by Tim Gordon
The oil fields are burning again, and the snakes are out. Landman returns for its second season with “Death and Sunset,” an episode that crackles with grief, greed, and power. It’s a slow, mean Texas boil, the kind that never lets you look away.
When we last saw him, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) had just inherited the keys to Monty Miller’s oil kingdom after his boss and best friend dropped dead. Now, Monty’s ghost lingers over everything. As the new President of M-Tex, Tommy is fighting to convince the investors that the money’s still flowing and that Monty’s death didn’t shake the foundation. The boardroom vultures don’t buy it. They smell blood in the Permian Basin. Tommy smiles through clenched teeth and makes deals to keep the peace, but every handshake feels like someone sharpening a knife behind his back.
Enter Cami Miller (Demi Moore), Monty’s widow and newly crowned queen of M-Tex. Gone is the silent observer from Season One. This Cami walks into her first shareholders’ meeting like she’s entering a lion’s den in heels and silk. “This room is like the Serengeti,” a woman warns her. Cami doesn’t flinch. She takes the mic, stares down a room of oil barons, and makes one thing clear: she’s not here to be a placeholder. By the time she’s done, half the room is in awe and the other half is terrified.
Tommy and Cami meet privately afterward, and the power play begins. He tells her to let him take the hits, to let him handle the enemies who are bound to come for them. But Cami isn’t built to hide behind a man, not anymore. “I can’t learn anything by deferring to you,” she says coolly. Tommy knows what that means. The partnership that once kept M-Tex steady is about to turn into a full-blown civil war.
Back on the private jet, Tommy barely has time to breathe before his ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter) hits him with another bombshell. She wants to buy a house near Ainsley’s college. Angela is in chaos with lipstick, and Tommy’s exasperation is written all over his face. Somewhere in his heart, he still loves her. Somewhere in his gut, he knows she’ll always be trouble.
Meanwhile, their son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) strikes oil, literally. After months of drilling, his well finally hits, pouring out 500 barrels a day and turning him into an instant millionaire. He celebrates with Ariana (Paulina Chavez), riding the high of success that his father once felt. The kid’s ambition is big, his pride even bigger, and that’s where the cracks will start to show.
Angela and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) head to TCU for Ainsley’s admissions interview, and it’s a cringe comedy of epic proportions. Ainsley’s cluelessness leaves the admissions counselor stunned, but legacy privilege does its job. The girl who thinks “liberal arts” is a political stance gets accepted anyway.
Then there’s TL (Sam Elliott), an aging cowboy sitting in an assisted living home, watching the sun fade. His love, Dorothy, is gone, and the loneliness hangs thick. His quiet grief feels out of place at first, until the end of the episode connects his loss to Tommy’s.
At the Norris family dinner, Cooper proudly shares news of his strike. Tommy listens, half proud, half wary. Angela plays hostess, trying to class up a table full of men who’d rather eat steak and keep it simple. When Tommy prays for patience, it’s more a plea than a blessing. The meal descends into chaos, ending in one of those familiar Norris family shouting matches that always seem one breath away from passion. Angela and Tommy fight, then flirt, then nearly fall into bed again. It’s messy, magnetic, and as dangerous as ever.
And then, the phone rings. Tommy’s mother is dead. The words stop him cold. He stands beside Angela, staring at the same blood-orange sunset TL watched earlier. The camera lingers, the light fading slowly, the silence thick enough to choke on. For once, the man who has an answer for everything is speechless.
Final Thoughts
“Death and Sunset” doesn’t just restart Landman; it reignites it. Taylor Sheridan’s world of oil, blood, and ambition comes roaring back with the weight of loss and the promise of war.
Cami Miller is no grieving widow. Demi Moore turns her into a steel-hearted businesswoman who is ready to go toe-to-toe with Tommy Norris, and watching the two circle each other is pure electricity. Billy Bob Thornton delivers another quiet masterclass, playing Tommy like a man trying to hold back a hurricane with his bare hands.
Cooper’s big strike sets up a father-son power struggle that’s destined to explode. Angela remains the series’ unpredictable wildfire, and Ainsley is living proof that privilege always finds a way to win.
The arrival of Sam Elliott’s TL adds poetry to the grit, a reminder that in Sheridan’s America, every man faces his sunset, no matter how rich, powerful, or broken he is.
Landman returns with swagger, soul, and a storm on the horizon. If “Death and Sunset” is the calm before the explosion, this season is going to burn hot.
