Landman (2024) s02e05 Episode Script

1
[TOMMY] There was no miracle
involving my mother
other than her managing
to die of old age.
And he was too weak to leave her,
so I left all of them.
[REBECCA] What happened?
[WALT] One of your drivers
ran into a pickup
parked on the easement.
I am sorry.
I didn't ask for your dreams.
You can't make my dreams come true.
Only I can do that.
Your company invests
in drilling expeditions?
We finance exploration, yes.
Well, I need to drill an existing well.
It's a offshore rig
that was damaged in the hurricane.
Your husband, he left you
quite a mess, didn't he?
It wasn't intentional,
but, yes, he did.
[NURSE] Head up. There we go.
How come I can't see?
- Let me go get the doctor.
- Doctor! Doctor!
[ANGELA] Your father.
He's rotting away
in some miserable excuse
for a nursing home with nobody.
[T.L.] What are you doing here?
We were thinking about
bringing you home.
Let me go grab my things.
[TOMMY] I already got them.
[SOFT, GENTLE MUSIC]
[COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING LOW OVER RADIO]
♪♪♪
- Tommy.
- Morning, Nate.
Tommy, what is your father
doing on the porch?
He's gonna stay with us a while.
How long is a while?
Till he dies.
- Tommy.
- Don't get all worried about it.
If he makes it a week
without me drowning him
in that fucking swimming pool,
I'll be shocked.
Tommy, you should really be
in Fort Worth, for one.
Well, who's gonna do what I do here?
I mean, who's gonna fix all the messes,
manage the camp and the crews
and the contractors
- and all that shit?
- I don't know.
But you can't be a landman
and the president.
Why not?
There's lots of landmen out there.
Hire one.
Then get him his own house.
Morning, Nathan.
- Morning, baby.
- Hey, b Goddamn.
You look like a Mexican wrestler.
Morning, Daddy.
Hey, sweetie.
Are y'all having
a little spa day or something?
I want to glow for my birthday
party with the old folks.
Your birthday's in February, babe.
They don't know that.
They need little things
to look forward to and plan.
You know, like little projects,
- little chores.
- Oh.
It's so cute, Daddy.
They've been working so hard
decorating the party room.
Oh?
But we're not supposed to know.
Big surprise.
This nursing home
sounds like a really nice place.
Could be somewhere
your father might like.
Family stays at home, Nate.
In fact,
we're gonna throw a welcome
dinner for your dad tonight.
Oh, good.
What's the theme tonight, hon?
Hold that thought.
[SOFT, GENTLE MUSIC]
T.L., honey.
If you were on death row
and today was the day of your execution,
what would your last meal be?
What the fuck kind of question is that?
I'm just trying to get to the
bottom of your favorite meal.
If I ask what's your favorite,
you're gonna hem and haw about it.
"Maybe it's steak,
but I sure love pizza.
- [CHUCKLING]
- Maybe it's fajitas."
But when I cut it down
to "You get one meal
and then you're getting electrocuted,"
people get real decisive.
Best food I ever had in my life
was at the marina in Sabine Pass.
- So, seafood. Mmm.
- Mmm.
Barbecued blue crab.
Crawfish boil.
- Crabs.
- Mm-hmm.
- Fried catfish.
- [CHUCKLES]
Oysters.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
A man who knows what he wants.
I like that.
The theme tonight
is pirates. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Isn't that cute, honey?
You get to dress
like a little buccaneer.
What's a buccaneer?
Another name for "pirate."
Why do pirates need two names?
That's a question
for your history teacher, honey.
Pirate's a general term, honey.
Buccaneer is specific to the Caribbean
and the Gulf of Mexico.
"Gulf of America" now, baby.
I don't give a fuck what they call it.
You know, the salt water
out east of Galveston.
[INHALES SHARPLY, GROANS]
You all right, Nate?
- Tachyarrhythmia.
- [AINSLEY] Nate,
- you speak another language?
- [TOMMY CHUCKLES]
Matter of fact,
it does sound kind of like Dutch
or Scandinavian or something, honey.
Just breathe, Nate.
[DALE] Morning, everybody.
- Morning, Dale.
- [AINSLEY] Morning.
There ain't no more coffee?
We didn't know if you
could have it on your diet.
I'm not on a diet.
Can you eat seafood, Dale?
I ain't on a fucking diet.
Oh, good, because the theme
tonight is pirates.
So wear your best pirate outfit.
[DALE] Oh, great.
Think I'll dress up
as a railroad commissioner.
- [LAUGHING]
- [ANGELA] Not trains.
That's a different night, though
I got no idea the cuisine.
Baby, we should look up train food.
What would train food be?
- I don't know.
- Tommy, would you please
pass these on to your son?
What are they?
Uh, drilling invoices,
pipe suppliers, camp rentals.
Why did they send them here?
I would love the answer
to that question, Tommy.
Honey, we got to go.
We're gonna be late.
Bye, honey.
Bye, baby. I'll see you later.
- Love you, Daddy. Mwah.
- Love you. Love you, sweetie.
- Bye, Dale.
- [DALE] Bye. Have a good day.
[SOFT, SOMBER MUSIC]
[DOOR OPENS]
[DOOR CLOSES]
♪♪♪
Do you want some breakfast?
Busy day?
Every day's the same, Pop.
Anyhow, just make yourself at home.
There's all kinds of shit in the fridge.
Who those horses belong to?
Whichever old man owns that field.
Thinking the subdivision stops with him.
Stops with him for now.
Till he dies and his kids
sell it off so fast
it burns the grass
off the son of a bitch.
Then we're staring at houses.
I'll see you tonight.
Yep.
Supper around here
can be kind of an event.
So I'm just warning you.
An event?
You just have to see it to believe it.
There ain't no fucking way
to describe it.
[SLOW, GENTLE MUSIC]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
♪♪♪
- [GRUNTS SOFTLY]
- Hey.
Hey back.
What time do you have to be at work?
Don't.
No particular time.
Wells run just fine on their own.
Must be nice being rich.
I haven't found the downside yet.
Course, I haven't gotten
a check yet either, so
really not much different
than yesterday at the moment.
[CHUCKLES]
What will you do?
I don't know.
[INHALES DEEPLY]
Maybe
buy a little place
we can visit on the weekends.
Give Miguel a place to run around.
Someday
maybe have some more kids
that need to run around.
If we're gonna do this,
then let's do it.
Both feet.
I don't need a roommate.
I'll do whatever you want.
Okay then.
What do you want?
What do you think I want?
Well, if I knew, I wouldn't
be asking the question.
Well, I'm Catholic.
Catholics don't exactly shack up.
You want to get married?
- Do you want to get married?
- [CHUCKLES]
Why do women always answer
questions with questions?
[SCOFFS] 'Cause we already know
what we think.
I'm just trying to gauge
what you're thinking.
I'd marry you tomorrow.
Today.
If a priest lived next door,
I'd make him do it right now.
There's a few more steps to it
than that.
First, you have to ask me.
And before you ask me,
you need to ask my father.
I don't know your father.
Well, then you have to meet him.
Where's he live?
Corpus.
On the coast?
He's a welder for a Valero refinery.
[GRUNTS] They know about me?
I don't keep secrets.
Well, can you give me a sense of
their opinion on the subject?
The opinion is mixed.
[EXHALING]
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
I got to go talk to my dad this morning.
And then I'll head that way after.
Will you let 'em know I'm coming?
That's not how this works.
- [SCOFFS]
- [CHUCKLES]
You want me, figure it out and get me.
- [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
- Hey.
I don't believe in divorce.
I believe in forever.
I've only been with two men in my life,
and I'm not interested
in looking for a third.
So, be sure,
because this is gonna be a lot of work.
[GRUNTS SOFTLY]
Dating you hasn't exactly been a picnic.
Hey.
- But it's got its perks.
- Mm.
I'll call you when I head that way.
[SOFT, SOMBER MUSIC]
[GENTLE MUSIC]
♪♪♪
"No Way Out"
by Jack Wharff Band playing ♪
No, it ain't right ♪
I finally said ♪
Rolled up with the devil ♪
Only way out
was in an early grave ♪
I walk the line ♪
Between the hard times
and barely living ♪
Whatever it takes ♪
Just to keep me sane ♪
But then again,
I kind of like the pain ♪
Wouldn't have it
any other way ♪
No way out,
nothing left to lose ♪
What you see is what you get ♪
'Cause it ain't up to me ♪
- Did you order?
- [COOPER] Waitress is doing
a pretty good job of not noticing me.
Well, that's 'cause you dress
like you run a Weedwacker
on a landscaping crew.
When you're hunting leases,
do you dress like that?
Well, I ain't hunting leases today.
[CHUCKLES]
Morning, Tommy.
Morning, honey.
You in the middle or the end?
My day just started.
All right, well, I'm
gonna leave you the beer menu
in case your day started like mine.
Since when did y'all get a beer menu?
Oil expo coming to town next week.
Those big-city boys
like their craft brews.
Walking Stick Brewery.
Spindletop Brewery.
- Platipus?
- [CHUCKLES]
I don't know where
they come up with them names.
They must've been drinking
when they made 'em up.
Here's one just called "Eight."
I think Troy Aikman owns that.
- No shit.
- Mm-hmm.
Might have to try that
just out of respect.
Yeah, supposed to be healthy.
A healthy beer?
From your lips to God's ears, Ellie.
[ELLIE CHUCKLES]
No, just bring me coffee
and four eggs over easy
- and, uh, two sausage patties.
- You got it.
How about you, darling?
I'm fine.
You sure about that?
Looks like you could hula-hoop
through a Cheerio.
I'm good. Thank you.
All right. I'm gonna bring you
some biscuits anyway.
Where you staying these days?
With Ariana.
Y'all figured it out?
I'm gonna ask her to marry me.
It's what she wants. Mm.
I want it, too.
She said that, did she?
She did.
Here you go.
Thanks.
There's some things worth rushing,
and others should move caterpillar slow.
Marriage is the latter, son.
She's all I think about.
When I close my eyes, I still see her.
Well, there's a little more
to it than that.
Is there?
You seem determined
to make your girl problem worse,
so let's talk about your other problem.
Okay.
I read over the contract,
and I don't see a problem.
And you're still drilling
at six million per?
And the six active wells?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, you're gonna make
five times that much,
but not this month.
Not this year.
Sonrisa's covering
drilling costs, so it's fine.
Oh, so, they put $40 million
dollars in a checking account
and you didn't tell me about it?
I thought that
No, they just They pay.
The loan's to you
with a meter running
and a fifty-fifty split.
Thirty days to build a pad and drill,
30 more days to fill the tanks,
and you don't get paid
till the 27th of the next month.
So who the fuck's paying your bills?
I thought the loan paid it.
What loan?
Where is it?
Did you open an LLC
and a bank account for the LLC?
Is this loan company
stroking you a check
for $40 million dollars
to put in the bank?
Did you hire an accounting firm
to service debt and payables?
[CLOSES CIGARETTE CASE]
How the fuck did you talk
these crews into drilling?
I showed 'em the approval
letter and the agreement.
- Told 'em who I was and
- Okay.
Now we're getting somewhere.
- Thank you, honey.
- Here you go, babe.
That explains the $44 million
dollars' worth of invoices
that we got.
You don't know how this business works.
You think you do, but you don't.
And you damn sure don't know
who you got in business with.
But since you're so terrible at it,
it might save you.
M-TEX is gonna buy your leases.
And we'll cancel the note
and cover your costs.
The drilling expenses
and the surface lease.
Maintenance. The whole thing.
So I get nothing?
You have nothing.
No, I take that back.
You-you found a blind spot.
You got good instincts.
And shock of all shocks,
apparently, you're a hell of a salesman.
So I'm gonna hire you back,
and I'm gonna start to teach you
I ain't working no crew.
No, you're running one.
And you're gonna do
exactly what I tell you to do.
Three thousand barrels a day
and I don't see a dime of it?
You were never gonna see a fucking dime.
They would foreclose on your leases
and flip 'em and leave you
in a mountain of fucking debt
and a ruined name in the basin.
A landman makes $9,000 a month,
plus bonus.
Now, when I show you
how this deal works,
with your instincts and I
never had 'em, not like you do
you make $9,000 a minute.
But you got to know the rules
of the game to bend 'em.
And you really got
to know 'em to break 'em.
I got to sign something?
Shit yeah. About 300 pages,
once Nate writes it up.
All right. When do I start?
Well, you're with me now.
When do you want to start?
I got to drive to Corpus, so
when I get back?
What's in Corpus?
Ariana's parents.
Goddamn.
Dad.
I love her.
If it were only that simple.
And you do need to eat something.
"Hula-hooping through a Cheerio"
- ain't a fucking compliment.
- [PHONE BUZZING]
Hey, Nate.
Blanton's attorneys have a proposal.
Well, I'm headed that way.
No time.
They want to meet in an hour.
After that, we lose 'em to trial
with the clock ticking.
All right. Well, go to Fort Worth,
but don't agree to anything
till you run it by me.
Rebecca was supposed
to meet with the sheriff
at the incident site.
What incident site?
We had a vehicle accident
at one of our lease roads.
You finish my breakfast.
- I guess I don't get any today.
- All right.
How bad?
They don't get worse.
And I'm just hearing
about this shit now?
You had the funeral,
and we don't have enough
information yet to present it.
- Nate, goddamn it.
- Tommy,
you're the president now.
- This issue isn't even
- I'm also the president.
I still run operations,
and I can't do it
if I don't know everything.
Sorry, Tommy.
We never told Monty about these things
until they were fleshed out.
Monty didn't run the basin.
Monty ran Fort Worth.
I ran the basin, and I still run it.
Understood.
Send me a pin to this crash.
[LOW, TENSE MUSIC]
[TIRES SCREECHING]
[SHUTS OFF ENGINE]
♪♪♪
Why didn't you call me?
I called your lawyer.
You're the big man now.
Lawyer ain't the first call.
Lawyer's the last call.
And that's my call.
Who pissed in your Froot Loops?
God.
It's the first thing
he did this morning.
Now walk me through this shit.
Sand hauler blasting down this
road well over the speed limit.
How do you know that?
Well, he was traveling
at an unsafe speed.
How do you know it was unsafe?
Judging by that mangled pickup
that got tossed
into that pumpjack
it was unsafe.
He didn't have time to brake or evade.
[TOMMY] Is this
the pickup driver's property?
[WALT] It is not.
- [TOMMY] Whose is it?
- Yours.
And the son of a bitch didn't
have permission to use it.
[WALT] Tommy, you ain't got
to argue this with me.
[TOMMY] Oh, I disagree.
Your police report's gonna be the basis
for their fucking lawsuit.
You start using words
like "unsafe speeds"
and shit like that,
well, that alters
the opinion of the attorneys
and the court and a potential jury.
The son of a bitch was going 60
down a caliche road at midnight.
[TOMMY] It's my fucking road, Walt.
I'll put up "65 mile-an-hour" signs
all over this son of a bitch
this afternoon.
Well, that ain't the worst idea
you ever had.
Yeah, well, I'm just getting started.
Now, what's this rig?
[WALT] That's what I was telling
your lawyer.
He ran that hose
in the back window of his truck.
Been sucking exhaust fumes
for who knows how long.
You doing an autopsy?
I ordered one.
Mike, this is Tommy.
Is your investigator on the way
out here to this accident site?
No, the other one.
No, the vehicle accident.
No, the sand hauler.
How many damn claims
have we submitted, Mike?
He don't even know which
accident you're talking about.
Well, get him out here.
No, today.
We're not the defendant in this one.
We're the plaintiff.
If you send somebody out here
to photograph this evidence.
Uh
[EXHALES]
Walt, if you want something done right,
you got to do it your fucking self.
- We photographed the scene.
- [PHONE CLICKING]
Well, no offense, Walt,
but getting evidence
from a government agency
is about as speedy a process
as getting a tattoo removed.
So call you from now on.
Nate said call the lawyer.
No, you call me and only me.
I prefer it.
That lawyer's wound pretty tight.
If she swallowed a lump of coal,
she'd make a diamond in three days.
[LOW, SOMBER MUSIC]
[PHONE RINGING]
Hey. What do you know, Tommy?
Evidently, I don't know shit, Dale.
What happened out at that cleanup?
We walked into a cloud of H2S.
Nate didn't fucking tell you?
Nobody told me, bud.
Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Tommy.
Uh
Yeah.
Uh, it was a bad deal.
Jerrell's still in the hospital.
It killed a bunch of hunters.
There's fucking dead bodies everywhere.
Dead bodies everywhere?
Good God Almighty.
Where's Jerrell? Odessa or Midland?
Uh, Midland.
Fucking bitch.
Damn it.
[GRUNTS]
♪♪♪
[GROUP] Happy birthday to you ♪
Happy birthday to you ♪
Happy birthday, dear Angela ♪
Happy birthday to you ♪
- [CHEERING]
- [APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
[EXCITED CHATTER]
[WOMAN] Make a wish.
Make a wish. Make a wish.
Make a wish, Mama.
Now, baby, I'm sure ♪
["WALKING ON SUNSHINE" BY
KATRINA AND THE WAVES PLAYING]
[EXCLAIMING, CHEERING]
[EXCITED CHATTER]
[LAUGHTER]
Every time I go
for the mailbox ♪
Thank you all so much.
I mean, this is the best birthday ever.
- Well, how old are you now?
- [ANGELA GASPS]
Hank, that is forever a mystery.
If you was 50,
I'd still have 40 years on you.
Fifty? Hank, did you develop
cataracts over the weekend?
Do I look 50?
- No.
- You look like one of those
pinup models from back in World War II,
the kind that they painted
on their airplanes.
[HANK MUTTERS]
Nice save, Hank.
- Okay, presents.
- [AINSLEY] Yes.
- There's so many.
- Which one first?
- Oh! Open mine.
- [ANGELA] Okay.
What one's yours?
- Uh, that one there.
- This is?
Yep. Mm-hmm.
♪♪♪
There you go.
I used to think
maybe you loved me ♪
Now I know that it's true ♪
[BEVERLY] Know what that is?
I know what I think it is.
That's a posture fixer right there.
I dare you to stick that in and slouch.
- Ma, can I see that?
- Absolutely not.
Thank you, Beverly.
If my shoulders start slumping,
I know how to fix it.
- And how.
- Mm-hmm.
Whose is this?
- Oh, it's mine.
- Thank you, Mabel.
And I want you to stay ♪
Oh, yeah ♪
I'm walking on sunshine,
whoa-oh ♪
I'm detecting a theme.
I bought it off
the Dirty Shopper.
It was two for one.
What cable package do y'all have?
They found the naughty channels
last week.
- [ANGELA] Uh-uh.
- It's been a problem.
Nobody told us
there were channels above 600.
And now they can't wait for nap time.
I-I'm gonna take a little break
on the presents here.
Why don't you cut the cake?
Who wants a birthday margarita?
- [EXCITED CHATTER]
- Two of them.
All right.
Do you think they have sex?
I-I'm thinking it now.
[EXCITED CHATTER CONTINUES]
Guessing Hank stays busy.
Maybe so, but my money's on Bob.
He does look happy.
Relaxed.
It's always the quiet ones, baby.
Okay.
[SLOW, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
[PHONE LINE RINGING]
[PHONE BUZZING]
Hey. You all right?
What are you doing?
Do you really want to know?
- Sure.
- All right.
Well, I just left the hospital
and a 28-year-old father of two
who may or may not be blind
the rest of his life
'cause he walked into an H2S leak.
Now, I'm driving three hours east
to have a two-minute
conversation with a drug dealer
who launders his money through
an oil services lender.
Tell him to keep his $40 million
fucking dollars.
I don't need it.
Then I'm driving three hours back
to a pirate-themed fish fry
with my ex-wife, my daughter,
two oil company employees
and you.
And after that,
I'm gonna go out in the garage
and find the thickest spot
in the drywall
and run my fucking head through it.
So, just another day.
Just another fucking day, Pop.
What do you need?
I don't know what to do.
Well, shit,
do whatever you want to.
- Read a book, watch TV.
- I mean
Watch one of them
daytime talk shows.
You know,
like The View or something.
What's The View?
Bunch of pissed off millionaires
bitching about how much
they hate millionaires
and Trump and men and you and me
and everybody else they got
a bee up their ass about.
It's pretty funny.
Don't sound funny.
Well, it ain't joke funny,
it's like "fart in church" funny,
you know what I mean?
That don't sound funny, either.
Well, it depends on
your proximity to the fart.
I mean, I can't get back inside,
and I don't know what to do.
The door's locked.
Wasn't locked when I left.
Well, it's locked now.
Did you make sure you pushed
the handle all the way down?
I've been opening doors
for 80 fucking years.
I'm pretty sure I've mastered the task.
All right. Well, go around
the side of the house.
There's a key under a frog
near the mulch.
A key under a frog.
- Yeah.
- By the mulch.
- Yeah.
- Got it.
Hope your day improves.
It won't.
Not with that fucking attitude.
So now you're doling out life advice?
You might want to check
your résumé first.
Shit-talking, wiseass son of a bitch.
"Check your résumé."
[GRUNTS]
Let me check how far I can
shove my boot up your ass.
[GRUNTS] Fuck.
[GROANS SOFTLY]
Uh, there's the frog.
And there's the key.
Thank you, frog.
Who are you?
I, uh
I'm Grandpa, if you can believe it.
Well, that seems on-brand.
Are you visiting for a bit?
I don't know what I'm doing.
Is Ainsley home?
She went to some birthday party.
Oh, that's right. With their old folks.
Yeah.
You got a cool voice.
Yeah, like the-the movie trailer guy.
[BOTH LAUGH]
That could be
a good second career for you.
No offense, miss,
but do I look like
I have a second career in me?
[LOW-PITCHED] Coming soon
to a movie theater near you.
Two men, one race.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Only one winner.
Tom Cruise is The Falcon.
[CHUCKLES]
What's your name?
[NORMAL VOICE] Shelby.
Good name.
I'm pretty partial to it.
I had a Shelby once.
It's a car. Or it was.
- Really?
- Yeah.
The Shelby Cobra.
One time, it was the fastest car
in the world.
You still have it?
I don't have anything anymore.
I'll tell Ainsley I met you.
Had a conversation
through a fucking fence.
Enjoyed the talk.
Oh, believe me, Shelby,
I enjoyed it more.
[SLOW, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
♪♪♪
[NATHAN] Thanks.
[MCDOUGAL] Appreciate you
coming down on such short notice.
We had a pretrial hearing move up,
then trial begins tomorrow,
so we will be underwater
for the foreseeable future
and would prefer
this be put to rest first.
Well, we're seeking out firms
for the environmental impact report.
[JAMES] We aren't gonna game today.
You are redrilling an existing
well in the identical location.
The impact is the same as it was
the first time.
BOEM and BSEE permits
are in place, and you know it.
No, we don't know it.
As I said last time, we had
a material change of control.
Not only was the responsibility
to drill shielded from our client,
the rig itself was shielded
from our client.
That's irrelevant. Our binding
agreement is with the company,
not the individual
who has been replaced.
He wasn't replaced. He died.
[LAUGHS] He wasn't replaced?
The company has no president?
No principal? It's just running itself?
We aren't playing
the "babe in the woods,"
"we don't know" game.
- Excuse me?
- I think I was pretty clear.
Your permits are in place.
Your window with weather is now.
You have 45 days to get a rig in motion.
45 days? That's impossible.
It's punitively aggressive.
It isn't impossible.
[TENSE, SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
I could place the entire estate
company included before
a probate judge, and freeze this
- for the next three years.
- I sure wish you would.
Perhaps a judge can figure out
where our $400 million dollars went.
Understand,
before we litigate against you,
we will be presenting this
to the county attorney.
And I assure you,
it will go before a grand jury.
Embezzlement, insurance fraud,
wire fraud
because the fraudulent agreements
were mailed insurance fraud
- We get it.
- No, we don't get it.
You and I had a very different
conversation a week ago.
And this is the conversation
we're having now. Christina?
You will notice on 24A,
we will be requiring weekly
documented progress reports.
[JAMES] We want lease
agreements, vendor contracts,
crew contracts.
All this is listed in section C,
"stipulations of compliance."
There you have it.
We wish you the best of luck.
[GENTLE, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
- Yeah.
- [NATHAN] You wanted me
to give you bad news
as soon as I get it?
[SIGHS] Yeah.
They want a rig en route within 45 days
or they press criminal charges
and prep to litigate.
Well, what's the compromise?
That is the compromise.
We're headed to the Fort Worth office
to begin planning and meet with Alan.
Tommy, we need to find this money.
I don't think the buck stops
with Monty on this one.
We didn't know about it, Nate.
Cami's name is on everything.
Everything, Tommy.
She may not know it, but she signed it.
All right. I'll be there
in half an hour.
[TENSE, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
♪♪♪
By the time you get her parked,
I'll already be back down.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
It's funny how y'all know I'm
coming when I didn't tell anybody.
- Please.
- Thanks.
In the neighborhood?
Not really.
So, what do I owe the pleasure?
M-TEX bought out Cooper's leases.
We're gonna take on the debt.
There's no need for a loan.
If there's a balance, send an
invoice and we'll see that it's paid,
but it appears
the loan was never funded.
He never told us
where to send the check.
Funny how you forget things
when you're excited.
Like the most important things.
[TOMMY] Well, we can all forget it now.
We're happy to partner,
offset the expenses.
We don't need partners.
Well, that's not what your boss says.
She says you need a partner pretty bad.
Listen, if you want
to get our wives together
to go martini for martini
and brag on your fucking shoes,
knock yourself out,
but Cami doesn't understand
- where your money comes from.
- You don't understand
- where my money comes from.
- I know exactly where
your fucking money comes from.
I sat in the basement of your money
with a goddamn nail in my fucking thigh.
- Tommy
- You remember that part?
Tommy, at least have
the decency to close the door
- if you're gonna yell at me.
- You can sit up here
and play investor and golf
at the country club and all that shit,
but you killed a man in front of me.
I know who you are
and I know what your money is.
And I can't have it anywhere near us.
Interest on a $400 million dollar loan,
if you can find one
from a traditional lender,
is $16 to $18 million a quarter.
Maybe more with risk.
Maybe you can get a pick rate
at 14%.
And then you might default
because of some bullshit
in the fine print, then it's 16.
And then you're hemorrhaging
ownership every month.
In three years,
the business isn't yours anymore.
Well, it was never yours, it was hers.
Or it was.
She told me everything.
It's a tough situation.
Well, I wish you the best of luck
in finding a solution out there
that doesn't bring you back
into my office.
But I don't think it exists.
Porque yo soy la solución.
I am the fucking solution.
So, when you realize it,
I'll be here waiting.
"Grease" by Lainey Wilson playing ♪
Come on ♪
It's been a long, hot summer ♪
For a hardworking
John Deere man ♪
You're real tired,
well, no wonder ♪
'Cause you earned
that farmer's tan ♪
While I been working
in the garden ♪
- You been melting ♪
- One, two, three.
All the ice in my sweet tea ♪
Well, look at
what you started ♪
All because you got
a little thirsty ♪
Good God Almighty ♪
Boy, you got me begging
like an old hound dog, yeah ♪
Buttered up and rolling,
like a skillet smoking up ♪
A kitchen down in Arkansas ♪
Yeah, we on to something,
won't you keep it coming ♪
- [AINSLEY LAUGHS]
- [ANGELA] Hi, T.L.
Hey.
Do you want us to call you T.L.?
Is that more of a guy thing?
We can call you Thomas.
T.L.'s fine.
I quite like Thomas. Thomas.
You know, I always figured
that's what they'd call Daddy
when he was grown.
He's about as grown as he's gonna get.
[GRUNTS]
Let me give y'all a hand.
Don't even think about it.
Baby, you're on vacation.
I can still carry a bag of groceries.
We got everything.
You just rest that petunia.
[AINSLEY] Three, like, more in the car.
[ANGELA] All right.
[EXHALES]
Met your friend Shelby.
- Isn't she a little bug?
- [BOTH CHUCKLE]
You know, I should invite her to supper.
[T.L.] Jesus,
you feeding the whole street?
I like abundance, T.L.
Can I invite Shelby for dinner?
Of course you can, baby.
[AINSLEY] Great.
Whoo. Okay.
Oh, all the catfish was frozen,
but I can blacken a redfish
that'll curl your toes, Thomas.
- Wow.
- How many do we got tonight?
If Shelby comes, there's two,
three with Tommy,
Thomas is four, Dale, Neal
Nate.
- [ANGELA] Shit.
- [LAUGHS] It's Nate.
I always call him that, Thomas.
I mean, he looks more like
a Neal than a Nate.
Nate sounds like a fun guy.
- You met him. Fun he ain't.
- [T.L. LAUGHING]
Eh, he's just kind of there. Present.
Yeah. And worried.
- Present and worried.
- Always worried.
- [LAUGHING]
- Worried.
And just the most forgettable face.
I mean, you can be looking
right at him and forget it.
[LAUGHTER]
- So mean.
- [T.L.] I'm sorry,
I don't remember the last time
I saw people just
be happy, with themselves,
with each other.
[ANGELA] You know what you need?
A cold beer and a ball game.
You don't need to listen to us
cackle like a couple of crows.
I'll take the beer,
but I'm gonna sit right here
and watch the crows cackle.
We can cackle with the best of 'em.
God.
You look just like her.
Like who?
Trust me, it's a compliment.
Then that's how I'll take it.
Thank you.
I need that big cauldron
from the garage and the fryer.
I hope we've got peanut oil.
We got to make the stock first.
You know what?
You're gonna be the corn chopper
and the garlic smasher.
[AINSLEY] On it.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
[SLOW, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
[TOMMY] Hey, Monica.
Where are they, babe?
- She's in her office.
- Okay. Thank you.
[ALAN] So, everything waterfalls
from holdco into these various entities.
Okay? Now
M Miller Insurance and Casualty,
a C Corp, is where all profit flows.
From there, it's allocated
into various funds
and then back into M-TEX Oil,
for-for example,
payables or debt service.
Everything except the insurance company
is zeroed out at the end of year.
Why is all the money
in an insurance company?
Insurance companies
don't pay tax on profit
if the funds are kept for underwriting.
[ALAN] Yeah, Tommy's right. So, continue
to increase coverage on the-the house,
the-the planes, on everything.
When you max out the coverage,
buy something else to insure,
and, basically,
you're-you're paying zero income tax.
Okay. Now let's get to the missing
$400 million, all right?
Okay, it's not, it's not missing, okay?
It was rolled over
into a money market account
to trigger a line of credit to match.
Then it was moved back
into the insurance company
once that line of credit was allocated
to the Wolfcamp workovers,
then it was invested
in various private equity funds.
Well, we think it's time
to pull it back out.
Well, it doesn't work that way.
All of the funds
haven't even been called yet.
If you miss a call,
then you're-you're in breach,
and they will absorb all the investment
that you already have allocated.
Funds have a maturity rate.
Prior to that, early withdrawal
could result in a loss
of 60%, 80%.
Many of these funds, the machination
for early withdrawal doesn't even exist.
So, to be clear,
she does have the money.
- Yes.
- She just can't access it.
Correct.
Well, we have a real
fucking problem here, Alan.
Well, I know. I know.
Now, I'd like to present a solution.
It's gonna sound dramatic,
so just hear me out.
We're all ears.
M-TEX and its subsidiaries
file for bankruptcy.
[TOMMY] Oh, for fuck's sake, Alan.
Hear me out, Tommy.
So, all of the cash
is in the insurance company.
That's a C Corp,
so none of the liabilities
of any of the other companies
are gonna flow back up to it.
It holds over $800 million dollars
in tax-exempt liquid, albeit
$700 million is allocated.
She files for Chapter 11, okay?
The planes, they go back to the bank.
The insurance company
buys them right back again.
The debt is wiped completely clean.
There's no recourse that's gonna
flow back to the trusts.
Then you're-you're
in the insurance business.
She would lose the leases.
- Yes.
- And the royalties
on the owned mineral rights.
Owned by the LLCs, yes,
but owned personally,
I-I think those are safe.
You think?
Tommy, Danny Morrell
will partner with us.
He'll advance the funds
to drill and operate.
So, we trade half the proceeds
on an offshore rig
I didn't even know existed. Who cares?
And then I don't have
to talk about bankruptcy,
- or insurance
- Listen. Hey.
- [STAMMERS] Okay.
- or being sued anymore.
Two things, all right?
Number one,
you need to explain to me
this whole shell game,
in detail, so I can keep
the fucking lights on
around this place, all right?
And number two, everybody leave
the room except for Cami.
You don't want a lawyer present, Tommy?
Especially the lawyers.
[DOOR CLOSES]
Now I'm gonna tell you something
that never leaves this room,
because if it does,
lawsuits are the least of our problems.
We bought some mineral rights
in an auction
for what turned out to be land
owned by a cartel in Mexico.
Now, I negotiated a surface
lease with said cartel,
and them being a fucking drug cartel,
decided they wanted to change the rules.
And when I refused, they put me
in a basement underneath a bar
and put a gun to my head,
beat the holy shit out of me,
and then doused me in gasoline
and were about to make s'mores
over the bonfire
they were turning me into.
And your buddy Danny, he stopped it.
How'd he stop them?
Because it's his cartel.
Now, the FBI, they might find
a way to forgive us
for leasing their minerals,
but a $400 million dollar loan?
We look like the engine of their
money laundering machine.
You understand me?
[SLOW, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
You're in business with him?
Yes.
- And we still have the leases?
- Yes.
So we're in business with him now.
In a manner of speaking, yes.
You don't know where
his money comes from.
- Oh, I know. I do know.
- No, you don't.
You think you do, but no,
you don't and neither do I.
He's never mentioned drugs to me.
- [LAUGHS] I bet he hasn't.
- I will not lose
the company my husband
started in our garage,
eight weeks after taking it over.
I'm not gonna declare bankruptcy,
and I'm not gonna
let some insurance company
- sue it away from me.
- Didn't you hear
what I'm trying to tell you?
- That's the fucking boss
- The offer that Danny made
- is a good one.
- They fucking kidnapped me.
- And I'm accept
- You know who
- you're dealing with?
- And I'm accepting it.
You're dealing
with a bad fucking guy here.
Anything else is giving up,
- and I will not give up.
- Okay.
Well, I-I tell you what,
they might give you up, anyway.
You have our attorneys
meet with his, and paper it.
- His attorneys
- And if you're that concerned,
then you have them lawyer up
- some language that protects us.
- Okay. Yeah.
You're not hearing me, Cami.
You don't understand
- what I'm saying.
- You know what? The only thing
I've ever lost in my life is my husband.
Everything else I've won.
And I'll win this, too.
And one more thing?
Don't ever summon me to a meeting again.
From now on, meetings come to me.
[SIGHS]
♪♪♪
If I can drive like I got a rocket
strapped to the top of my truck,
I should be home about 7:00.
I want both of you there, all right?
[GENTLE, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
[WOMAN OVER SPEAKER]
Good morning.
Buenos días.
Nice to meet you.
Encantado de conocerte.
Long time no see.
Mucho tiempo sin verte.
Thank you.
Gracias.
Thank you for your help.
Gracias por tu ayuda.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
[ENGINE STOPS]
[EXHALES]
[CLEARS THROAT]
Uh, Mr. Barrera?
Who are you?
A friend of your daughter's.
- Something happen?
- No, sir.
She-she's fine. Uh
Well, she's been through it, but
- She's tough.
- Yes, sir. That she is.
Do you think we could, uh
talk, just you and me?
Come on.
Lobo.
[LOW GROWLING]
Y'all sure like your guard dogs.
[CARLOS] Better than a gun.
Plenty of fools too dumb
to be scared of a gun.
Nobody's dumb enough to cross that.
I guess not.
How long y'all been here?
Since the crash of '20.
Worked out, though.
Wife's got cancer.
San Antonio's just two hours away,
MD Anderson just three.
Once she gets it licked,
we'll get back to the basin.
[SOFTLY] Thank you.
Tranquilo con el niño, mi amor.
What'd you drive here for?
Um
I-I'm in love with your daughter,
and she says she's in love with me.
I'd like to ask her to marry me.
And I'd like your permission.
I know you don't know me, and
I doubt I look like
what you dreamed her husband
I don't have dreams for my daughter.
She does that for herself.
She's a grown woman.
You don't need my permission.
She knows that.
She just wanted to see if you'd do it.
Guess you passed the test.
Elvio passed the test.
He just had to walk down the street.
Work the patch, right?
Yes, sir.
Don't die in it.
Don't do that to her.
I mean, she's tough, but
only so much a person can take.
No, sir. I-I won't.
You don't look like the type,
but she is my daughter, so I'll say it.
Put a hand to her, and I'll kill you.
She'd kill you first,
but I'll go real hard
on whatever's left.
[SIGHS]
Stay the night.
It's a long drive,
and supper's almost ready.
[LOW GROWLING]
- Fuck.
- [CARLOS] Lobo.
[SNAPS FINGERS]
"Heaven Sent"
by The SteelDrivers playing ♪
I know our days are ♪
Heaven sent ♪
Lord knows I know
not where they went ♪
Shake my head
and I wonder how ♪
I'll ever get to heaven now ♪
[CHATTERING]
[OVER SPEAKERS] An angel
came one winter dawn ♪
You should've seen
what she had on ♪
Wind was whistling
like it's rain ♪
You know, Barney, I'm proud old
Troy Aikman's got his own beer.
[LAUGHS] Is it any good?
Oh, hell if I know.
I shattered my nose
on a derrick mast when I was 30.
Lost my sense of smell.
I can't taste a fucking thing.
It's cold, I'll say that.
[LAUGHS] I'm glad.
What's the fastest you ever
got here from Fort Worth?
Uh, four hours, but I was cooking. You?
Lower.
- Three thirty?
- Keep going.
Fuck you. Three fifteen?
- Just did it.
- Shit.
That's a good way
to get arrested right there.
Oh, I got a siren and a light
and all that shit.
What do you think
pirates eat for supper?
Man, this conversation's
got no fucking guardrails, huh?
Uh
All right, you mean, like, present day?
No, old-timey, with the fat swords
and golf britches
and silly hats and all that.
I bet it's not what we think they'd eat.
You know, it's not gonna be,
like, lobster and mangoes.
- All right.
- Probably be something like, um,
salt pork and dried beans.
- You know, shit like that.
- Exactly what I was thinking.
Something like that. Yeah.
Well, I'm gonna let the air out
of that dinner balloon.
- I got a question.
- Yeah?
Now, if you can't taste,
and you're an alcoholic, why not
just drink nonalcoholic beer?
You were so close to getting
a fucking tip tonight,
and just like that, you fucked it up.
[LAUGHS]
[CHUCKLES]
Hey, when did that happen?
Couple days ago.
How's it working out?
So far, good.
- What are you having?
- Oh, it don't matter.
Light beer of some kind.
What is it about me
that makes you just scowl?
I don't like to be judged.
Honey, I'm not judging. I just care.
I guess the two look similar sometimes.
Single mother in the patch
with no college education.
This shouldn't be
much of a surprise to you.
Well, I heard the single mother
thing's getting figured out.
We'll see.
There's all sorts of slips
between a lip and a cup.
"There's many a slip
twixt a cup and a lip,"
but hats off to you
for coming up with an oldie.
[CHUCKLES]
Well, I'm going to a pirate dinner.
- I don't know what that means.
- I don't either, honey.
I'll let you know
the next time I see you.
[ARIANA LAUGHS]
[SLOW, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
["DRUNKEN SAILOR" BY THE IRISH
ROVERS PLAYING IN DISTANCE]
Early in the morning ♪
Put him in a longboat
till he's sober ♪
Put him
in a longboat till he's sober ♪
Put him in a longboat
till he's sober ♪
Early in the morning ♪
Weigh, hey and up she rises ♪
Weigh, hey
and up she rises ♪
Weigh, hey
and up she rises ♪
I swear, one of these days,
a little demon's gonna run out
of the fucking bushes
and fuck me right here on this porch.
Right on this goddamn porch,
while that song's playing.
[SIGHS]
♪♪♪
[CACKLING]
[TOMMY] The fuck?
Yo-ho.
Stick him in a scupper
with a hosepipe ♪
- [AINSLEY LAUGHS]
- [CHUCKLES] Hi, baby.
Hi. Just put it on the table right here.
There ain't no getting
out of this, Tommy.
Oh, I know. The sidewalk prepared me.
- How you doing, Shelby?
- Hey.
So much for the illusion
of your miserable life, son.
Oh, this is misery, Pop.
This is the Broadway misery
musical of my life.
Welcome to it.
And where would you like the, uh
[ANGELA] Put 'em on the deck, lass.
[LAUGHS] Oh, my God.
You got to be shitting me.
The lawyer's dressed up like a pirate.
- Oh, God.
- [LAUGHS]
Argh, there, good sir.
Take ye seat or to the plank with ya.
You outdid yourself this time. [LAUGHS]
Weigh, hey and up
she rises, weigh, hey ♪
Is that a real fucking sword?
That's a real fucking sword, babe.
- It is.
- Goddamn it.
[DALE] Captain Tommy, have a beer.
And up she rises ♪
Early in the morning ♪
[ANGELA] You think I signed up for this?
- I hooked a wiener.
- [LAUGHTER]
♪♪♪
♪♪♪
[SLOW, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]