Tommy Norris’ father TL moves in to begin Episode 5 of Landman, and he’s given fair warning. Well, he’s given as fair a warning as is possible. The elder Norris (played by Sam Elliott) seems right at home — if a little bored — throughout his first day at the family home.
That changes abruptly when the cackling crows (their words, not mine) come home. I think these bright afternoons are about to get very dark and Ainsley Norris will be in the middle of it. Season 2 of Landman has avoided real tragedy to this point. That has to change, right? This week, we break down TL’s homecoming, Cami’s money problems, Cooper and Ariana’s burning love story and more. This was a setup episode in every kind of way.
Landman’s Pirate Dinner Scene
I’ll get to explaining a few of the less enjoyable conversations in a moment, because the inconsequential pirate dinner scene that closed Episode 5 is what we’ll all remember. Everybody’s there: Tommy, Ainsley, Nate, Dale, TL — heck, even next-door neighbor Shelby (played by Tim McGraw’s daughter Audrey) and buttoned-up lawyer Rebecca are in full dress.
Angela’s dinner parties were the breakout scenes from Season 1, but this year, we’ve only gotten a hormonal disaster of a dinner to close Ep. 1. That changed on Sunday. To celebrate TL moving in, she asks for his favorite foods. TL mentions seafood, and a few hours later the house is decorated like a Dollywood attraction. How in the heck did she get all of that done so fast? That’s the burning question fans want answered. Somehow, she even built a plank for Tommy to walk across on his way to the front door, and then she fashioned fitting outfits for everyone around cooking a feast fit for Poseidon.
M-Tex Money Problems, Explained
This wasn’t the only burning question from Ep. 5. A scene between Tommy, Nate, Rebecca, accountant Alan and Cami Miller (Demi Moore) moved so quick it was hard to understand. Alan is trying to explain where the $400 million payout from the disaster insurance company went. I watched several times, and think I can boil it down. Here’s the TL;DR version: Monty invested the money in a manner that can’t be withdrawn in the foreseeable future. The long version involves insurance companies, private equity and a matching $400 million loan, but in the end, Alan assures all parties that the money is there. It’s just inaccessible. Nobody addresses the elephant in the room, however: How did Monty plan to pay for the offshore well he promised the insurance company he’d build? It very much looks like he’s guilty of insurance fraud at this point.
Wait, Cooper and Ariana are Getting Married?!
As you watch Season 2 of Landman, keep this in mind. Season 1 happened on a very short timeline. It was maybe two weeks between Tommy’s first kidnapping and his second.
Season 2 begins (per Cami Miller) about seven weeks after Monty Miller’s death, and everything up to this point has taken place in about seven Landman days. This means that Cooper and Ariana went from not knowing one another at all to him driving seven hours to ask for her father’s permission to marry her in about two months. During behind the scenes clips shared by Landman on YouTube, actors Jacob Lofland and Paulina Chavez joke about this. Fans are asked to buy their romance knowing full-well that she should be mourning the death of Elvio, her late husband. I love Cooper and Ariana, but find myself rooting for them to fail, if only because it’d be the reality check the show needs from time to time.
Other topics explained during this week’s podcast include Cooper’s money problems, whose side Gallion/Dan Morrel is on and the raunchy birthday party at the assisted living home. If you’ve ever wondered if Ali Larter is anything like her character Angela Norris, you’ll enjoy this look at her career. It’s truly been a wild ride for her.
