Tapping Into ‘Landman’ Romance: Where All Couples Stand Ahead of Season 2
The oil is flowing, and so is the romance in Landman, which heads into its second season starting November 16 on Paramount+.
In the high-pressure world of oil drilling, there is no guarantee of coming home. More than a few characters learned that the hard way in Season 1 of the Taylor Sheridan-penned series. So when you have to live for the moment, inevitably, the mind wanders to the loves lost, found, and discovered along the way.
That is certainly what brought landman Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) and Angela (Ali Larter) back together, even if the only thing more electric than their chemistry is their fights.
But as Landman heads into Season 2, where do the four main couples stand, and can they survive the new threats on the horizon from new foes like Gallino (Andy Garcia)? Let’s get a pulse check on Landman’s love stories.
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Tommy and Angela
Status: Still Together
Talk about oil and water. Tommy is a man just trying to make it through his day, and his ex-wife and current partner, Angela, is just trying to squeeze every ounce of life out of each of hers. They shouldn’t work, and most of the time they don’t! But surviving a day with each other just shows how strong-willed they both are, and those are the kind of nerves of steel you need to survive in the Texas oil industry. At the end of Season 1, they were about as strong as two exes with grown kids and plenty of history could be as they rekindled their relationship — against the advice of their friends and themselves.
Still, after he faced death yet again in his fight with the Mexican cartels and the newly emerged threat of Gallino in the Season 1 finale, he went home and professed his devotion to Angela again. “My whole life flashed before my eyes, and all I saw was you,” he said. (And hopefully their kids!) Nevertheless, those are words that Angela will probably never let him forget — and will almost certainly hold over his head at some point in Season 2.
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Cami and Monty
Status: Torn Apart by Death
Pour one out for Monty (Jon Hamm) and Cami Miller (Demi Moore), the billionaire couple at the top of M-Tex, who suffered the worst kind of romantic setback when Monty died at the end of Season 1. Overworked and overstressed, Monty had been warned by everyone to take a step back, but he didn’t listen — those Texas oilmen never do. After suffering a heart attack, he never fully recovered, leaving the company in the hands of his devoted but slightly aloof wife and Tommy. In Season 2, the shadow of the Millers’ marriage looms large over Cami’s attempts to step up to be the face of the company in an industry that does not value women. While we hate to see Hamm leave and this sweet couple go, this gives Landman the chance to elevate Moore into a much more visible role after having barely been in Season 1. So, sad for the Millers, but lucky for us!
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Ainsley and Ryder
Status: Still Together
Two of the prettiest people in Texas hooking up? Sounds about right to us. Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) is hardly the sharpest tool in the shed, but she does have a nose for boys, and she’s getting better at learning which ones to steer clear of. Luckily, Ryder (Mitchell Slaggert) seems like one of the good ones for now. A football player with his eyes on a college career and beyond, Ainsley is already seeing the future life they could share as a power couple. And he’s willing to do just about anything for her, including agreeing to perform a striptease for the elderly and horny residents of a nursing home at Ainsley and Angela volunteer at — thong and all. If that’s not young love, we don’t know what is. Will these two last as Ainsley grows up? Only Season 2 will tell.
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Cooper and Ariana
Status: Still Together
One of the few bright spots born out of the series premiere’s tragic explosion was the initially taboo relationship between Tommy’s son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), and his coworker’s widow, Ariana (Paulina Chávez). While their relationship originally incurred violence from its detractors and concerned looks from their families, Cooper and Ariana have proven to be among the most resilient couples in the series.
He helped her negotiate a better settlement from M-Tex for her husband’s death, much to the chagrin of his father. And she has supported him as he pursued branching out on his own in the oil industry. Despite their tragic meet-cute, these two have a real chance to survive the pressure cooker that is this line of work, so long as Cooper doesn’t let his ambition make him forget what he has at home.
Landman, Season 2 Premiere, November 16, Paramount+
