For the second time in a few weeks, Cooper Norris is getting wheeled out of a Midland, Texas hospital. First there was the randomness of death’s hand in the Permian Basin oil fields, which spared Cooper but killed the entire crew he had just joined. Then the oil-working cousins of those dead men decided to retaliate against his mere survival. And now, it’s Ariana who picks up Cooper upon his discharge. Because even though the accident transformed her into a widow and single mother at age 22, Cooper was kind to her. Which is more than you can say for Manuel and the rest of the guys who jumped him, with all their petty jealousies. Still, Tommy Norris, well-versed in the wildness of West Texas, knows the burgeoning couple’s trouble might not be over. “There’s a big bulls-eye on this boy,” he warns Ariana, as Cooper eases his busted ribs into the car for the ride to her house. “I know,” she answers. “I put it there.” 

There was a spontaneous spark between Cooper and Ariana, even in the aftermath of the tragedy. So it’s not a surprise, her decision to open her home to his recovery. Tommy might think his boy ain’t mean enough to be a roughneck, but nice is in his nature, as is his wish to help. And though their emerging relationship offers us more opportunities to enjoy the understated chemistry between Jacob Lofland and Paulina Chávez, it is under threat. Not only from marauding, shortsighted oil patch thugs. But from M-Tex, Monty Miller’s oil company, and lawyers like Nathan and Rebecca. They push Ariana to quickly sign off on a bereavement payout, before she and the other grieving families can secure their own legal representation. But as Ariana and Cooper share their first real kiss, and her dog grows accustomed to him being in her bed, Cooper also takes a look at M-Tex’s offer. Depending on how this plays out, we’re anticipating more friction. On one side will be the newly-minted couple, and on the other will be Monty, his lawyers, and what’s expected of Tommy. M-Tex’s landman could be looking at his own bulls-eye.

There is never a dull moment in the patch, and it is always five or six – or five or six million – kinds of dangerous. We’ve already seen what befell Cooper’s crew, and two more terrible on-the-job accidents. “This job’s hard enough,” Boss tells Tommy, “without getting shot at.” This is because the cartel has returned to harass the crews working over a fleet of Monty’s under-performing wells. They see the land the wells sit on as important to their own product. And they want restitution for what burned in the M-Tex plane they stole. Until Monty can orchestrate an official solution, it’s Standoff City out at the patch. Facing Tommy, Boss, Dale, and their work crew’s guns, the cartel guys back down. But they will return. It’s just another problem in a stack of problems that affect the typical oil and gas workday in the fields of West Texas.

Which Tommy, Dale, Boss, and Monty all understand. They’ve been doing this work for decades – long enough to witness numerous cycles of boom and bust, the kind that destroyed Tommy and Angela’s first marriage – but what’s interesting about Landman is how everyone at all levels of Oil in Texas accepts the overleverage. At a meeting with a rival executive, Monty agrees to invest $300 million of his own money in spinning up a clutch of new wells. He deals hard, and the other guy has to cave. But there is no precedent in this business. Next time, their roles might be reversed, with Monty as the one hurting from banks refusing his loan requests. For as wildly successful as the boom can be, everyone on the Midland-Fort Worth oil biz axis seems to have a healthy understanding of the opposite. This is probably why Monty made the high-risk deal in the first place. Seek great reward in opportunity, because the alternatives are death or destitution.

Which brings us to Angela and Ainsley, and their own thoughts on securing the future. While they work out at the gym – “we’re here to build butts” – Angela explains the rules of the world from her perspective. She’ll never have to work, never have to worry, just so long as she makes her man happy. With sex. (“And the occasional blow job,” Angela clarifies.) And when she attends Texas Tech in the fall, Ainsley wants to major in “philanthropy.” It’s her intention to marry an NFL quarterback, she tells Ryder (Mitchell Slaggert), the Midland-area jock and Tech commit who she flirts with out at a Gen Z patch party. Her theoretical quarterback husband would earn a lot of money for them. Money that would require management through a charitable foundation, which she would set up with her philanthropic training. Evidently Ainsley means it metaphorically after she opens Ryder’s shirt, runs her hands across his chest, and asks where he was made, because she wants to work in that factory.

‘Landman’ Star Michelle Randolph Says She Worked With An Acting Coach To Determine Why Ainsley “Says The Things Ainsley Says”

In bed at the Midland corporate rental, Angela wakes up Tommy to go grab Ainsley. The AirTag she thinks their daughter doesn’t know about hasn’t moved for 45 minutes. And when he arrives, Tommy puts a stop to Ainsley and Ryder’s truck bed groping before wincing at more of her views on sex during the ride home. He wants to keep his daughter safe from harm, and also Cooper, though that’s a different kind of evolving story. And he wants to make Angela happy, now that they’re making another go at marriage. (“I just want you to experience the pain of death for upsetting me,” is how she puts it.) But pulling Ainsley out of the patch party, he didn’t notice the guy who seemed to be conducting surveillance on them. The cartel is keeping an eye on who Tommy holds most dear. Talk about bulls-eyes.  

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.