Landman

Forever Is an Instant

Season 2

Episode 7

Editor’s Rating

3 stars

***

A romantic (but weird) episode gets introspective, profound, and absurd.
Photo: Emerson Miller/Paramount+

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.

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 “Forever Is an Instant,” he’s leaning toward pulling out entirely. At the cookout to celebrate 20 years of work at M-Tex, he’s 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.

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’ve made some cash is the way to go, but Dale is a self-described “treasure hunter” who views his work as an addiction he can’t (and won’t) quit. It’s like his fate is out of his hands; if another leak or explosion kills him, well, that’s the risk he accepted when he chose this life.

Boss doesn’t 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’m 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’s a fitting location, considering how much Ariana values home. As she says earlier, the proposal doesn’t need to be special. They make the marriage special. (Blech.)

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’s anger at Tommy inexplicably lasts most of the episode, even after he arrives home for dinner. (It’s taco night, but she serves him an omelet.)

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’s a gift to have her back in his life after their divorce, that she’s a “beautiful tornado” whom he doesn’t deserve. He even agrees to basically give her whatever she desires. And Ainsley, her parents’ number-one shipper and biggest fan, watches it all from afar, musing to Dale and Nate and T.L. that the secret is to “never grow up.” Staying in touch with your childhood self is the best way to preserve happiness and keep a relationship strong.

Tommy wouldn’t 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’s 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 — to savor every meal, every dance, every smile.

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’s 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’m mostly appreciating the chance to see Tommy in introspective mode.

Tommy actually gets some more solid material in the Rebecca storyline this week. Things are going swimmingly with Charlie, though he can’t promise her the success M-Tex needs when it comes to this new offshore rig. It’s high-risk, high-reward: There’s only a ten percent chance they’ll hit gas, and if they don’t, they’ll be out $400 million.

Rebecca meets with Nate to update him on this news, and here’s 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.

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’ll present it to the board. What’s gross here is Nate’s 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’s 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’m not sure where this story goes from here or if I’ll like it, but I’m curious to see.

Rebecca is understandably upset, to the point that she shows up at Tommy’s door just to justify her continued value to the company. It’s actually quite sweet to see Tommy set her at ease, inviting her inside for tacos with one of the warmest smiles I’ve ever seen from him. He doesn’t quite get in Nate’s 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.

I kind of wanted Tommy and Nate’s fight to escalate here, and maybe it could in future weeks. But Tommy and I both know that Rebecca doesn’t 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.

• I laughed at Ali Larter’s solemn reading of “You’ve really gotta love a man to look at him from there.”

• T.L. peed on a snake, so that happened.

• Nice to see Angela doting on Cooper, especially when it comes at Ainsley’s expense. That was very satisfying to see her threaten to twist Ainsley’s ear after she keeps taunting her brother. (Again, I’m going to need these siblings to patch things up before long.)

• I rolled my eyes at Nate supposedly figuring out Rebecca’s dalliance because “Nobody calls him Charlie.”

• Does Taylor Sheridan specifically have a gripe with rules against interoffice relationships? Like, I’m obviously siding with Rebecca here, but I’m always primed for a Sheridan strawman argument.

• I watched Bad Santa for the first time last week, and Billy Bob Thornton was just a delight. His performance in Landman really isn’t 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.