Landman Recap: Cooper Takes a Stand Against MTex — Plus, Paulina Chávez on That Spicy Exchange With Tommy
Whatever has been growing between Landman‘s Cooper and Ariana since the series’ third episode turns into something real — if undefinable by both parties — in Sunday’s hour.
Rebecca kicks off the episode by getting Cooper alone in Ariana’s backyard and using every bit of that self-assured intensity she displayed during the deposition. The money MTex is offering, she says, is enough to set up Ariana and her son for a long time. But if the widow wants to seek damages from the company, “Well, then we must scrutinize everything. Every family,” she threatens. “And this? I mean, do you have any idea how bad this looks? Husband dead less than a month and you’re sleeping in his f—king bed? The one person who survived the explosion completely unscathed?”
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She insinuates that he knew exactly what he was doing on the day of the explosion and, in fact, set it up to kill Elvio. “I will crucify you to destroy her, and I do mean ‘destroy,’” she continues, even though Cooper argues that nothing she’s saying is true. “I reject your truth,” Rebecca replies. “I think I’ll invent my own.”
Inside, she and Nathan try once more to get Ariana to accept their settlement, but the young mom wants to know what Cooper thinks. “A million,” he says. “You weren’t standing on that doorstep this morning at 7 am because you’re sitting on a strong case.” He points out that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, and other regulatory agencies would have a field day with the accident; also, he’s sure MTex hasn’t told their insurance company about it. They’re cornered; as Rebecca fumes, Nathan calls Monty.
The oil tycoon is really angry when he hears that Ariana knew to counter because Cooper was there, but he agrees to the amount as long as she’ll sign a non-disclosure agreement. But then Nathan informs Monty that Ariana won’t sign unless all three families get $1 million each, and the gazillionaire goes nuclear. He agrees, but wants to fire Cooper — Rebecca points out that’s wrongful termination, and illegal — but it doesn’t matter, because Cooper quits right then and there. After he hangs up, Monty’s heart starts doing weird things in his chest, and I’m pretty sure it’s not growing three sizes.
In a last-ditch effort, Rebecca explains that Ariana can never sue MTex for anything if she agrees to take the money. Ariana asks Cooper what to do, and he advises her to sign the agreement. Rebecca is a big jerk to both of them on her way out, though Nathan is much kinder. “You quit your job over me,” Ariana says, in tears, after they’ve gone. “I’m going to run an oil company one day, and I’m not going to run it like that,” Cooper responds.
They’re both having some pretty big emotions as she keeps crying, lamenting that “It’s too soon to feel what I feel for you.” But when Cooper suggests that they wait a while, she says she doesn’t want to, and that she’s going to fix up the spare room for him. Later, when he’s in pain as he tries to put his shirt on after a shower, she comes to help him. She admits that she doesn’t see the upside of his new situation: out of work, beat-up and living with her. “Looking at you is the upside,” he says quietly, and is it any wonder they’re kissing soon after?
They’re interrupted again (HIM: “Frustrating pattern we’re establishing.” HER: “Maybe it’s not a pattern. It’s God warning us to stop.”) by a knock at the door: It’s Tommy, who has pieced together what happened after talking with Nathan and Monty. Ariana invites him to stay for dinner and won’t let him go,
They’ve barely begun when Tommy asks what, exactly, they’re doing. Ariana says they’re trying to figure it out, getting angry as she points out that “the 22-year-old worm on a workover crew would not be my solution” to her problems. She does not back down under Tommy’s scrutiny, explaining that Elvio was nice, “but Elvio never looked at me the way [Cooper] looks at me. Not once, ever.” She’s on a roll, and it’s not long before she’s firmly suggesting that Tommy be on his way. “Judge me all you want from that truck, but I will not be judged in my own f—king house,” she says, moving him toward the door. For his part, Tommy seems equal parts amused and admiring of the widow. “Son,” he tells Cooper as he leaves, “you might’ve outkicked your coverage on this one.” Then he lets Ariana know that he thinks she’s one of the few people who actually deserves happiness, and takes off.
Tommy then heads to The Patch Café, where she repeats her insinuation from earlier: Cooper had the knowledge and wherewithal to get the pump jack to explode, and she can prove it in court. Tommy gets mad, fast, threatening her and kicking the barstool out from underneath her as he leaves.
Elsewhere in the episode:
* The Texas governor agrees to Monty’s request to have the Texas National Guard train in the area where they’re having problems with the cartel. The idea: A strong militaristic presence will deter drug activity on oil company property. It goes sideways, though, when the guard practices air assaults in the area where a drug transfer is underway, and one of the explosions blows up a van, killing at least one person.
* Monty’s chest pain doesn’t go away, and he winds up in the hospital after having his fifth (?) heart attack.
* Ryder takes Ainsley on a date to go swimming in a reservoir lit by the gas flare from a nearby oil derrick. She decides that she likes him, and that she’s going to test him. So she brings him to the nursing home where she and her mom have been volunteering, and she’s delighted when he enthusiastically plays a game with some of the residents. She confides in one of the older women that she wanted to make sure that Ryder was interested in her for more than just sex.
The hour seems like a turning point for Ariana and Cooper, so we couldn’t wait to talk to Paulina Chávez, who plays Ariana, about what might come next. Read on for her thoughts about why Cooper became Ariana’s rock, how Billy Bob Thornton likes his Mexican food and more.
TVLINE | Ariana is so self-assured, even though she is in possibly the worst place a person can be in emotionally and things aren’t great financially. But she’s still got such a presence. How do you think she’s able to maintain that?
I mean, when my grandma passed away, she passed away like a week before I had to be in L.A. for work. I didn’t have time to grieve. You really don’t and especially in Ariana’s situation, there is s–t she needs to do. She needs to take care of her baby. She needs to figure out how to pay bills, because she’s never done that before in her life… I think it’s beautiful that you still see how resilient she is. And she’s so strong in the face of grief.
TVLINE | Definitely. I’m so sorry about your grandma, too.
Thank you.
TVLINE | The thing that keeps popping into my head as I’m watching is that this poor new mom is probably sleep deprived, super hormonal — her baby is a baby.
Yeah. [Laughs] I think if I would’ve received this audition not knowing what it’s like to be in the presence of a newborn, I don’t know what I would’ve done. But literally three months before I auditioned for this, my sister had her first baby, and my mom and I were there the first month. Oh, my gosh, I don’t know how people do it!
…I remember like I was like “OK,” my sister “Celeste, I’m supposed to be breastfeeding today, teach me how to do it again. How do you do it?” [Laughs] And so, yeah. Definitely sleep-deprived. And so I always think, in Episode 5 when she kisses Cooper, obviously it’s to make a point.
TVLINE | Right.
But I also think like her head probably wasn’t all in that decision. She didn’t think that one through, but…but it was again to make a point. Manuel is not going to be there to judge her in the way that she is navigating life, because nobody is there to help her. And it’s true! People are like, “I’m there whenever you need it,” and then when the time comes, where are you?! [She likes Cooper] because he’s not giving her unsolicited advice. He’s just there, and there’s a bond with them through trauma.
TVLINE | The line about how she hasn’t been hugged since the funeral made me realize how alone and young she truly is.
I know. I know! We want to be very delicate with Cooper and Ariana’s storyline, but yes, she’s a baby. I really think it’s human connection that gets you through hard times in your life, and right now, that human connection is Cooper.
TVLINE | That dinner scene is amazing in Episode 8. Talk to me about your head space going into that, and maybe and maybe where Ariana is, as well.
I remember probably like before we shot it, I called [series creator] Taylor Sheridan, and I was like, “OK. so what is your vision? Because I have this vision for it, but what is your vision so that we can marry the two?” And we were on the same page. We were on the same page.
So then, [shooting] it, we did it so many times… Every take, I was finding something new… Stephen [Kay], our director, he is incredible. He allowed me the space to play with it, and every time I felt dumb, he would always reassure me. I was like, “Is that line hitting the way it’s supposed to?” And I will say: The food was actually spicy this whole scene, because Billy Bob [Thorton, who plays Tommy] requested it to be spicy. He loves spice. The first few takes it was spicy even like for me… I think we kept it light-hearted in between the takes. Both Jacob [Lofland, who plays Cooper] and Billy Bob, they’re just so wonderful, and it was very fun to kick him out of my house so much. [Laughs]
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!
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