Critic’s Score: 4.55 / 5.0
4.55
If there’s one factor Landman is aware of tips on how to do, it’s throwing chaos, drama, and a bit little bit of heartfelt awkwardness right into a blender and serving it up as must-watch TV.
Landman Season 1 Episode 5, “The place Is Residence,” doesn’t simply ask the place you reside — it asks the place you actually belong.
And for many of those characters, the reply is someplace between “I don’t know” and “positively not right here.”
The title units the tone for an episode stuffed with quiet moments and explosive ones (generally actually) because the characters grapple with their pasts, relationships, and the arduous truths of their world.
From Angela’s determined try and create a household dinner to Cooper’s rising tensions with Ariana’s cousins, everybody’s reaching for a way of house — however no person appears to know tips on how to maintain onto it.
Let’s begin with Angela. She’s actually leaning into her function because the household chaos coordinator, however for all her flash and bravado, we lastly see some cracks in her armor.
Her try to drag the household along with a dinner is so painfully awkward it’s virtually arduous to look at. She’s purchased new furnishings, painted partitions, and cooked pasta like she’s staging an HGTV particular, however no person else is shopping for into her fantasy.
Cooper exhibits up muddy and quiet, Tommy and Dale trade weary glances and Ainsley — bless her — can’t even hold her keto guidelines straight.
Angela’s attempting so arduous to create one thing resembling a house, nevertheless it’s clear that everybody on the desk is simply attempting to get by way of the night time.
And Angela is aware of it. When Tommy ruins the meal along with his blunt (and admittedly hilarious) tirade about burst hemorrhoids and cartel threats, you’ll be able to see her crumble.
She storms away from the desk, throwing the meals away in frustration, and at last lets out among the feelings she’s bottled up.
For all her larger-than-life antics, Angela’s simply as determined for connection as anybody else. The query is, will she hold attempting, or will she hand over once more like she did the primary time her marriage to Tommy fell aside?
Then there’s the pipe accident, which slams Angela with a dose of actuality she clearly wasn’t anticipating.
When she leaves the truck — towards Tommy’s needs — and witnesses the chaos, it’s like she’s seeing what Tommy’s world actually seems like for the primary time.
The accident is brutal, and the person’s last name to his spouse is heartbreaking. It’s a type of moments that strips away all of the glitz and humor of Angela’s character, leaving her standing within the wreckage, realizing simply how a lot this life prices.
How will this form her view of Tommy’s work — and her place in his life? And the way will she deal with the information about Cooper’s brutal beating when that inevitably involves gentle?
Angela would possibly thrive in chaos, however even she has limits. The cracks are already beginning to present, and it’s arduous to not surprise if she’s on the verge of breaking fully.
In the meantime, Cooper’s story quietly steals the present.
His scenes with Ariana are so stuffed with unstated stress and small moments of vulnerability that they really feel like their very own separate film.
He’s attempting so arduous to assist her, from mowing her garden to breaking down her payments, nevertheless it’s clear he doesn’t absolutely perceive what he’s entering into.
The strain along with her cousin Manuel reaches a boiling level on this episode, and when Manuel accuses Cooper of solely wanting Ariana, her response — a daring kiss to close Manuel up — is as messy as it’s intriguing.
Does Ariana actually really feel one thing for Cooper, or was that only a option to deflect the struggle? And what does Cooper need from Ariana? Is he moving into her life as a result of he cares, or is he looking for some sense of belonging for himself?
The household dinner is one other huge second for Cooper, marking the primary time he’s been in the identical room with Angela in years.
Their dynamic is fascinating — Angela’s over-the-top power is a pointy distinction to Cooper’s quiet demeanor, and you may virtually really feel the space between them.
Does Cooper need to reconnect along with his mother, or is he simply going by way of the motions for the sake of holding the peace?
He doesn’t say a lot in the course of the meal, however his presence speaks volumes. And when Angela insists they maintain fingers for a prayer, you’ll be able to see that whereas she’s attempting to make issues work, not everybody’s on board along with her imaginative and prescient of “togetherness.”
After which there’s Tommy, who’s coping with cartel threats, Angela’s antics, and the fixed calls for of his job.
His dialog with Angela about her expectations — the place he bluntly tells her no person can meet those she retains inventing in her head — is a standout second.
It’s brutally sincere and cuts straight to the guts of their relationship. They’re two individuals who clearly care about one another however don’t know tips on how to make it work. Whether or not they’ll determine it out this time is anybody’s guess.
Monty’s scenes this day out didn’t fairly pack the emotional punch of the principle storylines, however they added an attention-grabbing layer to the bigger image.
Watching him circle a skyscraper in a helicopter, surrounded by energy gamers debating various power, jogged my memory of the disconnect between the boardroom and the oilfield.
Monty’s blunt dismissal of any “social duty” speak — full along with his signature no-nonsense perspective — exhibits simply how firmly he’s planted on the planet of revenue margins and practicalities.
Whereas it’s straightforward to see him as chilly, his sharp retort about oil costs being the one factor value discussing hints at his frustration with the performative facet of those discussions. It’s not precisely heartwarming, nevertheless it’s Monty at his most Monty, and I can’t assist however respect the consistency.
Rebecca’s scenes, however, leaned closely into her snake-like tendencies.
Her dialog with Nate in regards to the loss of life settlements was icy, calculated, and simply plain uncomfortable to look at, particularly after watching Ariana battle by way of what Rebecca brushes off so simply.
Rebecca clearly operates from a place of energy, however her method — skimming off 401k plans and dashing households to settle — was about as delicate as a sledgehammer.
After which there’s her response to Ainsley’s playful antics, which left her gobsmacked (and actually, who may blame her). She couldn’t reside farther away from the world she’s now working in.
Whereas Rebecca’s story won’t have hit the emotional highs of the opposite plots, it’s organising some fascinating stress.
How lengthy can somebody like Rebecca function in a world full of individuals like Angela, Tommy, and Nate earlier than her excellent management begins to crack?
However the actual intestine punch is how the episode ends on a devastating word with Cooper’s beating.
This isn’t the primary time he’s been attacked, nevertheless it feels extra private now, with Manuel and his crew leaving him bloodied and unconscious in his trailer. It’s a brutal reminder of simply how harmful his world has change into.
Will anybody uncover the reality about what occurred, and in the event that they do, how will that ripple by way of the crew and his household?
Tommy, particularly, doesn’t strike me because the form of man who’d take kindly to discovering out his son’s been focused. His warnings to Cooper in regards to the enterprise didn’t include the private components that caught up with Cooper his first day on the job.
And what is going to this imply for Cooper’s already-strained connection to Ariana? There’s no means this doesn’t get messier.
“The place Is Residence” doesn’t give us solutions to its title query, nevertheless it makes one factor clear: these characters are all attempting to construct one thing, even when it’s fragile, messy, and doomed to fail.
Whether or not it’s Angela attempting to create a household, Cooper attempting to assist Ariana, or Tommy attempting to carry his world collectively, everybody’s reaching for some sense of stability.
The great thing about Landman is that it doesn’t tie issues up in a neat bow. Life is messy. Love is messy. And that’s what retains us coming again for extra.
What do you assume?
Can Angela deal with the load of this world, or is she sure to crack?
Will Cooper ever discover the house he’s on the lookout for, or is he destined to remain on the skin wanting in?
Let me know your ideas — I’ve received theories, however I need to hear yours.
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