Landman<\/a><\/p>\nForever Is an Instant<\/p>\n
\n Season 2<\/p>\n
Episode 7\n <\/p>\n
\n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n
3 stars<\/p>\n
***\n <\/p>\n
\n A romantic (but weird) episode gets introspective, profound, and absurd.
\n Photo: Emerson Miller\/Paramount+\n <\/p>\n
Is Landman a show about mortality? You could argue that that has always been the case. The very first episode ended with the oil rig explosion that killed Elvio, a necessary reminder that working on a drilling crew can be incredibly dangerous. Oil is life, but also death.<\/p>\n
Season two is hitting the theme of impermanence even harder, both in the oil fields and in the domestic sphere. A few weeks back, a hydrogen sulfide leak blinded a young man named Jerrell, possibly forever, and forced lead crewman Boss to reconsider his future in this industry. By the time of \u201cForever Is an Instant,\u201d he\u2019s leaning toward pulling out entirely. At the cookout to celebrate 20 years of work at M-Tex, he\u2019s relaxed and grateful, both for all the gifts (like a fancy Daytona Panda Rolex from Tommy and delivered by Dale) and for still having his life.<\/p>\n
Compared to other scenes with the crew, which tend to be sprinkled in arbitrarily, this one has some substance to it. Part of that comes down to the presence of Dale, whom we know far better than guys like King and BR. His perspective provides an interesting contrast: Most of the men agree that getting out once you\u2019ve made some cash is the way to go, but Dale is a self-described \u201ctreasure hunter\u201d who views his work as an addiction he can\u2019t (and won\u2019t) quit. It\u2019s like his fate is out of his hands; if another leak or explosion kills him, well, that\u2019s the risk he accepted when he chose this life.<\/p>\n
Boss doesn\u2019t want to waste time that he could be spending with his family, and Cooper and Ariana also want to get the ball rolling on their own plans. I\u2019m not totally sure what the rush is, especially since Ariana lost her husband less than a year ago, but I suppose that experience changed her perspective; now she understands the importance of prioritizing her happiness and not waiting for happiness to find her. So Cooper retrieves an engagement ring from his mom, buys some roses for cheap, and proposes to her right at home. It\u2019s a fitting location, considering how much Ariana values home. As she says earlier, the proposal doesn\u2019t need to be special. They make the marriage special. (Blech.)<\/p>\n
This is a somewhat romantic episode overall, despite beginning with an especially mind-numbing argument between Tommy and Angela. This one feels like something out of a latter-day Curb Your Enthusiasm episode: Tommy wakes up to a waitress delivering room service at their hotel room in Fort Worth, then scares her with his morning wood, leading to another Angela meltdown about nothing. Then she tells him to fuck his omelet, and I guess he jokingly does? Angela\u2019s anger at Tommy inexplicably lasts most of the episode, even after he arrives home for dinner. (It\u2019s taco night, but she serves him an omelet.)<\/p>\n
This latest beef exists only to set up their sweet moment at the end of the episode, when Tommy takes Angela for a walk and really opens his heart to her. He says it\u2019s a gift to have her back in his life after their divorce, that she\u2019s a \u201cbeautiful tornado\u201d whom he doesn\u2019t deserve. He even agrees to basically give her whatever she desires. And Ainsley, her parents\u2019 number-one shipper and biggest fan, watches it all from afar, musing to Dale and Nate and T.L. that the secret is to \u201cnever grow up.\u201d Staying in touch with your childhood self is the best way to preserve happiness and keep a relationship strong.<\/p>\n
Tommy wouldn\u2019t have been able to indulge his sincere side without his father, who offers him some helpful perspective. T.L. urged Tommy to propose again last week (only, like, a day ago in story time), but this time his advice is deeper and more abstract: Stop dwelling on life\u2019s problems and focus on the moments between the problems. Maybe this man spent too much of his life drinking and neglecting his son, but his years of suffering have transformed him into someone determined to enjoy every moment he has left \u2014 to savor every meal, every dance, every smile.<\/p>\n
Now, maybe T.L. is a bit of a hypocrite. He still clearly has some bitterness and anger inside him, considering that run-in with Nash. But he\u2019s not wrong when he says that Tommy is too stupid, angry, or addicted to work to see that he has everything a man could want. These pearls of tough-dad wisdom might start getting old before long, but for now, I\u2019m mostly appreciating the chance to see Tommy in introspective mode.<\/p>\n
Tommy actually gets some more solid material in the Rebecca storyline this week. Things are going swimmingly with Charlie, though he can\u2019t promise her the success M-Tex needs when it comes to this new offshore rig. It\u2019s high-risk, high-reward: There\u2019s only a ten percent chance they\u2019ll hit gas, and if they don\u2019t, they\u2019ll be out $400 million.<\/p>\n
Rebecca meets with Nate to update him on this news, and here\u2019s where the storyline pivots into something weirder and more personal. At first, things are good for once between these two bickering attorneys. They come up with a contingency plan to drag out their battle with the plaintiffs forcing them to drill, resting on the same basic point Rebecca made during their meeting early in the season: The insurance company already altered its own policy by paying the claim to Monty directly, essentially violating their contract prior to M-Tex. A jury of blue-collar workers should be able to see the sketchiness of an insurance company directly sending a check to a claimant instead of the bank.<\/p>\n
Then, while Rebecca is on her way out, Nate presents her with a conflict form to sign, disclosing her romantic relationship with a subordinate. This will be on her record, and he\u2019ll present it to the board. What\u2019s gross here is Nate\u2019s attitude about it all; sure, this tracks with his by-the-books approach, but he seems far stricter with Rebecca than he would with most colleagues. There\u2019s a weird source of resentment there, perhaps a lingering disrespect for younger female attorneys and a desire to humiliate one of them for besting him in his own field. I\u2019m not sure where this story goes from here or if I\u2019ll like it, but I\u2019m curious to see.<\/p>\n
Rebecca is understandably upset, to the point that she shows up at Tommy\u2019s door just to justify her continued value to the company. It\u2019s actually quite sweet to see Tommy set her at ease, inviting her inside for tacos with one of the warmest smiles I\u2019ve ever seen from him. He doesn\u2019t quite get in Nate\u2019s face about how he disrespected Rebecca, but he does defend her and point out work is probably the only place she could feasibly meet someone.<\/p>\n
I kind of wanted Tommy and Nate\u2019s fight to escalate here, and maybe it could in future weeks. But Tommy and I both know that Rebecca doesn\u2019t need defending. She could probably ruin Nate if she set her mind to it, and I might enjoy watching that happen. Rebecca gets joy from crushing those who underestimate her, and pettiness is a powerful motivator.<\/p>\n
\u2022 I laughed at Ali Larter\u2019s solemn reading of \u201cYou\u2019ve really gotta love a man to look at him from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 T.L. peed on a snake, so that happened.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Nice to see Angela doting on Cooper, especially when it comes at Ainsley\u2019s expense. That was very satisfying to see her threaten to twist Ainsley\u2019s ear after she keeps taunting her brother. (Again, I\u2019m going to need these siblings to patch things up before long.)<\/p>\n
\u2022 I rolled my eyes at Nate supposedly figuring out Rebecca\u2019s dalliance because \u201cNobody calls him Charlie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Does Taylor Sheridan specifically have a gripe with rules against interoffice relationships? Like, I\u2019m obviously siding with Rebecca here, but I\u2019m always primed for a Sheridan strawman argument.<\/p>\n
\u2022 I watched Bad Santa for the first time last week, and Billy Bob Thornton was just a delight. His performance in Landman really isn\u2019t all that different at times; this show also rests on the enjoyment of watching Thornton in a near-constant state of disgust with everyone around him.<\/p>\n
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