Landman Season 2’s Ainsley Arc Falls Victim to TV’s Most Problematic Trope

Landman Season 2 has had a controversial reception, with stories about Tommy Norris’ (Billy Bob Thornton) family dividing its audiences. Fans hold mixed opinions about Tommy’s ex-wife and daughter, Angela (Ali Larter) and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), and son and future daughter-in-law, Cooper (Jacob Lofland) and Ariana (Paulina Chavez), with some appreciating their narrative contributions and others finding them annoying.

That said, the series fell into its most polarizing trope yet in Landman Season 2, Episode 9, “Plans, Tears and Sirens.” Angela contends with Ainsley moving to college as Tommy travels to Louisiana with Cami Miller (Demi Moore), Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace), and Charles Newsome (Guy Burnet), and Norris is fired as M-Tex Oil launches its offshore rig.

Ainsley Norris’ TCU Roommate Story in Landman Season 2, Episode 9, Explained

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“Plans, Tears and Sirens” delivers massive developments for Landman’s characters, including Ainsley Norris, who moves to college for cheer camp in Season 2, Episode 9. The premiere of Landman Season 2 revealed that Ainsley Norris would attend Texas Christian University (TCU), where she was a walk-on with the cheerleading squad. However, Tommy’s daughter hasn’t had much of a story since.

In Landman Season 2’s penultimate episode, Ainsley is back at TCU after spending the summer in Midland. The first-year college student tells her emotionally overwhelmed mother that she’s going out into the world. However, Angela is back within a matter of hours, when Ainsley runs into an issue with her roommate, a sophomore named Paigyn Meester (Bobbi Salvör Menuez).

While Ainsley tries to make friends with ferret-beholding Paigyn, a rift quickly forms between them when Norris asks Meester if they would be opposed to a room freshener, which the sophomore calls “A toxic airborne petrochemical that I breathe into my lungs.” Tension rises when Paigyn asks Ainsley what her pronouns are, and Tommy’s daughter goes on an oblivious rant.

As tension rises between the roommates, Ainsley leaves to talk to Greta Stidham (Miriam Silverman), the admissions counselor she met with in Landman Season 2’s premiere. However, instead of taking her advisor’s suggestion to get along with Paigyn, Ainsley calls her mother, who rescues her from the situation by getting her housing requirement waived and taking her to the pool.

Ainsley’s Roommate Story Leans Into Unhelpful LGBTQ+ TV Tropes

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With its story about Ainsley moving to college, Landman presented its first depiction of an LGBTQ+ community member, and the episode leans on outdated TV and movie tropes. Paigyn, who identifies as they/them, is depicted as resentful and unhappy, lacking the capacity to consider others, as evidenced when Ainsley’s mom “rescues” her from the situation.

The storyline leans into the “tragic queer” stereotype, which sees TV shows and movies include queer characters but deny them happy endings, often to motivate straight characters’ storylines or add to the drama. It does seem like that’s the underlying message in Landman‘s story, evident in Angela and Ainsley’s conversation by the poolside at the Bowie House Hotel afterward.

The storyline is unhelpful because it boils down to the primary conclusion that Angela makes about Ainsley’s roommate, saying, “She doesn’t like herself. Instead of fixing the things she doesn’t like, she blames it on everyone else.” Angela and Ainsley ultimately agree that Paigyn’s story is “so sad,” reducing what could have been a humanizing moment to an overused trope.

Ainsley’s rant about pronouns and why she doesn’t use them is alienating, but coming from Tommy’s daughter, it makes sense. What was disappointing was Landman‘s decision not to use the story as a learning moment, and that the same story could have been told without depicting Paigyn as a queer TV show character, which only further entrenches familiar stereotypes.

Ainsley’s Roommate Story Could Be Setting Up Landman Season 3

To top off Ainsley’s rant in the dorm, she and Angela show that they have no interest in listening to Paigyn, continuing to refer to them as “she” the rest of the episode. While the dorm scene has some funny moments for Ainsley in response to Paigyn’s comments about the phallus, the humor is undercut by the show’s inflammatory message.

While Landman has done some things to redeem Angela Norris and other women in the oil drama, the latest storyline underscores the critique that Taylor Sheridan’s show relies on negative, narrow depictions of certain groups, specifically women. With its latest story in “Plans, Tears and Sirens,” the series has extended its limiting and stereotypical depictions to queer folks.

Still, the story the oil drama tells in Landman Season 2, Episode 9, could aim to set up for more profound character development for Ainsley Norris in the next chapter, assuming the show’s best intentions. Since her former roommate is a sports medicine student, their path may cross with Ainsley’s in the future, allowing Norris to see things differently.

While the story depicts Paigyn as inflexible and deserving of their unhappiness, it also depicts Ainsley as spoiled and unaware, and perhaps Landman Season 3 plans to turn that around. Possibly, Norris will learn to tolerate and understand her roommate as Greta suggests. However, as it stands, the storyline reinforces limiting ideas about queer youth, and that impact remains.