Summary
Landman continues to be perplexing in Episode 4, showing no clear indication of the kind of show it wants to be or even what it wants to be about in a broad sense.
We’re four episodes in and I still have no idea what Landman is about. Oil, obviously. But it’s seemingly determined not to adhere to any conventional expectations of a TV show. There’s no real conflict or structure. There’s no villain. There are no stakes unless you count the price of an oil barrel fluctuating up and down; the deep pockets of an already rich man jangling a little more or less. Episode 4’s title is “The Sting of Second Chances”, which manifests in a few ways, but none of them have anything to do with oil. We’ve mostly sewn up the oil-related plotlines altogether.
What’s left? If I didn’t know better I’d say Landman has morphed into a family drama under our noses. And it’s a weird one. It has already received a good deal of criticism for flagrantly sexualizing a character who is supposed to be 17, which it very much continues to do here, and nobody I’ve spoken to about the show seems any wiser than me about what it’s ultimately trying to be or say. Yellowstone is a family drama too, but it at least has a point — it’s an aching lament for the gradual erosion of cowboy culture. Does anybody — except for oil executives, obviously — really care all that strongly about oil?
Very little happens in “The Sting of Second Chances” so it’s almost impossible to recap. It might be more helpful to consider this a kind of rambling round-up of some observations and thoughts that occurred to me throughout the 45-minute runtime since there’s little else to really talk about. Tommy’s legal woes have disappeared, and his son managed to work a derrick through the night without killing himself. Those were two of the main things he was worried about. There are still six episodes to go!
Can we talk about the creepy stuff, at least? I’ve got to say — I’m inclined to agree with the criticisms. I’m not a prude, obviously, and I’m rarely on the side of internet reactionaries, but the approach to Angela and Ainsley is just bizarre. They’re in bikinis constantly, everyone keeps making references to their desirability being a genuine impediment to productivity, and it seems like they don’t have a great deal to do beyond this. It’s probably fair to point out that despite Ainsley being 17 in the show, Michelle Randolph, who plays her, is 27. But still — it’s noticeable in a leering sort of way that doesn’t sit right.
My big fear is that Tommy and Angela deciding to give things another go — which is the main thrust of the episode and where it gets its title — is going to set up an ill-advised love triangle with Rebecca. I didn’t have this impression before. But throughout Landman Episode 4 Tommy becomes increasingly impressed with Rebecca, who it turns out is a very good lawyer — not that her opposition has any worthwhile retorts beyond garden-variety misogyny — and maybe has a bit more tolerance for Tommy than seems reasonable. They go out for a drink to celebrate their legal victory and there’s something between them.
Kayla Wallace in Landman | Image via Paramount+
This suspicion is only compounded when Angela and Ainsley arrive. Angela assumes Tommy is looking for a side piece so makes a bit of a scene on principle, but Rebecca accepts the offer to join them for dinner. I assumed this was just to annoy Tommy, but after Angela tearfully recounts the rise and fall of their marriage — which parallels very closely with the rise and fall of oil, go figure — Tommy leaves alone, and Rebecca gives the girls a ride home. In the car, to my horror, Angela and Rebecca have a catty back-and-forth about Tommy. I will concede that Billy Bob Thornton is a cool guy and a great actor, but the idea of these two women fighting over him is preposterous. I really hope this isn’t the angle we’re taking.
Either way, since Angela and Tommy are now officially back together, she and Ainsley will be sticking around. Based on the description of subsequent episodes, so will Rebecca, despite it seeming very much like her function in the plot has been fulfilled. So, they’re going to cross paths again sooner rather than later.
Maybe it’s just me, but the main angle I care about is Cooper’s story. After yet another workplace accident forces him to step up within his new crew, he’s now an accepted member of the Patch. But trouble’s coming a-calling in the form of Ariana, who calls him at the end of the episode wanting to see him for some reason, and Cooper can’t help but accept, despite earlier warnings not to. He’s definitely going to get himself in some kind of trouble, but how that trouble might relate to an overarching narrative is, at this point, really anyone’s guess.
I’m just confused. I’m confused about what this show is and who it’s for and why I continue to enjoy it in spite of itself. These aren’t easy questions, I guess, so perhaps it’s not unreasonable that Landman hasn’t answered them by now. But I hope it gives some indication soon.
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