Landman's Tommy Sees The Ghost Of Christmas Future — Read Episode 6 Recap

Despite the time of year in which it airs, this week's "Landman" isn't a holiday episode. But it might as well be, given how much one character acts like Charles Dickens' Ghost of Christmas Future. 

I'm talking, of course, about T.L., the walking cautionary tale currently living under Tommy's roof. In case the landman hasn't yet figured out that the path his father took is the one waiting for him, T.L. makes it incredibly clear during the hour. And Tommy actually listens, which might be the biggest Christmas miracle of all.

No wait, forget I said that, because Rebecca reunites with her hookup and he gets her to relax a little, which might be the actually most miraculous moment in the episode. God bless us, every one! 

Read on for the highlights of "Dark Night of the Soul." 

At sunrise, Tommy finds his dad sitting in the back yard, per usual. T.L. asks what's on the docket for today, and when Tommy answers that he has to drive to Fort Worth, the older man offers to keep him company. Tommy says no. T.L. calls him a slob for tossing his cigarette butt on the ground. Tommy bristles at being told what to do... then takes a deep breath and invites his old man along for the ride.

Tommy and T.L. arrive at the horse show in Fort Worth, where Tommy is dismayed to see Gallino and Cami already there. Tommy and Gallino negotiate until Cami steps in, agrees to Gallino's terms, and that's that.

While the three of them are power-brokering, T.L. runs into a roughneck he worked with a long time ago. The man, Nash, is picking up trash as part of a prison-release program. After some awkward conversation, T.L. is done. "Nash," he says, "I doubt we talked this much when we worked together. I don't see any point in doing it now." Nash calls T.L. names. T.L. mocks the guy for being part of a work crew. It comes to blows, and only the quick intervention of Tommy and Cami's security detail stops things from getting really ugly.

"Did he know Mama?" Tommy asks after hauling his sputtering father outside. "Did he call her a wh*re or an addict or a thief or something? Because it's true." That takes the fight out of T.L., who slumps against the wall. "I'm glad you don't understand, because I barely understand it, and I lost a child, too," he says. He goes on to explain that while Tommy's sister's death "shattered" him, the loss had an even more profound effect on Dottie. "It scrambled her soul. And you never got to meet the most joyous, loving creature that I've ever seen on this f**king planet." Tommy gently suggests that maybe Dottie's soul wasn't the only one to get scrambled, then they make their way to the truck.

Later, at Cattlemen's Steakhouse, T.L. reminds Tommy that he doesn't have much time left before years of hard living catch up to his body and brain, and the elder Norris encourages his son to make good use of the years he has left. Is it just me, or do T.L.'s words seem to take root in Tommy?

Ariana and her former mother-in-law sit and watch Miguel roll around on the living room floor. The older woman asks about the insurance money, but Ariana quickly answer that it's Miguel's, and she's not planning to touch it. Then the little boy's abuela asks about Cooper, and Ariana starts to cry as she tells her that he's in Corpus Christi to ask Ariana's father for her hand in marriage.

She adds that she knows she's in love with Tommy's son "because skinny, stray-dog-looking white men are NOT my type." And she reassures her mother-in-law that she's not trying to replace Elvio. The older woman understands ("You deserve to be happy... You can love a memory, but he can't love you back") but she wants to look in Cooper's eyes and see for herself whether he's deserving of Ariana, so she commands that he come over and talk with her when he gets home.

Meanwhile, Cooper has decided that he needs to secure Ariana's engagement ring, so Angela decides that she'll give him hers to use — "since it's tainted with the stench of failure," she later tells Tommy, moments before demanding a new one from him.

When he gets home, Ariana doesn't prep Cooper for what's waiting for him, and instead choses choosing to send him over to Elvio's mom's place to drop off Miguel for the night. "Explain to me why you should marry my grandson's widow," abuela says the minute the baby is squared away. Cooper is thrown, but he starts talking about how being in love for the first time in his life is making him crazy but all he wants to do is make Ariana happy. The babbling impresses abuela, who invites him into the kitchen so she can start his culinary education.

Angela and Ainsley arrive in Fort Worth for shopping. They wind up meeting up with Cami, Bella, Gallino and the elder Norris men for a night at Cattlemen's Steak House. (Side note: This show really loves throwing random characters in a room together and seeing what happens, eh? I love Ainsley, but why is she there?)

Angela sees T.L. sitting alone off to the side and invites him to dance. Pretty soon, all the women are on the dance floor, and Gallino is reassuring Tommy that he has nothing to worry about. "My two businesses, they never cross." Tommy begs to differ: "Except remember that one time when you drove to Odessa and killed those drug dealers in the basement of a f**kin' strip club?" Gallino then asks about T.L.'s story. "My father's story is over," Tommy maintains, and his finality on the subject causes the kingpin to move on to other topics... like how Cami doesn't seem to trust Tommy. 

"She don't trust me because she thinks I'm a loser," Tommy says, relating his own boom-and-bust oil story. "And she thinks I'm gonna lose her fortune." Gallino points out that Tommy needs to remedy that, and quickly. "Because when those sharks smell her doubt in you, they're going to poison her with reasons to get rid of you."

Tommy looks over at Cami, who's dancing with T.L., and seems uncharacteristically worried.

Looking for more information on the offshore well MTex is supposed to re-dig, Rebecca demands to meet with a scientist who can explain things to her. When she arrives at the address Nate gives her, she is thrown to realize that the geologist, Newsome, is the guy she met on the corporate jet and then slept with. (We all knew it was going to be him, right?) Once the shock has passed, she admits she doesn't understand the hurdles they face in getting a rig up in 45 days' time. He's flirty. She's acting like she's annoyed, but is she, really?

No, she is not. Because when he kisses her, she kisses him back. (Well, first she tells him his approach is "assault," but then she jumps right back in. Ma'am! Mixed messages!) Things start to heat up, but she backs off and asks to slow things down; he offers to make her dinner right there at the camp. There's a heavy dollop of the "uptight corporate girlie needs a blue-collar guy to show her how to really liiiiiive" but they're pretty together, so I will allow it.)

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!