Why Did Cami Fire Tommy on 'Landman'? The Offshore Fight That Blew Up M-Tex

The drama on Landman has reached new heights as Cami has officially fired Tommy from M-Tex. Landman is Taylor Sheridan’s oil-boom drama set in West Texas boomtowns. The series stars Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, a hardened M-Tex executive who has seen every version of the business.

Season 2 keeps the pressure on Tommy from all sides, especially from Cami, as the story barrels toward the offshore drilling decision that ultimately shatters their working relationship. Here is a look at how the drama unfolded on Landman.

In Landman Season 2, Episode 9, Cami (Demi Moore) brings Tommy to Louisiana for the offshore rig kickoff. Away from the noise of the launch party, she confronts him about his resistance to the project. Cami says she finally understands what drove Monty, describing it as “a rush… an exhilaration to the risk.” Tommy shuts that down fast. “That rush cost me everything,” he says, referencing his bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis and explaining why he avoids risk by design.

However, Cami refuses to blame risk for Monty’s death. “I’d say it’s what allowed him to live,” she tells him. Then she ends the conversation — and his job — saying, “[The] president of my company can’t be averse to the very thing that built it. You’re fired.”

The real reason Cami fires Tommy comes down to one thing. He never stopped fighting the offshore gamble, and she finally ran out of patience. The offshore project has been the season’s main pressure point, and Tommy has opposed it from the start. Cami moves in the opposite direction. Sitting at a quiet table away from the party, she makes her stance clear. Tommy knows the business, but he no longer fits her vision. When he refuses to cosign the offshore play, Cami decides she can’t run M-Tex with a president who keeps hitting the brakes.

Cami firing Tommy isn’t the only thing cracking M-Tex’s foundation. Tommy leaves Louisiana stunned and unemployed. The offshore project remains the season’s ticking time bomb, and the launch party puts that tension front and center. Investor Gallino (Andy Garcia) and insurance representatives loom over a $400 million payout, with the expectation that M-Tex will pour that money straight into the new offshore well.

Back in Texas, Ainsley’s college career goes left quickly after roommate drama. Angela responds the only way she knows how. She bulldozes her way into securing off-campus housing for Ainsley, using “allergies” as her excuse. The episode ends on its darkest note. A previously banned customer corners Ariana behind the bar and attempts to sexually assault her. Cooper rushes in and attacks him. Ariana screams for him to stop, crying, “Cooper, stop! You’re killing him … Don’t go to jail for this piece of s--t, please.”