‘Landman’ Season 2 Episode 1 Recap

But if last season’s bow went more There Will Be Blood than conference room dealmaking, then “Death and a Sunset,” despite the episode title, reverts to, well, a lot of conference room table-setting.

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Cami Goes for the Kill

What’s on the table? First, our landman Tommy is no longer just a landman, having been officially anointed president of M-Tex Oil by Jon Hamm—err, I mean Monty Miller—on his deathbed. The main dilemma, which Tommy only tends to after paying a busboy to fetch him cigarettes at dawn (apparently he’ll smoke “anything but menthol or those little skinny ones,” which doesn’t seem in keeping with the character’s single-mindedness, but we’ll give co-creator and episode writer Taylor Sheridan a pass on this one and guess that Paramount didn’t want to cut a product placement deal with Big Tobacco on a show that’s already about Big Oil): How to quell the worries of M-Tex Oil’s business partners in light of Monty’s untimely death (which proved once and for all that an Apple Watch’s health metrics will not save you). Following his death, Monty’s wife, Demi Moore’s Cami Miller, gained full ownership of the company.

All the hubbub goes down, naturally, at a high-end West Texas hotel. One such skeptical M-Tex Oil partner is apparently as undiscerning in his vices as Tommy, ordering a whiskey double and telling the waitress “I couldn’t care less, honey” when asked for his preference. (Not that everything in Landman has to be pure realism, but who wants to do business with a guy who will pay $30 for bottom-shelf moonshine?)

Anyway, they should all shut up, because a trophy wife Cami—and Moore—is not. Both character and actress don’t let us forget it, to breathless effect. After reapplying lipstick in what can only be a subtle wink to The Substance’s memorable makeup-smearing meltdown scene, and being insulted by two younger cluelessly bitchy oil biz groupies in the bathroom, Cami ascends the stage at the company luncheon to show everyone what true corporate cold-bloodedness looks like. She threatens to steamroll her competitors while reaping the fortunes of the new oil boom, then encourages the crowd to enjoy their meal, “which I bought with your money.” Quick, somebody call Oliver Stone, because suddenly a Moore-starring Wall Street reboot is exactly what I need. She might as well have smashed the heel of her Louboutin into the S&P 500.

Props to Sheridan for giving us a female character who is at least as savage as any of the boys on the screen.

Ainsley’s College Cheerleading Gets $2,800 Cacio e Pepe

Other than that, the most pure fun in this episode comes courtesy of Tommy’s always active domestic life. Ainsley visits her new college of choice, Texas Christian University, apparently after ditching previous pick Texas Tech University as soon as she remembered it was tainted by the attendance of her scrawny brother Cooper (Jacob Lofland). She wastes no time in shocking an admissions administrator by making an argument for football-player-and-cheerleader eugenics, but she already has priority acceptance thanks to said cheerleading, so she gets to keep the purple pom-poms.

The whole family celebrates with a lavish dinner cooked by matriarch Angela Norris (an always amusingly tongue-in-cheek Ali Larter). Angela has lovingly prepared cacio e pepe with $2,800 white truffle (which would mean she bought a lot of white truffle) that she hilariously shaves onto the plate of everyone except Ainsley, the ostensible honoree, because we all know her palate doesn’t deserve the added expense.

Cooper Strikes His Own Oil

But all Tommy can talk about are the “wonky hormones” produced by Angela’s period, thereby further enraging those hormones until the whole dinner erupts into Mom throwing plates against the wall. So Cooper will have to wait to talk to Dad about the fact that he’s struck oil to the tune of $10 million a year in future profits, which girlfriend Ariana (Paulina Chavez) seems oddly indifferent to. That being said, I would probably also be distracted if I was forced to bring my crying baby to an oil drilling site.

Sam Elliott Enters as One Summabitch

Maybe the menstruation-negging was all strategy, because Tommy and Angela end up on the floor making out and having almost-sex, until he’s interrupted by a call. Somebody better have died to stop this action, Angela protests. And indeed somebody did: his mother Dorothy, who also happens to be the wife of Tommy’s father T.L., both of whom we knew nothing about until now.

Better late than never, since in a separate scene, T.L. shows up embodied by none other than 81-year-old mustache icon and acting legend Sam Elliott. T.L.’s dedicated sunset gazing is rudely interrupted by a retirement facility aid and the news of his wife’s passing, causing him to deliver an expletive-filled, declarative tirade. Evidently the apple—or the summabitch—doesn’t fall far from the tree, and we can’t wait to see what Elliott does with it.

But for now we’ll take this perfectly Taylor Sheridan-y revelation from T.L., which could sum up this whole bitterly loveable neo-Western drama series: “I recommend you find a way to die quick.”

Notes from the Patch

• When did we stop calling it “the Patch”? And what happened to those lovely ladies at the Babes N Brew coffee station, serving oil workers in more ways than one? I miss them.
• While he doesn’t appear in this episode, it’s a sure bet Andy Garcia’s cartel boss Gallino will re-emerge soon as a major player—whether friend or foe to Tommy.
• Though no cigarette brand gets a mention, we do get a random shot of the Dickies logo hanging outside the hotel where the luncheon takes place. The classic workwear brand was founded in Fort Worth, and is apparently worthy of giving Paramount sponsorship money.
• Ali Larter delivers the joke of the week as Angela wandering the TCU campus and comparing the male students’ VPL-enhancing gray sweatpants to “a present wrapped in cellophane—you know exactly what you’re getting.”
• We’re overjoyed to see that Taylor Sheridan wasted no time after 1883 in giving us more Sam Elliott time. Here’s hoping the show does Elliott justice.

Paul Schrodt is a freelance writer and editor covering pop culture and the entertainment industry. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Men’s Health, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles magazine, and others.