WolfCamp – As the ninth episode of Landman begins, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) gets a call from Colonel Ivey (Ben Browder) complaining about people being out there. Tommy, who is at the Fort Worth Hospital, learns about the man who was killed in the explosion. He tells Ivey to get the pilot away from there because the cartel will clean up its own mess. Tommy promises that the mess will be cleaned up. Then, he gets in touch with Jimenez (Alex Meraz) who warns him he has an army as well. Tommy offers to call the sheriff or let Jimenez go back out there and get what’s his. Jimenez says he’ll clean up the mess and he might just clean Tommy up too. Tommy tells him they need to find a way to stay out of each other’s way. Jimenez wants to meet. He warns Tommy that his boss may not be his boss for much longer. After the intro, Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) and Angela Norris (Ali Larter) visit Rick’s Cabaret.

Angela tells Mel (Matt Peters) that she’s the entertainment director for a nursing home and they can check off a few bucket list items at the facility. He offers to rent them the space for an hour for $1,000. It’ll be another $250 and tips for the girl. Ainsley asks about male strippers. Mel tells Angela she’ll have to provide that. Ainsley has an idea for that. Tommy speaks to Cami Miller (Demi Moore). He finds Jerry Jones speaks to Monty Miller (Jon Hamm). Jerry explains why his kids are involved in everything. Jerry gives Monty and Tommy a lecture. Once he leaves, Tommy tells Monty he needs to get those leases together because it’s over a billion dollars. Monty believes his dad died of boredom after he retired. He admits this is his third bypass. Monty believes he just has a busted heart. He decides to make Tommy vice president of operations. Tommy tells him they don’t need Rebecca anymore. He claims she’s a liability because of the way she works.

Monty reveals she says the same thing about him. He’s offering Rebecca the job of vice president of exploration because she’s the shrewdest negotiator he’s ever seen. Monty tells Tommy to find a way to work with her. Monty learns that his daughters aren’t out there. Tommy tells Cami that Monty will need another speech from her. It needs to be the “quit or else” kind. Tommy calls Angela to tell her he loves her. Angela talks to him about the club and asks for a doctor to keep an eye on the old folks. Tommy calls Ainsley next. She tells him about the strip club. Ariana (Paulina Chavez) makes it home with the baby. Cooper (Jacob Lofland) steps outside to get the groceries, but he’s unable to carry them inside. He tells Ariana that Mexican women are bossy. Inside, she asks what he’s studying for. Cooper says their future. She asks him to focus on his life and see where it goes. Ariana wants to know what his plan is.

Cooper explains he’s the opposite of a plan. He shows Ariana prove that he won’t quit. Cooper says he only has desire. When Ariana hears the dog barking, she says God is begging them not to do this. A salesman is at the door trying to sell carpet cleaner. Ariana closes the door before getting rough with Cooper. Tommy makes it home and tells Nathan (Colm Feore) about Monty. Nathan isn’t happy to learn that Rebecca is his boss now. When Angela says dinner is ready, Tommy decides to check on Ainsley and Ryder (Mitchell Slaggert). Ainsley tries to convince Ryder to dance for the nursing home women. She pretends she’s reading the Bible when Tommy arrives. Dale (James Jordan) and the others sit around the table. Dale and Angela argue about whether she made jambalaya or something else. Ryder is forced to say grace. Tommy eventually interrupts. He doesn’t like having to stand up to get a scoop of food. Tommy gets plates. He ends up upsetting Angela who leaves the room.

They continue arguing outside. Angela claims she did this to be nice, but Tommy thinks she wanted to be appreciated. He says he does appreciate it. Tommy doesn’t like the expectations after everything he had to do today. He explains she can do what she wants, but he doesn’t want to be expected to participate. Ryder tells Ainsley he’s ready to negotiate. She asks if he wants to go upstairs. Tommy tries to stop them from going upstairs and having sex. Angela lets them go. She asks Tommy if he remembers what it was like when he was 17. Tommy asks for them to turn on some music. In private, Ryder tells Ainsley what he wants. Ariana wakes up and finds Cooper awake and working on the computer. He’s looking at Midland records. He shows her Wolfcamp Shale on a map and explains it’s the richest oil field in the world. He tells her about the possibilities for drilling the oil.

Cooper says he’s going to take the money, go there, cobble them all together, and sell them. He points out Clear Fork Field which has a lot of older production. Cooper will try to get leases on the existing wells or do farm-outs. He’ll increase the production of the old wells until he has enough money to drill in Wolfcamp. Then, they find a nice house in Fort Worth. Monty remains in the hospital. He begins struggling and calling for help. Tommy finds a note from Angela who says she’s with the old folks. Nathan complains about not having his cereal. Dale isn’t happy with the new food choices either. Once Tommy steps outside, he gets a call from Cami who gives him the news. Cooper visits one of the fields to speak to Perry Hardin (Tim DeZarn). He tells Perry that his oil lease expired in 1997 and he wants it. Perry says it’s dried up. Cooper claims he can help make it worth something for his grandkids.

When Perry says he wants 20%, Cooper says he wants 25%. Perry takes him into the house so business can be done over coffee. Tommy watches as a neighbor kills a wild animal and complains about them killing pets.

 

Landman Review

The ninth episode of Landman was just more of the same. Angela and Ainsley are there to be eye candy when they’re not overwhelming the series with obnoxious scenes. Tommy is primarily dealing with domestic issues while the oil fields are put on the back burner. The constant arguing between Tommy and Angela is a bit repetitive and uninteresting at this point.

Cooper’s storyline had potential, but it feels like they’re starting to rush everything a bit. It’s like very, very little has happened through nine episodes so it’s time to speed things up now that the entire series was wasted. Cooper and Ariana seemed to be eager to take things slowly, but they’re jumping right into it now.

It’s a bit forced. The same can be said about Cooper becoming a businessman overnight. It just wouldn’t be that easy although his story is still the only glimmer of hope left here. It’s still hard to pinpoint a core story here with so much going on and the focus constantly shifting from one thing to another.

It’s equally hard to care. I guess viewers are supposed to jump out of their seats because Angela is talking about penis and Jerry Jones is suddenly in a scene with Monty and Tommy. These low-effort attempts aren’t enough to justify sticking with this thing for ten episodes over ten weeks. It’s easy to see why viewer engagement is at the bottom of the barrel here.

The potential was strong here, but it’s clear that Landman is too shallow and unbelievable to be worth the effort. This 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. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.