Landman – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Clumsy, This Life

Episode 8 of Landman starts with Rebecca grilling Cooper about the accident. She tries to pin the accident on Cooper and she has the upper hand since Cooper decided to hook up with Ariana. Rebecca shows Cooper how she will use their entanglement to her advantage if Ariana decides to sue for damages and shows him just how bad their relationship looks and the damage it will cause in the investigations. Rebecca knows the truth, but she adamantly tells Cooper that she rejects the truth and will invest her own and destroy Ariana and her family in the process. 

Monty meets up with a Governor in another one of those usual lunches. This time, he needs the government’s assistance in dealing with the cartel issue. He offers the National Texas Guard 75,000 acres of land as training grounds. All he wants is their presence around his oil wells to scare the cartels and make sure they stop messing with his crew. The Governor agrees with Monty’s offer and instructs his assistant to connect the Colonel in charge with Tommy to make the arrangements. They briefly mention Tommy’s issue and it seems like he had made it big when they started the business, but he went bankrupt, losing everything.

Back at Ariana’s house, it seems we had given Rebecca an early win because Cooper counteracts their offer and asks for a million. Cooper is willing to help Ariana sue for damages since he is sure that none of Monty’s wells will pass an investigation with OSHA and he has inside information on all the irregularities. Nate calls Monty, and they are backed into a corner.

Monty agrees to make payment only to Ariana accompanied by an NDA, but Cooper insists that the three windows should get an equal amount. Monty agrees to make the payment and Cooper quits working for Monty, effectively immediately. 

Ariana feels conflicted because Cooper quit his job for her. She confesses that she has feelings for Cooper even though it is too soon. Cooper says they can take it slow and wait, but Ariana’s mind is made up. She does not want to wait. Ariana says she will clean a room for Cooper since he has nowhere to go and no job. Cooper says that he had to quit soon since he has learnt all he could from M-tex. Cooper’s dream is to run an oil company someday and says he will not run it like M-tex does.

At Tommy’s shared residence, his roommate Dale has to sit through an uncomfortable breakfast, as Tommy and Angela are shaking the whole house with moans and grunts. Tommy rough handles Angela due to frustrations and she does not appreciate the roughness on a Sunday morning, which leads to an argument. 

Later, Tommy heads out of work while Angela and Ainsley visit the old folks’ home. Tommy shows the Colonel and his team the suggested training grounds and works out the details while Angela takes the old folks out bowling. Elsewhere, Monty has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. His wife asks Tommy to only call her if he needs anything.

Tommy gets a call from Rebecca as he is getting home from the meeting with the Colonel. Rebeca wants to meet urgently about Cooper. Nate fills Tommy in on what happened and tells Tommy that he thinks that Cooper and Ariana have real feelings for each other. Tommy decides to pay Cooper and Ariana a visit and figure out what is happening before meeting up with Rebeca. Meanwhile, Ryder takes Ainsley out on a date. 

Tommy’s visit to Ariana’s house becomes another argument. When he questions about their relationship, Ariana goes off on him since she feels that he is judging her. She admits that she has no idea what is happening between them, but one thing she is sure of is that she likes how Cooper looks at her because Elvio never looked at her in a similar way that stirred up feelings. Ariana kicks Tommy out of the house but before he leaves, he tells Ariana that he wishes that she and Cooper could last and if they do not; he hopes she can find someone who loves her truly because she is one of the few people who deserves love. 

Tommy then meets up with Rebecca. It turns out that she has this whole conspiracy theory cooking up. The confrontation with Cooper affected her deeply, and she now wants to turn the whole accident around and pin it on Cooper. Cooper has studied petroleum engineering with a minor in geology and Rebecca thinks that he intentionally blew up the well just so he can have a chance with Ariana. However, Tommy stops her with a threat. She warms him to not go after Cooper just to heal her bruised ego or else she will have to deal with him. 

Angela calls Tommy just after the meeting. She wants him to get home for some more cuddle time, but Tommy is angry. He tells Angela he will get home whenever he can and disconnects the phone. Meanwhile, Ainsley takes Ryder to spend time at the old folk’s home after enjoying a swim in a reservoir. Ainsley intends to test whether Ryder cares more about her or if he is just playing. The episode ends with the Texas National Guard blowing up some drug dealers who were making an exchange at the training grounds provided by Monty. 

The Episode Review

We were all looking forward to the confrontation between Cooper and Rebecca about the payment and viewers. At first, Rebecca seemed to take the win, but Cooper came back and surprised us all. His confrontation with Rebecca is my takeaway in this episode. He seemed like the prey at first, but he pounced back and became the predator, forcing powerful people to give in and also helping the widows. A good lesson for Rebecca, who is quick to power play without considering the victim’s feelings. 

Another noteworthy scene is the confrontation between Rebecca and Tommy. At the beginning of the series, the writers intentionally made viewers believe in the possibility of some romance, but it seems we were highly misled. However, Rebecca’s conspiracy theory leaves the viewer questioning the accident. Is everything just a coincidence or are there some hidden motives? Could Cooper have something to do with the accident?

Rebecca is a prideful person, so, likely, she will not let the humiliation slide. What will happen to Ariana and Cooper if she decides on a criminal investigation to pin the accident on Cooper? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below. What are some of your favourite moments in this episode?