Landman Episode 10, ‘The Crumbs of Hope,” is here, bringing an end to the first season of Taylor Sheridan’s Texan drama, and there are still plenty of problems coming Tommy’s way. (Warning: major spoilers ahead!)
Sheridan’s Landman has proven to be something of a success outside of his Yellowstone world. After a rocky start with some understandable backlash, the show has since racked up the numbers and topped streaming charts.
Episode 9 set up plenty of drama: Monty was on death’s door, and it seemed as though he’d bit the dust by the end. The cartel was also hot on Tommy’s tail, making personal threats against him and potentially his family. Plus, Cooper made the first few steps to start a company of his own.
Now the finale is here, and Tommy gets the beating of a lifetime as the cartel makes one last move against him.
Monty teeters on the verge of death in Landman Episode 10
The big question of the Landman finale is simple: is Monty dead? Well, apparently not. In fact, he’s in surgery. Tommy comes into the hospital and finds Cami and her daughters waiting for news. A man named Alan, presumably a lawyer, is also there to sort Monty’s affairs in this trying time.
He tells Tommy that he would be made president of M-Tex Oil upon Monty’s death, and the proceeds would be split across a foundation and a trust. Tommy does’t want to talk about all this right now, but the lawyer is keen to sort out the $167 million farm-out still waiting to be executed.
ParamountIt’s also revealed that Monty needs a heart transplant. Because of this, Tommy accepts the position of president and executor of the family trust while Monty is out of action.
But there’s a catch: Tommy wants Cami to be on the board to ensure she can oversee and vote on the decisions he makes. He also asks Cami to sell the company, telling her her family would have enough money to never have to work again if she gave it all up.
But Cami is hesitant, knowing how much Monty wanted to make a name for himself. “That’s what’s killing him, trying to be immortal,” Tommy tells her. If she wants to go ahead with the farm-out, she would have to put up most of their assets for leverage.
Just then, a doctor comes in and confirms that their best option going forward is a transplant, but they’re on the clock.
Tommy gets tasked with one more job for Cami
While Tommy’s still at the hospital, he gets a call from his National Guard contact, who tells him the mess from the accident the other day has already been cleaned up. Needless to say, they’re a little freaked out.
They want to report the accident, but as Tommy points out, there’s no evidence to support any kind of confession.
“I would suggest everybody gets amnesia real f**king fast,” he tells them.
ParamountOutside, he bumps into Cami, who’s shaken from the ordeal with Monty. But having had time to think about it, she tells him to close the farm-out deal so they can “roll the dice” one last time.
Meanwhile, Angela and Ainsley are out with their friends from the old folks’ home, treating them all to dances at a local strip club. As promised, Ryder is also performing a dance for the lady of the group, and after a little persuading from Ainsley, he comes out and impresses everyone with his moves.
Cooper and Ariana start moving on
Tommy calls Rebecca and wants to meet in private. She resists at first, unwilling to trust him given their circumstances, but eventually agrees to find him at the oil patch to discuss renegotiating the farm-out lease. (She’s also horrified to hear that Tommy is now president.)
He also calls Nate and gives him the unfortunate update on Monty’s health. Nate isn’t happy with the farm-out deal, thinking it’s too big a risk to reliably make the money back. He also doesn’t want to work with Rebecca, but Tommy manages to talk him around.
It’s a lot of work, but thankfully, he gets reassurance from Angela and Ainsley, who tell him they’ll be there for him no matter what.
At Ariana’s house, she starts going through Elvio’s things, clearing out his wardrobe and boxes of belongings with tears in her eyes. When she finds their wedding album, it all becomes too much.
Elsewhere Cooper is checking out another oil patch belonging to a farmer. His wells aren’t drilling because they aren’t deep enough, but he knows he won’t be able to sell them. That, however, is what Cooper is there for. He also offers a higher royalty fee, and all he has to do is sign the lease to Cooper. His offer is too good to pass up, and it looks like he’s making great progress.
Tommy assembles the team
At the patch, Tommy, Rebecca, Nate, and Dale meet. Tommy explains how the ground they’re standing on has been pumped since the ’20s until it started drying up in the ’80s. The only way to get oil out of it now is to frack the ground and drill horizontally – that’s the farm-out deal.
They have 400 wells that’ll cost up to $18 million each. M-Tex Oil agreed to the first nine wells, and if they hit on the first four wells, they have an obligation to drill nine more. And so on, and so on.
They can recoup on strikes up to 120%, and then they share the revenue. The problem with this approach is that they can be bankrupt within a month if the wells are dry.
Tommy needs Rebecca to make a deal with the bank that pays for the entire endeavour “on the first homerun.” He also instructs Dale and Nate to teach her everything they know about the technical and legal aspects of oil.
Before Tommy leaves, Rebecca tries to get him to understand how difficult it is for her to advocate a deal for something she doesn’t support. Something she “believes is wrong.” But he reminds her that the world was built on oil, and until it can run on something else, they don’t have a choice.
The cartel finally makes a move
While driving, Tommy is ambushed by two cars driven by the cartel. Jimenez is there, and when Tommy won’t get out, they grab him and attack him, dragging him into their car and driving away. They take Tommy to one of his oil patches, just in time to watch the whole thing explode in a bombing they’ve obviously planned.
Furious, Tommy warns them about a device that’s embedded on every patch for an instance like this, which will alert OSHA and the authorities. “You just shut yourself down,” he tells Jimenez, who punches him again and tells his men to take Tommy away with a bag over his head.
At home, Ariana is sobbing over her wedding pictures again. When Cooper gets back, she hides the albums and runs into the bathroom so he can’t see her like this. But he finds the albums anyway, and when she comes out, they both agree it’s very soon for them to be together, but she wants to try to let Elvio go.
That night, Ryder arrives at Ainsley’s house. As a thank you for his performance for the old folks, she performs a seductive dance for him and the two get busy.
It’s torture time
Meanwhile, in the back room of a bar, Tommy is being held hostage. Jimenez is getting ready to kill him, toying with him by slamming down hammers and rattling chains he can’t see. While the bag is still over Tommy’s head, he takes the hammer and starts beating him with it.
He had no intention of keeping Tommy alive, hoping his death will send a message to future landmen. Next, they pour gasoline over Tommy and hammer a nail into his leg. As Jimenez smokes a cigarette, he teases that he could set him alight at anytime.
Back at home, Angela starts to get worried that nobody’s heard from Tommy. And upstairs, Ainsley gets emotional as she and Ryder sleep in bed together – something she was never able to do with her terrible ex-boyfriend. (God, remember Dakota Loving?) Ryder then agrees to stay the night.
The big boss makes an entrance
Tommy’s torture is about to continue until the sound of gunfire erupts outside the room. Jimenez is shot, and when Tommy is freed, he see that it’s none other than Gallino, Jimenez’s boss. He offers Tommy a cigarette (despite the fact he’s still covered in gasoline).
Jimenez didn’t understand the right way of working, Gallino tells Tommy. He knows they need to coexist, and wants them to find a way to reach mutual respect once again. Tommy tells him the way to do this is to stay out of M-Tex Oil’s way.
“We have unlimited funds and unlimited connections,” he says. But Gallino reminds him that the cartel has all the same resources. “The world’s a better place if we’re friends,” he replies. It’s an understanding, but just barely.
To prove his good standing, Gallino gets a text from the police chief, warning them of an oncoming fleet. Together, they leave the building, exiting out of a hidden entrance behind a vending machine. Before they part ways, Gallino says he wants to talk to Tommy about the land they share sometime.
Monty dies at the end of Landman Season 1
Dale comes and picks Tommy up. On the drive home, he asks Tommy about his mental state, to which Tommy replies, “I think I’m gonna start drinking again.”
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Cami and his daughters cry at Monty’s bedside. Sadly, he didn’t make it.
The next morning, Angela finds Tommy on the couch, bloodied and bruised. She doesn’t buy his fake story about a car wreck, but he warns her there will always be things he can’t tell her. But one thing he can tell her is “my whole life passed before my eyes, and all I saw was you.”
ParamountAs the sun comes up and the family (Ryder included) comes downstairs for blueberry pancakes, Tommy goes outside and looks out at the horizon, warning a stray coyote, “You better run, buddy. They kill coyotes around here.”
Landman Episode 10 – the Season 1 finale – is available to stream on Paramount+ now.
For more great watches, check out our list of the new TV shows out this month. You can also see what’s ahead for Sheridan with guides to shows like 6666, The Madison, and 1923 Season 2.