Landman Season 2 Premiere: Fresh Starts, Old Hurts And Some Airborne Cacio E Pepe — Plus, Grade It!

The sardonic apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, does it?

Landman's Season 2 premiere introduces us to Tommy's father, T.L., who is every bit as much a lanky, cranky son of a gun as the landman we know. The two Norris men don't share a scene in this episode, but they likely will soon, given the huge loss that happens at the end of the hour.

But hold up: I'm getting ahead of myself. The bulk of the premiere deals with what's happening both on the oil fields, via Cooper's extremely lucky roll of the dice, and behind the scenes, as we witness Cami's ascent to power at MTex in the aftermath of Monty's untimely death. And at home, Ainsley miraculously gets into college, and Angela cooks a cacio e pepe dinner for the ages.

Read on for the highlights of "Death and a Sunset."

As the episode begins, Tommy is in Forth Worth for a big meeting of white men in suits and cowboy hats. One of those men gives him a hard time, arguing that Monty's death — and Cami's taking over as head of the company — counts as a change in ownership and thereby nullifies his contracts with them. "I run the company. She owns it. She owned it before; she's listed in the partnership," Tommy points out. "You might be worse than Monty," the man grouses. "You say that like it's a bad thing," Tommy shoots back. "Monty made you rich, and I'm going to make you richer."

Later, it becomes clear that the skittish dude's wariness about MTex is a sentiment shared by a lot of the oil bigwigs in the room. After all: The company has half a billion dollars in debt service, and the heads of the banks holding that debt are at the event, waiting to hear what Cami's going to say. Bob Knowles pops up to remind Tommy that it's unlikely that Mrs. Miller will be able to match her husband's success, and she should sell the company. Tommy agrees — remember when he suggested as much in the Season 1 finale? — but he's backing her, regardless: "She's tougher than you think she is."

At the moment, though, Cami is having a decidedly un-tough moment: She's in the ladies' room, trying not to hyperventilate, when two younger women breeze in. They're the girlfriends (please apply that term very loosely) of some of the old, rich guys at the luncheon, and all they can talk about is the vacations and assets they'll receive in exchange for being the SweetTart-iest of arm candy. When they see Cami, they instantly mock and dismiss her. "It's a young woman's game here, no offense," one says. "I'm still offended," Cami replies. "Well," the 20-something terror says, "that's life in the Serengeti." Cami takes a deep breath. "Thank you," she says calmly, "I needed this."

So when she heads out to meet Tommy, she's Ready To Go. People murmur to each other as she walks into the luncheon and heads to the podium. (Side note: I adored the fact that she hands Tommy her big, white purse on the way up, and he just takes it and moves to the side. No reaction. ADORED.)

Cami doesn't waste time, immediately letting the audience know that she's a "hunter" who is going to take even less ish than her husband did. She obliquely references the women in the bathroom who mocked her, telling their oil sugar daddies that she'll eat up their companies while they're sunning on the beach with their honeys in Tulum. "The only difference between me and Monty is that I'm meaner," she says, voice strong as she wraps it up. "Test me, and you'll find out how much. Enjoy your lunch. I paid for it with your f**king money." Man, I love the smile she flashes them at the end.

Everyone in the room — well, except those stupid ninnies in their cocktail dresses at noon on a Tuesday or whatever — stands and starts clapping.

In the car afterward, Tommy warns Cami that people are going to start coming to her with bad deals, but she should send them all his way. Then, he smiles. "Monty would be proud," he tells her.

Cooper slips out of the house early, playing it coy when a sleepy Ariana asks where he's headed. All he'll say is that he has a "big day" ahead, and he'll tell her if his hunch plays out. He goes to a well, where he frets for a while as a crew drills and doesn't seem to be finding anything. But then, paydirt! "I'd say buy a lottery ticket, but you don't need one," the foreman tells him.

So an elated Cooper speeds home, waking Miguel from his nap as he busts into the house and tells Ariana he's got to show her something. They load the baby into the car and drive to the well, where he proudly announces that the well is theirs, and that it'll pay for itself in two months. Ariana says she's proud of him, but it's clear she doesn't understand the significance of what's happening, so he spells it out for her: The well will bring in $29,000 a day, or $10 million a year, and that money is theirs. "You did it," she says, but there's some concern behind the congratulations; Cooper, in his elation, doesn't pick up on it. "I did it for you," he says.

You'll remember that Ainsley was planning to go to Texas Tech in Lubbock, but her post-Dakota-breakup plans have her interviewing at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, instead. Greta, the admissions officer interviewing her, is not at all impressed with the teen's ACT scores, her lack of vocabulary, and her eugenics-adjacent thoughts on why cheerleaders and star athletes should be encouraged to date. The interviewer (played by Miriam Silverman, "Your Friends and Neighbors") is horrified. Ainsley starts crying. Greta quietly but savagely rips into her for even trying to get into the college. "You're using a lot of words I don't fully understand," Ainsley sniffles. "I'm doing it on purpose," Greta says. (Ha!)

However, the whole thing is out of Greta's hands: As much as she doesn't like it, Ainsley is a walk-on addition to the school's cheerleading team, therefore all the girl had to do was show up for her interview in order to gain acceptance to TCU. Ainsley goes from downtrodden to elated, hugging Greta (who wants nothing to do with any of it) and skipping out to the quad to celebrate with Angela, who's waiting for her. Then they meet up with Tommy and fly back to Midland on the MTex jet.

On a sad-looking patch of pavement behind Prairie View Assisted Living, a white-haired man named T.L. (Sam Elliott, "1883") sits in a wheelchair and watches the horizon. An attendant comes outside to tell him it's dinnertime, but he refuses to go inside until the sun sets. She's unnecessarily insistent, trying to wheel him back in against his will. He stands, instead, limping away from her. Another, more patient/kind attendant named Hank interrupts and takes over, and he's got bad news from a memory-care center in Amarillo: "Dorothy passed, T.L.," he says softly. The news hurts T.L., who starts crying a little, though he says if he ever sees her again it'll be in Hell. "I recommend you find a way to die quick, Hank," the older man adds, implying that Dorothy's passing was a drawn-out, painful thing.

Back at the company housing in Midland, Angela has decked out the house in TCU colors to celebrate Ainsley's college acceptance. Cooper is there because he wants to talk to Tommy. Ainsley is wearing her new cheerleader's uniform. Nate and Dale are there because they live there. Everyone knows it's going to go sideways — because it ALWAYS goes sideways — but no one knows exactly how.

Angela presents the main course — the pasta dish cacio e pepe — and triumphantly informs everyone that she was able to get a white truffle to complete the dish. Tommy dies three times when he hears that the tiny mushroom cost $2,800. The conversation turns to Angela's desire to buy a house in Fort Worth so that she can be close to Ainsley during her college years. Tommy very stupidly says maybe they should table the conversation for a time when Angela doesn't have her period. (Side note: This again? Shut up, Tommy.) The comment sets off his volatile wife, who throws a tantrum that involves tossing plates at the wall and Peter Venkman-ing the tablecloth in a way that rattles everyone. Cooper tells his dad he'll catch him later, then scoots away for his own safety. Ainsley, Dale and Nate do the same. Pretty soon, it's just Tommy cowering on the floor with Angela standing over him, so he shoots his final show and tells her that her breasts "look great in that little tiny bra." I'll give him this: He knows his audience. The compliment softens Angela, who sits on the floor next to him, her rage spent.

He's got a solution for the next time: "Why don't we just skip the crazy and go right to the sex we both know we're gonna have after the crazy?" She chuckles. "Where's the fun in all that?" But he counters that, in his version, "then it's all just fun." She makes the excellent point that he doesn't have to bring up her period every single month, then they start kissing — and are interrupted when his phone buzzes, and he answers. She stalks away, angry.

"Somebody better have died," she quips after his short conversation is over. "Yeah, somebody did," he says soberly. She follows him out to the backyard, where he's smoking, and asks who died. "My mother," he says.

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the "Landman" Season 2 premiere? Grade it via the poll below, then hit the comments!