Landman Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Forever Is an Instant Is the Very Definition of Filler

Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0

3

Well, I can’t lie.

The thing I’m most interested in after Landman Season 2 Episode 7 is audience reaction.

Because if “Forever Is An Instant,” this one was a mere blip in the Landman canon.

The best thing I can say about it is that we didn’t have to struggle through mob connections and dirty money with Gallino, Cami’s nasty looks at Tommy as she makes a mockery of M-Tex, or get too deep into the litigation vs drilling conundrum.

Nope. This one is all about love. Love of the job. Love of family. Romantic love. And just plain old love of life.

But the thing is, it all fell flat. Watching the family and the couples we’re about to discuss doesn’t make my heart swell. It just makes me sad.

I say this after having a conversation with my stepfather today about yelling and how it’s meaningless in the scheme of things. Most of the yelling we do is out of frustration, nothing more. It doesn’t negate the love we have for each other in my family.

In that way, a lot of us can probably identify with the Norris clan.

Tommy yells at TL out of frustration. TL spits it right back. Even when they’re talking about love, they do it in harsh tones.

And TL is adamant that Tommy get his head out of his ass and start enjoying the gifts God has given him, especially now that Angela is back in his life.

You’d need to have the patience of a saint to love a woman like Angela. Thankfully, Tommy gets plenty of practice on the business side, which also requires enormous patience.

I mean, Tommy had a bag over his head and was doused with gasoline, and he had to sit there and just take it. All he really wanted was a cigarette afterward.

Dealing with pains in the asses is Tommy’s life’s work. He did it as a child with his parents. He did it in his first marriage to Angela. And he has been doing it with the oil business for decades.

So, taking on new responsibilities at M-Tex, bringing his dad back into his life, and giving it another go with Angela is just par for the course. It’s another day in his life. But at least, when it comes to family, he’s got more of a stake in the game.

God knows Angela doesn’t make it easy.

It was only on Landman Season 2 Episode 6 that Tommy asked his wife and daughter to stop turning on his subordinate roommates in their skimpy underwear every morning.

Angela thought that was hilarious and had no desire to stop. Yet when she brought a waitress into their hotel room and the woman got a glimpse of Tommy’s hard-on — through no fault of his own — Angela melted down.

The morning sex Tommy was looking forward to after she made him eat an extra Cialis the night before? Not so much. “When my husband flashes the waitstaff, it ruins the mood.”

She stomped away, demanded an end to the weekend, and flew home, flipping him off as she boarded the jet.

But a ride with the most miserable man in the world, TL (Carol Sturka on Pluribus? She’s practically running Pleasantville by comparison), reminding his son to grab the bull by the horns again, and Tommy is ready to commit. Well, more or less.

Yes, he does need to tell Angela he loves her more often. They do need to be more aware of each other and less hostile.

After a long, disastrous day, Tommy told the beautiful hurricane of a woman how much she means to him. And in return, she told him she wants to be loved, worshipped, showered with gifts, a house in Fort Worth, and a bonus by the beach.

Well, so much for that lovely moment. Tommy tells her he loves her despite her being her, and she tells Tommy she loves his wealth and what he can do for her ego.

Sorry, but this relationship is a dud. Can Cooper do better with Ariana? Honestly, I don’t think so.

Cooper is still living in a fantasy. Ariana has been testing him, and he’s passing, but he’s also not listening. She says the proposal, engagement, and wedding mean nothing. So he spends $200 and who knows how much time on an elaborate proposal.

He’s weak in the knees, giddy at the thought of making her happy. If he feels like this forever. Blah blah blah. She says circumstances will always change, but she won’t. She uses adult words and feelings, and he uses gimmicks.

Hey, I wish them all the best, but I don’t see this as a lifetime commitment. She still won’t leave her baby home alone with him. And she wants to marry him??

And then we have Rebecca, trying to have feelings for a man who also may hold the future of M-Tex in his hands. Well, that was before he gave her the 10% odds of tapping gas in the same spot as the blown well.

If you read my interview with Guy Burnet, you already knew nobody other than Rebecca calls Charles Charlie, but Nate used that to dig at his new boss with an HR document about a romantic conflict of interest.

The man who scoffs at her for even using the term HR suddenly comes to life with a document that brings her to tears.

Thankfully, Tommy is in the mood for love, and Nate takes the brunt of that bad decision. Tommy just wishes the best for Rebecca, as long as she knows that if Charlie fails at his job, she’s still got to can him.

Common sense. It’s really not that hard.

Business-wise, her time with Charlie was well spent. They finally understand why Monty was playing a shell game when it comes to potential litigation. With 10% odds and a guaranteed $400 million payout just to drill once, it makes more sense to litigate. The odds are better the overall output will be less.

But the real love of Landman Season 2 Episode 7 comes from Boss. The man has given 20 years of his life to M-Tex. He survived in one piece, cared for a lovely wife, landed a happy home, and put his daughter through college.

Now, with a Rolex he thought was reserved only for the suits, he is ready for the next chapter. By summer, he will have said his goodbyes and moved to Houston for his next chapter.

But first, he celebrates. Not alone or for family only, but bringing everyone else over to his home for a barbecue of steaks and coolers full of beer. He knows how he made it through. He doesn’t need repeated slaps upside the head to remember, it either.

Boss is the happiest man on the show. He’s got it all, minimal personal suffering required.

So excuse me if my first thought is that the next well to blow or gas leak to sneak up on a man will take him down with it. You know, a cautionary tale for the others with their heads normally far too up their own asses to see how good they actually have it.

And that’s how we wrap. Two references to heads in asses, and we’ve managed to talk about 47 minutes of TV that did relatively nothing to move the needle.

Why? Because it was a filler episode. Only a couple of the scenes matter to the overall future of the show. But now we’ve had our breather. So what do you think comes next?

I’ll be honest. I didn’t even want to watch this episode.

It’s the first time I just don’t care what comes next. The focus on these lame relationships doesn’t excite me. Based on the results from our Episode 6 poll (below), you aren’t enjoying it either.

Well, the new poll is below, and use the rest of your energy to verbalize what’s off for you.

I need to know if anyone else is feeling the pain of Landman Season 2.

Don’t leave me hangin’!!