‘Landman’ Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: Tommy Norris Hits the Breaking Point

We are now in the meat of the mayhem that is Landman, as the popular oil drama series from co-creator Taylor Sheridan finds its way to its second season midpoint. 

Episode 5 of the Paramount+ success series, entitled “A Pirate Dinner,” follows Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) in a day-in-the-life saga as he ping-pongs across the Permian Basin circumventing one dumpster fire after another. To keep all of his requisite balls in the air requires a steel countenance, a penchant for the unforeseen, and enough willpower to not drown in the absurdity of it all, or at the very least to not “Thelma and Louise” his exit out of this life. Even from afar, it can be exhausting to watch the former landman-turned oil boss barrel up and down the west Texas interstate putting out decidedly man-made fires. And, yet, here we are, riding shotgun to the infernos.

Tommy Norris has undoubtedly found himself caught between a rock and a hard place. With one foot in the boardroom and another firmly planted on the Pitch, the hands-on, no-nonsense landman/newly crowned oil executive cannot seem to let go of the day-to-day operations of the fictional oil giant — M Tex Oil. Surely, it wouldn’t be because he believes himself the only one sane enough to handle the chaos? On a personal level, Tommy is also firmly entrenched in the sandwich generation trying to get his children to a point of responsible adulthood while he now finds himself caring for an aging parent, a high maintenance wife, an unpredictable boss, and a host of employees and enemies who demand a record number of his mental minutes out every day. 

Not so much a pessimist as he a realist, Tommy does not have the luxury to see the sunny side of life because he gets very little time to appreciate that the sun has even come up. With challenges stacking up faster than cars on the North Dallas Tollway, he does not approach anything with a hope and a prayer as it has been his experience that what can go wrong inevitably will. And, on this day, he is not wrong. 

To start, he appears to be running a half-way house for mismatched roommates, having moved his now-widowed father T.L. Norris (Sam Elliott) from the Texas Panhandle to Midland. And, for anyone keeping score, we are now up to six people with varying degrees of familial ties to each other living under one roof of what used to be very much an unattached man basecamp.

With a shot of caffeinated courage, he leaves his wild-child wife, Angela, (Ali Larter) and doting daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) to plan a welcome home dinner for their newest tenant, T.L., whom Angela has decided to affectionally call “Thomas.” Played by Sam Elliott, T.L., the griseled former oilman has now found himself with this house move as the curious interloper and observer of people with whom he will now be sharing common space. 

Attempting to get back to the work that seemingly pays his bills following his deceased mother’s recent memorial service,

Tommy has returned his focus to his day on the oil business at-hand. It does not take long for him to recognize that his brief time away took him out of the loop on critical issues. 

From needing to pay a hospital visit to a young roughneck on his crew who may be permanently blinded by a toxic gas leak at a well site in Episode 2, to needing to inspect the site of a late night crash of an M Tex Oil sand hauler colliding with a passenger truck illegally parked on the oil company’s property, the day brings one battle after another, and no Leo DiCaprio to shoulder the load. 

Despite his tough existence, the landman remains loyal to his work, his family and protective of the industry in which he has chosen to carve out a lifelong living. That could not be more evident than an early morning Father Knows Best meeting with his son, Cooper, played by Jacob Lofland. Over fried eggs and biscuits, Tommy counsels Cooper, a novice in the industry eager to make a name for himself, on the economic realities of their line of work. Unbeknownst to the younger Norris, taking on a drug cartel boss as a drilling benefactor for his burgeoning drilling company may not have been the power move Cooper first imagined. With the math now not mathing on the one-sided partnership, Daddy Norris cautions his son not to count his millions just yet, throwing him a professional lifeline to keep his wells alive and the young oilman above ground. Cooper reluctantly accepts the assist, but not before dropping another bombshell on his father that he is on his way to south Texas to see another father about asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Oy vey, if only facial expressions could talk. 

Playing opposite of Thornton, Lofland’s Cooper remains the sweet spot of the series — often pensive, reflective, and eager to do the honorable thing in life and love. His words and actions continue to seep with genuine sincerity, though he often looks like he is on the verge of tears behind those piercing blue eyes, if it ever seems as if he has gotten it wrong. Whether he is playing the naive oilman or the timid gentleman caller to Paulina Chavez’s Ariana Medina, there is an endearing authenticity to his onscreen persona. 

In Fort Worth, Nate (Colm Feore)and Rebecca (Kayla Wallace) go into follow-up negotiations regarding the insurance claim payout on the off-shore rig damaged in a hurricane that was brought to their attention in the series’ Episode 2. The two attorneys, who often have different approaches to any issue, sit as stoic mirrors of each other as they receive rather jarring news sitting across the table from the insurance attorneys. The latter have come prepared with a litany of documents and a mindset that they were only going subject themselves to Rebecca’s sharp tongue once. It seems we have come to the end of a long road of Rebecca’s bluster, as the suits most decidedly have called her bluff. Hit with an impossible schedule of demands regarding proof of drilling of a new off-shore well previously paid for by the settlement, the clock is now ticking for M Tex to make good. 

As Nate later bellows into the phone to Tommy post-meeting, finding the insurance money has become priority one, the landman points his truck towards the DFW Metroplex. 

Gathered together in the high rise offices overlooking the famed Trinity River snaking through downtown Fort Worth, the late Monty Miller’s personal attorney gives Rebecca, Nate, Tommy and new M Tex owner, Cami Miller (Demi Moore), a readout of where the money may be hiding in plain sight. However, one would need a flowchart to keep up with the C Corp, S Corp, and LLC jargon that rolls off the buttoned up attorney’s tongue in legalistic waves. Nevertheless, buried beneath a mound of subsidiaries and shell companies, the money remains, but not readily available. 

When Cami dismisses a possible legal work around from the attorney to get to the funds, Tommy learns pretty quickly that the big oil widow is no wilting flower in a coming storm. The two agree to disagree on the way forward, and who, exactly, they should trust to throw them a life jacket for their sinking ship of a company. Cami reminds Tommy, in no uncertain terms and designer stilettos, who truly is in charge. Is a power struggle for running the oil giant in our future? Time is sure to tell. 

Battered, but not yet beaten, Tommy makes it back to Midland, just in time to drown the day’s sorrows in a craft beer at The Patch Cafe, before heading home to jump into the fray of Angela’s fish fry-turned-pirate dinner — complete with Yo-Ho-Ho sea shanty tunes and a Texas-sized seafood feast fit for any hungry buccaneer! Wash it down with a Shiner Bock, and now you’re talkin’. ‘ Cause on this day, Tommy Norris has certainly earned it. 

Also starring Andy Garcia and James Jordan, and co-created by Christian Wallace, Landman streams weekly on Paramount+. 

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