We’re only one episode into Taylor Sheridan’s Landman Season 2, which premiered on the 2025 TV schedule last week, but I’m already worried about Cooper (Jacob Lofland) and Ariana (Paulina Chávez). The couple’s relationship has always seemed shaky, given how it began after Ariana’s husband was killed in a drilling accident. Now, it looks like the couple is about to come into a ton of money, and as the 20th-century philosopher Biggie Smalls once said, “mo’ money, mo’ problems.”
Family Relationships Are Dicey
It’s safe to say that family relationships on Landman, which you can watch with a Paramount+ subscription, are often fraught. That can be seen between Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) and Angela (Ali Larter) and their wild bickering and fighting that always seems to end in sex, Tommy and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) and their inability to communicate… and pretty much Tommy and everyone else in the Norris family.
Cooper does his best to stay out of it, like bailing as Angela exploded at dinner in the first episode of Season 2. Rather than stick around to talk about his newfound fortune with his dad, he takes off, content to discuss it later. I fear that fortune, however, could spell real trouble for Cooper and Ariana, as it doesn’t seem like either of them is ready for the $20 million or so it looks like is coming to them (and possibly much more).
Cooper And Angela’s Relationship Is Also Fraught
Any psychologist will tell you that relationships that begin under emotionally taxing situations, like a husband dying, are going to face a rocky road. Add to that the fact that Ariana’s deceased husband’s family is not overjoyed with Cooper falling for her, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. And that isn’t even considering Ariana’s newborn. The young couple was facing long odds. Now, there is a lot of money involved.
People often mistakenly believe that money solves all problems, but that is rarely the case. Money, especially the kind of money Cooper is about to earn with these oil wells, makes things infinitely more complicated. It’s going to strain his relationship with everyone, including Ariana, I think. Based on Ariana’s reaction to the news, it seems she doesn’t fully comprehend what is really about to happen.
This Is All On Top Of The Insanity Of Landman, In General
Like all the great Taylor Sheridan shows, Landman is nuts. There are drug cartels coming after Tommy, Cami Miller (Demi Moore) has to take over for her now-deceased husband, Monty (Jon Hamm), and Cooper has struck it rich. That doesn’t even get into what’s going on with the general insanity of Ainsley and Angela, who I hope have a lot more to do this season than they did towards the end of Season 1.
I really like Cooper and Angela as a couple. What seemed at first like a really bad idea has turned into a pretty loving relationship, though it still may prove to be the former. Let’s hope they figure out a way through this life-changing windfall.