Landman‘s just delivered its most emotional scene yet — and it comes from two characters who rarely show emotion at all. Tommy Norris and his son, Cooper, share a rare father–son conversation about parenting after a tense visit with TL Norris (Tommy’s dad).

It was rare, but familiar. I was struck by how real it all felt, right up through the end when Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) tries to change the topic to weather. We’re past the age of “real men don’t cry” but that doesn’t mean any man wants to cry.

• Landman Season 2, Episode 2 dropped on Sunday on Paramount+.
• While Cami Miller’s lawsuit is a serious topic, “Sins of the Father” was more about three generations of oil men and the relationships between them.
• A full discussion of Ep. 2 will take place on the Dutton Rules podcast on Tuesday at 12PM CT.

Who is Tommy Norris’ Mother On Landman?

Landman hasn’t shared any scenes featuring Tommy Norris’ mother. Unlike Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, it’s not big on flashbacks, so it seems doubtful we’ll get a clip of her torturing a young Tommy.

All we know is learned during a truck ride home after visiting TL at the nursing home.

“I wasn’t raised to father a son,” Tommy tells Cooper. “And all your grandfather did was work himself into being a cripple out on the rigs, come home and get drunk enough to deal with my damn coked-out tornado of a mother, then come in my room and try to beat his failures all out of me.”

In a single sentence we fill in several blanks in Tommy’s biography. This explains his broken relationships, former addiction to alcohol and — if we’re being honest — his relationship with the tornado that is Angela Norris.

“However you raise your son is how he’s gonna raise his son. And that cycle is almost impossible to break,” he adds. Then Cooper twists the knife in our heart.

“You broke it,” he says.

“I avoided it, ” responds Tommy.

“I love you dad. You did your best and your best is good enough for me.”

Oof. Yep, I was ready to talk about the weather at that point, too.

Episode three promises a funeral for Tommy’s mom and likely news that TL will come live with Tommy, Angela, Ainsley, Nate, Dale and (for the time being) Cooper.