Landman season 2 ending explained: Are Tommy and M-Tex really parting ways?

Landman season 2 spoilers ahead.

Another rip-roaring ration of Taylor Sheridan chaos has come to an end with the Landman season 2 finale, and there’s a lot to unpack when it comes to the Norris family and their relationship with M-Tex Oil.

Fans of Yellowstone will know exactly what Sheridan’s stories are like. He always seems to find a way to balance soap opera-esque drama and moments of levity with genuinely high-stakes and nail-biting tension. Landman is no different, aside from the fact there are less horses and a lot more oil.

At the start of this season, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) was handling the fallout of Monty Miller’s death and his widow, Cami (Demi Moore), taking over M-Tex. As the episodes ticked by, though, the promising partnership broke down as Cami pushed the company into risky territory while Tommy tried to play things more conservatively.

By the end of Landman season 2’s penultimate episode, Cami had fired Tommy for his aversion to her plans to drill for oil in the Gulf, and had completely aligned herself with the very wealthy and slightly shady Dan Morrell (Andy Garcia).

Can that situation be repaired in the finale, or is Tommy’s association with M-Tex well and truly dead and buried?

Read on for our spoiler-filled breakdown of the Landman season 2 ending, including details of the lay of the land for all the Norris family.

Landman season 2 ending explained

Who is Tommy working for now?

The final episode of season 2 felt a lot like the movie Uncut Gems, with Tommy’s world falling apart around him. It’s pure mayhem, but it makes for great television.

In Tommy’s own words, he was given the boot by Cami for "trying to run the company like a business instead of a memento or a dream." He’s not short of other options, mind you, with Chevron already lining him up for a job. However, Tommy has another bold plan, and somehow he manages to pull it off.

It all starts when Tommy tells Nate to give him the agreement they had put in place between M-Tex and Cooper for his prosperous new oil-drilling projects. It’s a gamble, but Nate trusts him to figure things out.

Meanwhile, Nate himself has a new job offer: Cami asks him to become the new president of M-Tex. He declines, insisting he would rather resign and he urges Cami to sell the business instead of running it into the ground.

All the while, Tommy has to deal with Angela finding out he lost his job, a huge Cooper-shaped crisis (which we’ll get to shortly), and even a near-miss during a crazy crash on the highway as he pinballs around Texas on his one-man mission.

Attempts to get other businessmen involved in the plans for Cooper’s land fail as they don’t want to be an accessory to embezzlement and get stuck between Tommy and M-Tex. So, Tommy goes back to the root of his problem and meets with Dan.

During their chat, Dan makes it clear he is not going to walk away from the deal he’s made with Cami. He wants to back her, even if it means he will lose money. But, he also respects Tommy and trusts his judgement. So much so, in fact, that he’s willing to fund the $44m required to buy out the original agreement for Cooper’s drilling project and invest another $18m for the next drill sites. Dan warns him that failure will incur a heavy cost, but it’s still an exciting moment for the Norris family.

While fans suspected Tommy and Cooper could become rivals in the oil industry, the opposite is true. Tommy sets up a new company called CTT Oil Exploration and Cattle (Yellowstone crossover, anyone?), with Cooper as president, himself as VP, and key roles for his dad, TL, Nate, Rebecca, Dale, Boss, and Ariana.

It’s happy days for the Norris clan by the end of the episode. They have seven square miles of oil-rich land to drill, a 50/50 partnership with Dan in place, and a company that offers brilliant perks for its employees. It almost all fell apart, though.

Cooper and Ariana fight for their lives

The other major plot point heading into the finale was around Ariana (Paulina Chávez) being assaulted outside the bar where she worked and Cooper (Jacob Lofland) coming to her rescue. The problem is, Cooper lost control and beat Ariana’s attacker to within an inch of his life.

While Ariana is getting checked out at the police station and filing her report, two detectives working the case start asking questions of Cooper. Turns out, the guy who tried to rape Ariana ended up dying in hospital (albeit of a heart attack), and the police are eager to pin the death on Cooper.

Thankfully, Ariana calls Rebecca and the lawyer storms into the police station to save the day. It’s a blistering scene and a very satisfying one, as Rebecca condemns the detectives for siding with a rapist and trying to vilify Cooper for simply saving his fiancée. She’s done her homework, too, revealing that one of the detectives once shot a perpetrator 11 times in a show of excessive force. She threatens to file a class action lawsuit if they charge Cooper, and that just about puts the matter to bed.

Just to cap things off and ensure no further trouble will come Cooper’s way, Tommy visits the police station as well. If there were any lingering doubts before that, Tommy well and truly strikes the fear of god into the officers and the district attorney, after suggesting he will tell the press about what they have done.

The Norris family are all set for Landman season 3

We couldn’t talk about Landman without mentioning Angela. Her relationship with Tommy is one of the main sources of entertainment in this show, but their tumultuous arguments have become far less frequent and their love has grown stronger than ever.

Ironically, Tommy can thank his father for that. When Angela moved TL into the family home, initial tensions looked like they could spill over, but Tommy and his dad bonded as the season progressed, with some important lessons learned by both sides.

Crucially, TL reminds his son to treasure every moment with those he loves and to make the most of his time with Angela. By the end of the finale, this message has clearly hit home for Tommy, who tells Angela just how much she means to him. They’re not remarried just yet, but wedding bells definitely beckon for Landman season 3.

The closing moment of the episode is a brilliant bit of symbolism, with Tommy staring down a wolf that sits just outside the boundary to his home. "Not today… today is mine," Tommy tells the wolf. We’ve a feeling that wolf will get a little closer in season 3, but for now, we can revel in a truly happy ending for the Norris family.

Landman seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now on Paramount Plus. Get a seven day free Paramount Plus trial at Amazon Prime Video.

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