those going too. He claims he’s working on the unhappy drug dealers there.

Tommy tells Monty what he’s going to need if the deal is closed. Monty admits there won’t be a bank even though Tommy thought they weren’t doing that anymore. Monty tells Danny he gets 100% until he recoups. Then, he’ll get 70% for 12 months and 65% in perpetuity. Danny eventually has to accept the offer. Monty tells him he’ll have a contract on his desk by the end of the week. Ainsley tells Angela she pushed school back a week to build anticipation. They drive past Western Skies. Angela says that’s where you end up if your children don’t love you. Angela suggests they could go to CVS, get some games, and see the patients there. While they’re there, Angela talks to Bob (Grover Coulson) about his pecker. He walks her through the events at the facility. Ainsley talks to a woman who paints a crow. Angela leaves to visit the Michaels. She returns with games and drinks. An employee confronts her and tells her the patients can’t drink alcohol.

Angela says Ethel (Louanne Stephens) and the others are adults so they can make their own decisions. When the patients go to sleep, Angela and Ainsley leave. The worker, Margaret (Deidra Shanell) approaches them outside to ask when they’re coming back. She tells Angela to keep doing whatever she did because it’s the first time she’s seen Ethel smile. At the site, Dale tells Tommy they’re going to need more than one security guard. They’re approached by a cartel member who says they can’t drill until they’re paid back. There is a brief standoff before the cartel members leave. Dale complains that the security guard is a coward. He wants some real help out there. Angela calls Tommy to say she’s at The Patch. She asks Tommy to come and keep her company since Ainsley is out with friends. When Tommy arrives, he finds Angela flirting with a man and playing pool. Bonner learns he got fooled by Tommy’s wife.

Angela says she’s thinking about volunteering at the nursing home. Tommy warns her not to get too attached. Ainsley hangs out with Shelby (Audrey McGraw) who tells her about Ryder Sampson (Mitchell Slaggert). Shelby warns her that he’s tricky to pin down. Ryder approaches her and offers her a proper beer. They drink and talk about Tech which is where Ainsley is going. Ainsley says he’s getting into philanthropy because her husband is going to play quarterback in the NFL. Ryder is convinced he’s going to play in the NFL. Cooper gets up in the middle of the night and asks Ariana to join him in bed. He sleeps on top of the covers. Ariana makes him hug her because she hasn’t had a hug since the funeral. In the middle of the night, Angela wakes up Tommy to tell him to get Ainsley. Angela has been tracking her phone and she hasn’t moved in 45 minutes. Tommy takes her phone so he can try to find Ainsley. Nathan (Colm Feore) gives Tommy his opinion.

Ainsley makes out with Ryder and gets ready to remove his underwear. Before long, Tommy arrives and pulls Ryder from the truck. Ainsley asks Ryder to call her tomorrow. Tommy says don’t. Someone is watching them from a distance. In the truck, Tommy tells Ainsley to learn some self-control. Once they get back, Tommy tells Ainsley that she’s grounded. She already knows about the GPS tracker. Ariana wakes up next to Cooper. They begin making out. They have to stop when Norman arrives with Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace). Ariana is told she’ll have to sign or they’ll withhold payment to the other families. Cooper tries to find out what is going on. Ariana says she’s like Cooper to see it. Rachel soon learns that he’s Cooper Norris. She says they’ve been looking everywhere for him.

 

Landman Review

The seventh episode of Landman was another that really didn’t achieve anything. It’s almost unforgivable with episodes being released weekly. The pace is already glacial so weekly releases just make it easier to forget about the whole thing from week to week. Despite all the hype Taylor Sheridan’s shows receive, the engagement is always very, very low.

Unfortunately, this episode in particular was pretty bad because so many of the scenes were so idiotic. The show definitely isn’t for anyone with a standard or above-average intelligence level. The potential was here, but the script is too weak and many of the characters should’ve been killed in the initial explosion. The nursing home scenes were easily some of the dumbest in any modern television show.

It’s like the writers believe viewers don’t have the slightest bit of intelligence. There’s no depth here and no real emotion besides annoyance at the completely unrealistic and obnoxious characters. Landman would’ve been better without Angela and Ainsley, but it still needed a competent writer to come up with something that actually resembles a story. Through seven episodes, Landman has had one really strong episode.

The rest have had pieces of the core story scattered throughout if there is actually a core story here. We’re also still waiting for someone to drill oil, load oil, haul oil, and refine oil because that’s the setting and the primary purpose. Those things could receive more focus than some unrealistic wild-west standoff with cartel members and the female characters just grinding on anything with a heartbeat.

Again, we have a Taylor Sheridan show with lots of hype, but nothing really going on and not enough viewer interest to really sustain. Paramount seems to be okay taking a loss on all these shows for whatever reason. The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of Landman can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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