Landman is starting to wind down now, and in Episode 9, ‘WolfCamp’, there’s a major loss that’ll change everything for Tommy and the oil patch. (Warning: major spoilers ahead!)
In Landman Episode 8, Monty suffered a huge blow with a heart attack (his fifth one, apparently). Meanwhile, Tommy was still adjusting to the news that Cooper and Ariana were essentially dating, and Ainsley was getting cosy with her new beau, Ryder.
But problems are on the horizon. Rebecca is getting too aggressive for her own good, and the cartel was very much still on Tommy’s case after the plane crash. What’s more, the last Landman episode ended with the National Guard firing on some of their runners by accident.
Episode 9 of Taylor Sheridan‘s drama picks up where we left off, setting everything up for the big finale.
The cartel’s threats continue in Landman Episode 9
Episode 9 starts with Tommy getting a call from his National Guard contact, yelling at him over the previous incident in which they’d accidently killed a driver during a training scenario. However, Tommy confirms they were smugglers, and assures him, “I’ll make a call, the mess will be cleaned.”
Meanwhile, the gang leader, Jiminez, gets a call from Tommy, who wants them both to return to their previous state: focusing on their own work and staying out of each other’s way.
He also believes the land is too problematic for the cartel to use anymore. However, Jiminez wants to see Tommy in person, telling him as such with a thinly veiled threat.
Elsewhere, Angela and Ainsley make a pitstop on their way to the gym at a strip club. As the entertainment director for the old people’s home, she wants to take them on a field drip and experience some nightlife lite. The owner agrees, but only if they bring their own male stripper.
Tommy visits Monty in the hospital
Tommy heads over to the hospital to visit Monty, who’s now in recovery. He finds Cami in the waiting room and comforts her briefly before heading in. There, he finds Jerry Jones talking to Monty, telling him the story of how he came to make his fortune. His lesson is simple: Monty should be spending more time with his family.
When he’s gone, Monty turns his attention to Tommy. He tells him that he’ll be stepping down from work soon, since this would be his third bypass surgery. He also promotes him to Vice President of Operations. “You’re doing the work already, you might as well have the title,” he tells Tommy.
However, there’s a catch. Despite Tommy’s protests, Monty also tells him that Rebecca will be made a permanent employee, stepping into the role of Vice President of Exploration. On his way out of the hospital, Tommy tells Cami to make sure Monty actually follows through with his plans to wind down.
After being shaken by the visit, Tommy calls Angela and tells her he loves her.
Another family dinner gone wrong
Later that day, Ariana gets home, where Cooper is waiting. He hurts himself trying to help carry in groceries, still not fully recovered from his attack. When he gets back in, he opens his laptop, working on some mysterious plan. When he mentions his and Ariana’s shared future, she starts acting cagey, telling him to focus on his own life for now.
Clearly, she’s reluctant to rely on him too heavily. But he insists that he has feelings for her and wants to be with him. After a brief interruption by a salesman, the two start kissing on the couch.
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That evening, Tommy gets home. He’s immediately confronted by Nate, who’s furious about Rebecca’s promotion. Tommy manages to talk him down, but it’s clearly not the end of this problem. Tommy also finds out Ryder is upstairs with Ainsley, with the two currently in a “bible study” session.
What’s really happening is that Ainsley is trying to convince him to play the role of the stripper for the old folks’ home. He’s not sure, and their negotiations are quickly brought to an end when Tommy comes upstairs to call them down for dinner.
At the table, Angela and Tommy get into an argument over the correct way to eat her paella. When he brings plates into the room, she storms out in anger. He finds her outside, and they have a familiar, frank discussion: he wants her to stop putting on shows to be appreciated, and he wants to live an easy life after a hard days’ work.
While they’re distracted, Ainsley and Ryder sneak upstairs, where he agrees to be her dancer in exchange for getting friendly.
Rest in peace, Monty Miller
That night, Ariana wakes up and finds Cooper back at his computer. He’s looking at a map of the Wolfcamp Shale, the richest oil field in the world.
It’s an expensive and impractical place to drill, since it would need to be done horizontally or via fracking. Digging depths can also be up to 10,000 feet. His plan is to buy up all the smaller pieces of land for lease and resell them. This is his dream: to become an oil CEO.
However, tragedy is happening elsewhere. At the hospital, Monty’s heartrate begins increasing. He presses the call button, but we don’t see anyone enter the room to help.
The next morning, Tommy wakes up to find Angela has already left for her strip club field trip with the old folks. After watching Nate and Dale get riled up at the girls throwing out their unhealthy food, Tommy goes outside.
He gets a call from Cami. From the look on his face, it’s seems as though Monty is dead.
Meanwhile, Cooper pulls up to a small farm, finding the owner in a barn. He makes an offer to the man: since his oil lease expired in 1997, he wants to buy the lease from him. This is the first stage in Cooper’s plan to buy up the smaller patches that are harder to drill for. The man appears to agree, dubbing him as “an honest man in the patch.”
In his yard, Tommy stands, shaken by the news of his old friend dying. He watches a wolf from afar, but it’s promptly shot by his neighbour, who admonishes the animal for killing pets.
Landman Episode 9 is available to stream on Paramount+ now.
For more, find out when the Landman finale is out. You can also check out Taylor Sheridan’s other shows, like 6666, The Madison, and 1944.
