Landman episode 4 sees Rebecca prove herself a formidable litigator, while Tommy and ex-wife Angela contemplate giving their relationship another go.
In Landman episode 3, M-Tex Oil was facing legal action from all quarters. Tommy’s lack of tact put him in conflict with the company litigator, Rebecca (Kayla Wallace), though he earned some respect after saving her from a rattlesnake bite. Angela (Ali Larter), the former Mrs Norris, breezed into Midland, attempting to mend her daughter’s broken heart and reconnecting with her ex-husband. Cooper (Jacob Lofland), meanwhile, was thrilled to be invited by Boss (Mustafa Speaks) to join his crew, even if it consisted of two cousins from the Medina family who blamed Cooper for their relatives’ deaths, and was last seen working alongside them to decommission a well that could cost oil magnate Monty millions.
Rebecca earns that $900 hourly rate
There was a new normal at Tommy’s rented home. Formerly the all-male domain of three grizzled M-Tex Oil workers, it was now overrun by Tommy’s adolescent daughter and his ex-wife Angela, who Nathan (Colm Feore) awoke to find twerking along to an exercise DVD in the living room. All the excitement caused by these female houseguests was causing the lawyer’s blood pressure levels to skyrocket, and their presence was becoming hugely distracting. He bashfully said goodbye as Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) finished some hip thrusts and he scurried off to meet Tommy for that all-important TTP deposition.
In fact, it was so important that Tommy had put on a suit. In a packed conference room, he sat beside Rebecca and Nate, facing an executive from TTP – the company looking to press charges after their truck collided with a stolen M-Tex Oil plane – and their entire legal department. Called on to give a statement of events under oath, and once again asked why he never reported the theft, he handed over a report that reiterated that he had made the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) aware, just not local law enforcement. Tommy even suggested that, for all he knew, the plane could have been chartered or leased.
Ian Crowley (John Patrick Jordan), one of TTP’s lawyers, objected to the speculation, leading Rebecca to jump to her client’s defence. On what grounds? Did he even understand what a deposition was?
It got heated when he condescendingly questioned her experience, before following that up with this infuriating statement: “Listen hon, we were playing pissed-off litigator while you were still being bathed by your daddy.” Okay. The gloves were off and she laid out the facts. Firstly, she hadn’t known her dad. He’d died before she was born. Second, they TTP hadn't received more than a temporary verbal agreement from Tommy to use that road. They had no right to use the road, she argued confidently, and to suggest otherwise would be false, while any implication M-Tex were involved in the plane’s theft was defamatory.
Then she doubled down. A room full of attorneys had all heard the derogatory remarks made about her gender, which also implied an incestuous relationship with her father. She leaned in. “Think they hire me because I’m pretty? I charge $900 dollars an hour and you’re real close to learning why.” She told them in no uncertain terms that they were would drop their BS claim and accept the eight-figure payout. Otherwise, they’d be sued for defamation, slander, and anything else she could think of. She’d relish hanging their law degrees in her toilet when all of them were eventually disbarred. Tommy chortled aloud. She was done, but she instructed Nate and TTP’s lawyers to stay and draft up the terms of settlement (i.e. surrender). Otherwise, she’d be at the courthouse spilling all of this to CBS news.
Tommy caught up to Rebecca on her way out and asked her if she wanted to grab a drink. Why, exactly? He’d underestimated her, and he just wanted to talk. Perhaps hear more about her dead, army ranger father. “My father is an investment banker in Chicago” she grinned. She'd lied about that. Did Tommy have a thing for her now? If he wanted romance, or even something more casual, she cleared up any confusion by telling him that “a 60-year-old, two-pack-a-day smoker who’s living in a rented house” was not her type. But the business-before-pleasure litigator eventually followed him back to Midland for a drink.
Big busts and boomtowns
After Landman's more incident-fuelled early episodes, this fourth instalment focusing on filling in the backstories of our characters and further sketching out the Midland milieu. As Tommy and Rebecca sat celebrating their victory over TTP, the pub’s paunchy, older male patrons were busy chatting to busty young women hanging on their every word. “When I first went to work in the oil field, there were three kinds of people: worms, ginzels, and skinheads,” one man drily told an enraptured woman. Sex workers? Yes, or as Tommy less flatteringly designated them, “the wildlife.”
In the end, Rebecca – whose politics were clearly on the liberal side of the spectrum – chided Tommy for scaring off the customer of one such sex worker, who he’d named and shamed as married bar regular Dan. Maybe she didn’t have a choice, Rebecca argued. They had a choice, he replied. Just look at all the waitresses here busting their hump for a third of what they made. “She chose a shortcut, which is always the longest road.”
“Boomtowns” Rebecca lamented. But she was curious to know what exactly happened the oil bubble burst. Tommy explained that, for towns like theirs to flourish, barrels of oil were ideally priced “above $60 but below $90.” But when the industry and economy tanked – like during the pandemic – people’s quality of life was devastatingly impacted. Oil tycoon Monty (Jon Hamm), however, had enjoyed a different, rags-to-riches trajectory. He’d begun living in a trailer park in Pennsylvania, and grown up to be a business-savvy opportunist. He’d sold 10,000 acres of land for $70,000 an acre in 2019, before buying it all back for ten cents on the dollar during the global Covid-19 outbreak and making a tidy $700,000,000.
A lawyer, a landman, and his ex-wife walk into a bar
Back home, Ainsley was having a miserable Spring Break. So, after getting turned away from Midland Country Club by its snooty owner, she and her mum grabbed a table at the Patch Café to enjoy the boozy oblivion of Happy Hour. And lo and behold, there was Tommy, enjoying drinks with an attractive stranger. Angela indignantly walked over. “Remember us?” she announced. Bristling to see him with another woman, he reminded her that, a) they were no longer married, and b) Rebecca wasn’t his “side piece”. Heck, he didn’t have a “main piece”! He officially introduced the litigator, though incorrectly pronouncing her name “Falcon” instead of “Falcone,” leading Angela to reply that she sounded like a Marvel character. Meanwhile, troubled by the mere possibility of Tommy and Rebecca going home together, Angela invited them to have supper with her and Ainsley. And Rebecca couldn’t wait to get all the goss on Tommy.
But what she learned seemed to change her opinion of him. Angela held court, regaling everyone with a story about country singer George Strait and her dream of seeing him in concert. Well, many years ago – when the oil industry was booming – Tommy told his then-wife that he was whisking her off on vacation to Cancún. Twenty minutes into their flight, however, Tommy announced they would have to land in Lubbock, and booked them a hotel room. Well, he’d been known to get frisky at the drop of a hat, Angela overshared. She continued that when she entered their room, she found a black ball gown lying on their bed, while Tommy emerged looking sharp in a tuxedo. He escorted her downstairs, where none other than George Strait was on stage, and played exclusively for them as they danced the two-step. Three weeks later, the markets crashed. And she and Tommy lost everything. That was the beginning of the end of their marriage. Rebecca sat speechless. Angela wiped away a few tears. And a stony-faced Tommy excused himself to take care of some urgent business. “He doesn’t like to talk about the bust,” Ainsley said, by way of explanation.
Angela continued to view Rebecca as a threat. As the Shepherd-Hastings lawyer drove them home, her enquiries to Angela were met with silence or monosyllabic answers. Unsolicited, she coldly told her that “You’re not his type." Rebecca couldn’t understand why she was jealous of her despite being remarried. “Lawyers” Angela's replied, essentially to herself. Her marriage to Mr Russo was clearly one of convenience, and it was obvious she deeply regretted leaving Tommy.
When Tommy returned home late , he was met by a glum Nate as he worked on settlements for the bereaved Medina families, then two weeping women, his wife and daughter. Looking depressed, Ainsley said her mum was a quitter for leaving him for “the richest man who would have her” when things got tough. It was more complicated than that, Tommy said. And, even if the economy hadn’t tanked, they would have eventually broken up. “We’re just oil and water,” he said, words of cold comfort.
Upstairs, Angela was also sobbing, just much louder. “We were great together” she moaned. Not really, Tommy said. It was “a terrible marriage interrupted by brief moments of joy.” Maybe. But she’d happily trade Mr Russo and his huge house, private jet, and Bentley to have “great sex and a laugh” with Tommy any day. She was going to leave him. “Say yes” she urged repeatedly as he provided a litany of reasons it wouldn’t work (“It’s a huge mistake.” “I have three roommates”) but succumbing to her charms as she clambered on top of him.
The next morning. Nathan was sitting in the living room having pulled an all-nighter when Angela comes downstairs in little more than her underwear. He can't cope with the sight of her shapely rear and grumpily excuses himself. Then Ainsley observes an old dynamic playing out between her mum and dad, an exchange of glances. It dawns on her that something’s different. Angela shoots her a wink of confirmation, and Ainsley and Angela squeal in delight. Yup. Tommy and Angela are getting back together! But will it last? We give it a week...
The worm gets redemption
Elsewhere, Cooper and his new crew were constructing a new oil well. It’s all going smoothly. There are lots of artfully shot scenes of men in silhouette against the blazing sun as they assemble the new rig. But disaster struck in the early hours. Antonio’s hand got crushed by a descending piece of piping. Alerted by his piercing screams, Cooper hurried up the rigging to Antonio’s aid. But by the time he’s reached the ground, the injured man has passed out from the pain. Dale (James Jordan) loaded the unconscious roughneck into his van, urging Boss that the rig needs to be online ASAP as he hurries the injured man to the hospital. All eyes turn to Cooper as Manuel (J.R. Villarreal) instructs him he’ll have to undertake the role of derrickhand, despite having zero training. Turns out, he’s a natural.
The next day, Cooper and Manuel lazily watch their pump jack plough the earth for oil. It’s a proud daddy moment for Tommy, who arrives to hear Boss singing his son's praises, saying he “stepped up when we needed him most.” You could say it’s been a great day for the Norris family. And it’s a auspicious day for Monty. too. as Tommy calls with good news. The well is operational and looks to yield an impressive 250 barrels a day. “I don’t like gambling but it paid off this time” a relieved Monty says, before offering a congratulatory “good work” to his right hand man.
Tommy departs. And all seems well until Cooper gets a call from an unknown number. Sitting beside an oblivious Manuel, the caller reveals herself to be Ariana (Paulina Chavez), Elvio’s widow and the woman Cooper bonded with at the Medina family home. She said it was important that she see him. The problem? Only last week, Manuel threatened to kill Cooper if anything happened between them. Despite the risks, Cooper says yes. Oh dear. It doesn’t take a psychic to know that’s going to cause trouble!
Watch new episodes of Landman weekly on Paramount Plus, every Sunday in the US and Canada, or on Mondays in the UK and Australia.
