Dreamers And Losers – As the second episode of Landman begins, Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland) wakes up after the explosion. He gets to his phone so he can call for help. Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) talks to Nathan (Colm Feore) about smoking. Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) gets upset when he learns that Dakota Loving left. Dale Bradley (James Jordan) tells Tommy that someone called in a lightning strike on a holding tank. Dale goes to his room to get changed and finds Ainsley crying in the shower. She ends up hitting him and fleeing. Ainsley tells Tommy there’s a rapist in the bathroom. He checks on Dale who asks for an Aspirin. Dale asks him to explain the locks on the doors to his daughter. Downstairs, Tommy introduces Ainsley to Nathan who is an oil and gas attorney. He says Dale is a petroleum engineer. Tommy asks them to lock the doors.
Sheriff Walt Joeberg (Mark Collie) calls Tommy to tell him they had a blowout. Monty Miller (Jon Hamm) gets a call from Tommy telling him about the blowout. Tommy wants him to tell the attorney to get a rental car. Cami (Demi Moore) is busy swimming nearby. She tells Monty that she loves him. Tommy arrives at the scene and learns that Cooper blew his eardrums. Cooper doesn’t know if they shut the valve off. Tommy rushes in to shut off the valve. He gets it done although he damages his finger. Tommy tells Walt not to stop the ambulance. He wants a cigarette and a Dr. Pepper. Tommy calls and asks for a fire crew to come out to M-TEX 1422. He tells Walt he’s ready to go to the hospital. Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace) arrives at the airport and picks up her rental car. She thinks the car is a little excessive so she goes back inside to ask for something unassuming.
She’s told the vehicle won’t stand out in Midland although it might in Odessa. Angela Norris (Ali Larter) speaks to Tommy using video chat. Tommy tells her about the accident and Cooper. At the call, Dr. Skinner (Jake Olson) checks out Tommy’s injured finger. Skinner doesn’t want to cut it off so Tommy does it with a pocketknife. Walt calls Tommy to say he found one of the men, but he isn’t sure which one. He asks Tommy to come with him to notify the next of kin. Tommy checks on Cooper who tells him what happened. Tommy says this is a reason he might want to find another way to make a living. He says he has to drive over to Luis’s house to tell his family about the loss. Then, he’ll go to the other houses as well. Next, Tommy calls Monty to tell him the men were not independent contractors. He suspects the tank valve was rusted shut. Since the pump jack melted, OSHA won’t be able to come to any definite conclusion.
Tommy wants to offer 250 each to the families as a gift to get them through. Monty and Cami cheer on their daughter Gracie while she races. A Midland Police Officer (Victor Dobro) tells Tommy there’s a no-smoking sign outside the hospital. Tommy doesn’t care. After Gracie wins, Monty tells Tommy to do it. Tommy has another word with Officer Pete before leaving with Walt. Tommy calls Nathan to ask what his daughter is doing. Nathan says she’s discovered the pool. Tommy says they’ve been cleared to make bereavement payments to the families. Nathan agrees to forward the information to accounting. Tommy says the Medina crew serviced that well and they all died. After the call, Nathan decides to get a beer. Ainsley interrupts him to ask about coconut oil. She walks around half-naked. Nathan tries to not look at her. She gets what she wants before going back outside. Nathan says he has to know.
He watches her coat her skin. Nathan tells himself he’s going to work in the living room. Tommy and Walt meet with the family to tell them about the loss. Tommy asks for Maria and Ariana. He goes inside to break the news moments later. At The Patch Café, Tommy gets a beer. When Angela calls, Tommy tells her that Cooper is awake and alert although they’re keeping him overnight. Angela asks if she should come. She tells him she’ll see him tomorrow. Rebecca from Shepherd-Hastings calls Tommy. He invites her to meet him at The Patch Café. She meets him moments later. Rebecca says the incident this morning leads to more exposure. They go to the incident site. At the scene, Tommy says everyone will investigate it including OSHA, Railroad Commission, and DPS. He says she can only speak to the survivor when he gets out of the hospital.
They talk about the explosion. Rebecca warns him they might face a nine-figure lawsuit. She tells Tommy that she’s on his side although he doesn’t believe that. Chad Sellers (Ashley Wood) speaks to people about oil and gas. He says emotion is being used against the industry. Cami hangs out with Monty in the audience. Monty steps away to take a phone call. Tommy complains that they didn’t send Chandler. He warns Monty that he doesn’t have a well that will pass OSHA standards. Monty tells him not to let his emotions confuse him as to who the boss is. Ainsley calls Tommy to say she’s starving. He agrees to pick her something up. Angela gets in touch with Tommy after that. She questions whether she really needs to come. Tommy wants her to come, but he just doesn’t she ever will. Tommy finally returns home to Ainsley. He tells her that her brother is in the hospital. Ainsley says Cooper is such a loser.
Tommy tells her that there are two types of people working in the past, dreamers and losers. He says there aren’t any dreamers out in California anymore. They come to the oilfield now. Ainsley wants to be a dreamer. Next, Tommy speaks to Cooper about wanting to be a landman. Cooper says the difference between Tommy and Monty is that Monty didn’t quit. Tommy argues that he doesn’t have a trust fund. He tells Cooper that he’s the worm on a drill crew. Cooper wants to know how every aspect of an oil company works so he can run one at some point. He admits that’s the dream. Cooper asks Tommy to put him on another crew. Tommy warns him that people will blame him for what happened. He relents and agrees to find him a crew.
Landman Review
The second episode of Landman somewhat decided what the series wants to be. At the very least, Cooper has a goal although it likely won’t be achieved for a very long time. Monty and Tommy are pretty much aimless at this point in the game.
Most of the time, Tommy is just spouting off one-liners in an attempt to be humorous without really adding anything to the story. These monologues sometimes work, but they can also be a bit obnoxious and overdone, especially when the story is moving along at a snail’s pace.
This episode had lots of stupid things thanks to some moronic writing. Tommy was out there working by an oil-fueled fire. Then, he sat down next to it to smoke a cigarette. All the while, he didn’t have a bead of sweat on his brow. There was no urgency to solve the issue or to evacuate and let professionals handle the job.
The gusty winds in Texas’s oil fields rarely stop so there’s a good chance that the fire would spread to the nearby structures. It didn’t because the fire was likely piped in using AI or some special effects. Then, Tommy had an idiotic conversation with the doctor at the hospital before cutting part of his pinkie off.
We also have the whole conversation outside the hospital in which Tommy berated a police officer and littered right in front of him. There are much better and less imbecilic ways for Tommy to be a macho-man. Ainsley is still running around half-naked and Angela is still taunting Tommy on video chat.
It’s really a lot to do about nothing. The only good part of Landman through two episodes is Cooper’s story because it at least has purpose and Cooper had a goal. Sadly, that’s overshadowed by so much other nonsense. The episode scores a 4.5 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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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
