Taylor Sheridan juggles many different plot balls in the air in this segment, moving from dramatic moments to all sorts of black humor laced with oddball dialogue (especially when Billy Bob gets colorful with his language). What makes it all work is how different story arcs and characters interact in surprise ways.
Cooper is still in bad shape when he's released from hospital, going to stay with Ariana, and their platonic relationship starts to heat up a bit. It's fun to see Jon Hamm as a wheeler-dealer big shot taking huge financial risks, his self-assured manner recalling his "Madmen" days, but here in a position of power. Ali Larter and daughter Michelle Randolph are living it up, and a genuinely original and sweet (unsentimental) sequence has the mama unconventionally entertaining a group of seniors stuck in a retirement home.
But of course Billy Bob the Landman is at the center of things, working hard to keep Hamm's empire running smoothly, against the real danger of the violent and increasingly aggressive drug smugglers, as well as trying to keep both wife and daughter under control. This cast of offbeat characters is a pleasure to watch in action, expertly played by Thornton & company.
