That's why everyone keeps telling big guy Monty Miller that the only solution to all his problems is to get rid of his fellow countryman Tommy Norris. They want Monty to put all the blame on Tom and use him as a scapegoat. But you see, Monty knows what others don't. His Midland rigs won't see another day without Tom. In the previous episode, a TTP oil tanker collided with a stolen plane parked in the middle of the road. The funny thing is that both the plane and the road belong to Monty's M-Tex Oil, so you know who to blame, right? As soon as Tom arrived on scene, he quickly called Monty and asked him to send Clay Chandler, Shepherd-Hastings' top lawyer, to clean up the mess. Instead, Clay sent a woman named Rebecca Falcone, a liability expert. Tom knew what Clay was planning to do here, and he told Monty to his face that he wasn't going to become a “sin man” here and take the blame.
At the start of Episode 3, Clay repeats the same things over and over again, perhaps to remind viewers what this is all about. According to Clay, he needs to hold someone accountable for the chaos. Otherwise, it faces an $80 million lawsuit and a forced shutdown because all of its rigs violate OSHA regulations. You see, Monty understands Clay's concern, but he knows that Tom is not to blame here. It's the Wild West out there and every business involves risk. Tom handles the crisis in the best way possible, but throwing him under the bus isn't a viable solution here. In short, lawyers are kind of a waste in this situation and Tom may have to handle the situation with the TTP all by himself.
Spoiler alert
Ainsley wants to stay with her father
As if there weren't enough problems for Tom, his ex-wife Angela also came to Midland to provide emotional support to their daughter Ainsley, who had recently separated from the handsome college hunk. Now not much has happened here; It's just that Ainsley's ex-boyfriend got himself a new girlfriend because Ainsley refused to sleep with him. And now it turns out that this new girl, Madison, was Ainsley's co-captain, who was too embarrassed to return to Dakota. But I think that wasn't the only reason for Ainsley to stay with her father in Midland. Her mother, Angela, did her best, but she was a kind of free and wild spirit, and perhaps Ainsley believed that her father could guide her better in life. She had to make a better life decision and learning from her old man might be the better option she has now. When Tom told his ex-wife about their daughter's decision, Angela was pretty heartbroken. However, she didn't want to stop Ainsley from living her life the way she wanted, and that's probably why she agreed to let her stay with her father for as long as she wanted.
Cooper meets the Medina family
Tom had warned his son in the previous episode that no matter what happened near the rig, everyone in The Pit would blame Cooper for the deaths of Luis, Armando and Elvio. He asked Cooper to look for other jobs as returning to The Pit was no longer safe, but Cooper insisted on learning the basics of operating an oil rig as he aspired to become someone like Monty in the future. Cooper remained behind in Midland and before he could find a crew himself, he was attacked by the Medina cousins Manuel and Antonio, who believed that their brothers had died because of Cooper. You see, no one really knew what happened on the rig, and what was even harder to understand was how Cooper survived such a devastating accident. It was obvious to the others that they blamed Cooper for the three deaths, and now all he has to do is prove himself on the field if he wants to rid himself of this stain on his character.
During the fight, Antonio, the slim guy, pointed a gun at Cooper when their team leader Boss finally intervened and stopped the childish brawl between the three. Boss was impressed by Cooper's fighting skills and asked him to become part of his crew. Obviously Manuel and Antonio were not happy, but the decision has already been made. Later that day, Cooper visited the home in Medina to pay his respects to the fallen brothers. There he met Elvio's young wife Ariana and their newborn baby. Ariana was devastated by the loss of her young husband and didn't know how she would live the rest of her life without him, but Cooper's company eased her pain for the time being. The guy made her laugh and you know what will happen next between them. But before that, there is a villain in the love story. Manuel warned Cooper to stay away from his cousin's widow or he wouldn't mind killing him and burying him six feet underground.
Tom takes Rebecca on a trip
Nathan, Monty's lawyer, who shares the house with Tom, told him that Rebecca's real intention in visiting Midland was to put all the blame on Tom. Because of this, Nathan asked Tom to gain Rebecca's trust and woo her by any means possible, as she was the only person who could save his job. Now Rebecca wanted to visit the crash site on a Sunday, and although Tom didn't want to leave his wife and daughter a free supply of margaritas, he didn't have much choice because he couldn't ignore Rebecca's request (or orders). At the crash site, Tom honestly told Rebecca the reason why he didn't report the stolen plane taken by the cartels. As I mentioned before, getting the authorities involved would only screw things up further and stop the rig's operations, resulting in a loss for Monty. So, as Tom said, sometimes it's better to turn a blind eye to some things when you're out in the wild, wild west. I guess Rebecca understood a few things about Texas. Next, she asked if green energy would destroy the oil industry in any way. Tom had an answer, but because Nathan had asked to woo the lawyer, he decided to take a little detour with her and demonstrate his knowledge of the hidden lies surrounding sustainable energy. I won't go into much detail; In short: Tom wanted Rebecca to know that renewable energy is no safer for the environment than traditional energy sources. Tom also killed a rattlesnake near a wind turbine because Rebecca couldn't leave. And if you also look at Yellowstone, then you know who also found a rattlesnake in Texas.
Monty loses another oil well
Landman had constantly tried to remind his viewers that running an oil company is perhaps one of the most demanding businesses of all. Every day we are hit by a new crisis; if you're lucky, three in a single weekend. At the end of Episode 3, Tom told Monty that the flow of oil in a 35-year-old oil well had drastically decreased and that they would have to shut down the well and rework everything to continue production. Monty was not in favor of destroying the well during the oil spill. He had already lost a lot of money, and now rehabilitating a well could cost him another $2 million. But Tom believed that perhaps a little magic at the well could help them get better returns in the days to come. In short, he said that it was a profitable investment and that they needed to do it as quickly as possible. So the final montage of Episode 3 was about Cooper, his new crew, and Dale repairing the well and bringing it back to life.
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