Season 2, Episode 6 — Dark Night of the Soul

Episode 6 takes its title from Saint John of the Cross's mystical poem about spiritual crisis—and Tommy Norris needs all the mystical comfort he can get. "Dark Night of the Soul" chronicles the systematic dismantling of Tommy's professional authority as Cami's growing alliance with cartel boss Gallino transforms from business necessity to existential threat.

After the pirate dinner refuge of Episode 5, the darkness returns with precision. This is not the explosive violence of rig disasters or cartel confrontations, but something more insidious: the slow erosion of Tommy's position through trust weaponized against him. When your boss trusts your enemy more than you, the writing is on the wall—even if it takes a while to become visible.

Trust as Weapon: Cami Overrules Tommy

The episode's central crisis unfolds in boardrooms rather than oil fields. During negotiations over a critical offshore drilling deal, Cami essentially overrules Tommy, insisting he accept Gallino's investment despite knowing exactly who and what Dan Morrell really represents. This is not naiveté—Cami understands the cartel connection. She simply trusts Gallino more than Tommy to save M-Tex.

What makes this betrayal fascinating is its gradual build. Cami has not turned villain, nor has Tommy failed as fixer. But the $400 million trap from Episode 5 has forced Cami into alliance with Gallino, and that alliance has developed its own gravity. Dan is charming, reasonable, effective—everything Tommy appears not to be when viewed through crisis-management stress.

Gallino's Warning: Divide and Conquer

Andy Garcia's performance continues to impress as Dan delivers the episode's most chilling insight: Cami's distrust of Tommy can be weaponized. When Gallino's cartel associates realize there is daylight between Cami and Tommy, they will exploit it, poisoning her against him completely. Dan frames this as friendly warning, but the threat is clear: Tommy's authority at M-Tex is already compromised, and it can be destroyed entirely if useful.

The brilliance of Garcia's portrayal is that Dan seems genuinely fond of both Cami and Tommy while simultaneously orchestrating their separation. He is not mustache-twirling villain but businessman making rational moves. If M-Tex's management is fractured, Gallino's influence increases. Tommy understands this, but cannot stop it.

The Offshore Drilling Deal: Risky Salvation

The episode's business plot centers on offshore drilling negotiations that could determine M-Tex's survival. Tommy must balance technical feasibility, financial viability, and cartel involvement while his authority to negotiate is actively being undermined. The deal represents salvation—if M-Tex can get operational within 45 days—but also commitment to deeper entanglement with Gallino's organization.

What the episode captures brilliantly is how business desperation creates moral compromise. M-Tex needs this deal. The deal requires Gallino's capital. Therefore Gallino gets influence. The logic is airtight and completely toxic, trapping everyone in decisions they understand are dangerous but cannot avoid.

TL and Tommy: The Bar Scene's Wisdom

Sam Elliott and Billy Bob Thornton deliver another masterclass in the episode's standout bar scene, filmed before Angela and Ainsley arrive. TL provides devastating context for Dottie's addiction: their daughter's death "shattered" him, but it "scrambled her soul" beyond repair. When a soul gets scrambled, TL explains, there is no putting it back together.

The scene works on multiple levels. It recontextualizes Tommy's Season 1 behavior through understanding his mother's trauma. It shows TL capable of wisdom and compassion despite his cruelty. And it provides Tommy with brutal reminder: TL does not have much time left before "years of hard living catch up to his body and brain." Every conversation could be their last meaningful exchange.

Fans on Reddit particularly praised this scene, with one noting: "TL's life advice was really powerful and it really got Tommy thinking about why he's still doing all this." The episode uses TL to force Tommy toward existential reckoning: what is the point of all this stress, danger, and compromise?

Cooper's Ring: Angela's Sacrifice and Tommy's Burden

Cooper needs engagement ring for Ariana but has no money after the near-disaster of the Sonrisa deal. Angela solves the problem by offering Cooper the ring Tommy gave her, an act of generosity that reveals both her love for her son and her willingness to sacrifice for family. But it leaves Tommy on the hook for replacement ring costing $100,000 or more—money he does not have spare, and Angela knows it.

Tommy's complaint that "$100,000 ain't gonna scratch the surface" is darkly comic. He manages multi-million dollar deals daily but cannot afford to replace his own wife's engagement ring. The scene perfectly captures the Norris family paradox: they live like wealthy people while being perpetually broke because every dollar is either spent or promised.

Rebecca and Charlie: Romance Among the Ruins

In the episode's lighter subplot, Rebecca visits M-Tex scientist Charlie to clarify technical details about the offshore drilling project, only to discover he is her recent one-night stand. Guy Burnet brings charm to Charlie, described by Taylor Sheridan as intentionally modeled after Indiana Jones—geologist with adventurous, intellectual appeal. Rebecca agrees to dinner, opening new romantic storyline amid business chaos.

The subplot provides necessary relief from boardroom tension while maintaining thematic coherence. Even professional interactions cannot escape personal entanglement in Landman's world. Rebecca, usually the pragmatic lawyer, finds herself navigating romantic complication at exactly the moment M-Tex needs her most focused.

The View Controversy: Tommy's Memorable Jab

The episode sparked immediate social media reaction when Tommy described The View as "pissed off millionaires b*tching." The line, vintage Sheridan provocation, generated backlash online while perfectly capturing Tommy's exhaustion with performative outrage from people insulated from real consequence. Whether one agrees with the sentiment, the moment reveals Tommy's mindset: he has no patience for wealthy people complaining when he navigates actual danger daily.

Title's Literary Weight

"Dark Night of the Soul" references Saint John of the Cross's 16th-century poem about spiritual crisis and eventual union with God through suffering. The title elevates the episode beyond business drama into meditation on purpose and faith. Tommy's crisis is not just professional but existential—what does he believe in when his authority crumbles and his sacrifices seem futile?

The poem's mystical framework suggests Tommy's suffering has meaning beyond immediate pain, that dissolution of ego and authority might lead to deeper understanding. Whether Landman will deliver that resolution remains unknown, but the title plants the possibility.

Tommy's Firing Foreshadowed

Multiple critics noted the episode quietly sets up Tommy's potential exit from M-Tex. As Cami's trust shifts from Tommy to Gallino, and as Tommy's resistance to cartel involvement becomes liability rather than asset, his position becomes untenable. M-Tex may survive by embracing what Tommy opposes, meaning Tommy becomes obstacle to survival.

The foreshadowing is subtle but consistent. Tommy is exhausted. His authority is eroded. His family needs him more than M-Tex does. TL's reminder that time is finite adds urgency: why spend remaining years fighting battles for company that trusts cartel boss more than you?

Visual Language: Fragile Warmth

The episode continues Landman's pattern of contrasting cold business spaces with warm family scenes, but this time the warmth feels threatened. The bar scene with TL has amber light and genuine connection, but it is framed by professional crisis. Even family sanctuary cannot fully escape business contamination, suggesting the boundaries Tommy maintains are becoming impossible to sustain.

Stray Observations

• Sam Elliott and Billy Bob Thornton's chemistry was praised as "nothing short of exceptional" by multiple critics.
• Guy Burnet revealed he met Taylor Sheridan at boxing gym, and Sheridan later wrote Charlie's role specifically for him.
• Director Stephen Kay helmed the entire Season 2, with Sheridan on set about 90% of the time as producer.
• The 45-day deadline from Blanton's attorneys continues ticking down, creating urgency for remaining episodes.
• Cooper's truck remains pristine, a running visual joke about his separation from actual oil field work.
• Angela's sacrifice of her ring is framed as generosity, but also traps Tommy in expensive replacement obligation he cannot afford.

Critical Reception

Reviews were mixed. Positive responses praised the Elliott-Thornton scenes and the episode's focus on character dynamics over action. Negative reviews criticized pacing and questioned portrayal of female characters, with one reviewer calling it "my least favorite entry of the series so far."

Fan reactions on social media were enthusiastic, particularly for the bar scene between Tommy and TL, which many cited as the episode's emotional highpoint.

Verdict

"Dark Night of the Soul" is Landman at its most introspective, trading explosive action for slow-burn character crisis. The episode's strength lies in its willingness to dismantle Tommy's authority systematically rather than dramatically, showing how professional influence erodes through accumulation of small betrayals rather than single catastrophic failure.

Cami's growing alliance with Gallino is portrayed as both reasonable business decision and existential threat to Tommy's role. Andy Garcia continues to make Dan fascinating villain-who-is-not-quite-villain, charming and dangerous in equal measure. Sam Elliott's performance as TL adds emotional depth, revealing the trauma that shaped Tommy while forcing him toward reckoning about purpose and priorities.

The episode's title, borrowed from mystical poetry, suggests suffering can lead to transcendence. Whether Tommy's dark night ends in spiritual clarity or professional ruin remains to be seen, but the episode commits fully to exploring the darkness rather than rushing toward resolution. This is patient storytelling, trusting viewers to engage with slow erosion of certainty rather than demanding constant dramatic escalation.

"Dark Night of the Soul" asks fundamental question: when the company you serve trusts your enemy more than you, when your family needs replacement engagement ring you cannot afford, when your dying father reminds you time is finite—why keep fighting? Tommy does not have answer yet. But the episode forces him, and viewers, to sit with the question. That discomfort is the point.