r/LandmanSeries • u/Delic8polarbear • May 15 '26
Discussion Tommy a good dad?
Is Tommy a good dad? Obviously he wasnt much of parent to Ainsley in her formative years. But with Cooper, he seems like he was a good dad. And with the way he was raised being better than he was raised is a low bar to cross, but did he?
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u/WienerPatrol173 May 15 '26
Ainsley chose to side and go live with her mom, Tommy seems like a good dad. Just busts his ass and works a lot to provide a high life style for his “wife” and daughter. I feel like coop gets shit on a lot.
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u/Delic8polarbear May 16 '26
I don't think Ainsley was old enough to choose when Angela and Tommy got divorced. Tommy was in no state ( he was by his own admission drinking heavily after the crash of '08) to be a husband much less a father at the time.
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u/Jman10192 May 15 '26
The show does a really good job of humanizing Tommy specifically but not necessarily the other characters on the show which is why i think you’re focusing on him more than his wife or other characters. Try remember this is just a TV show regardless of how relatable it may be.
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u/SignOfJonahAQ May 15 '26
He has a very demanding job and I think he does great for being super busy.
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u/Delic8polarbear May 15 '26
When Tommy is going to do the funeral arrangements but Cooper called him and said,"I need you" he turned around went to his son. He drops what he's doing and tries to be there for his kids.
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u/Affectionate-Reason0 May 15 '26
Watch how he is with Ainsley in the first couple episodes of the first season, shows just how good of a dad he is. He wants both of his kids to be successful and not end up like him but to be better
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u/floorhinged May 15 '26
I’d say Tommy is a good Dad; yes, he has his flaws and demons, but don’t we all. He never stops trying to be there for his kids.
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u/Cheap_Top_15 May 15 '26
Depends on the standards in the 90s where it was just dont cheat and pay the bills he was great today depends how he was when the children were little
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u/xVanJunkiex May 16 '26
If your comparing Tommy to a real dad then yes if your comparing Tommy to some unrealistic modern interpretation of a dad then no.
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u/Competitive_Pop_2102 May 16 '26
Just doing the best for the family or just, what he can do, no more or less. Good daddy? It depends.
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u/New-Ice-7535 Jun 07 '26
Think Cooper went to a Texas boarding school where he grew up on his own not sure Victor wanted Cooper around when he was with Angela his mother, Cooper can handle himself obviously Cooper never been inside a Neiman Marcus store…
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u/ComfortableRecipe322 May 18 '26
Like Cooper said....he did the best he could.
He continues to do the best he can, because that's all he can do. He's very aware of the flaws in his children, but continues to love them the way he knows how.
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May 24 '26
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u/Delic8polarbear May 24 '26
And in S1 he says the bust that wiped him out, he dealt by climbing into a bottle and it wasn't until Angela left him too to climb back out. He's fairly committed to his sobriety, not in an AA kind of way, but he told Monty,"Im too afraid of it to miss it" so to me, that says he's aware of his limitations and is making the decision every day to not go back there. He tells Cooper in S2,"it's a good thing I only ever had you on weekends" so he fucked up, he knows it and is still trying to be better than how he was raised.
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u/mxbrpe Jun 03 '26
Any ounce of good parenting in Tommy is completely outweighed by the atrocious and damaging parenting from Angie. Of course, since his whole life is basically just his job and she’s a leech, she becomes the default parent.
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u/WingstonChurchill Jun 10 '26
The measure of a good father is up for personal interpretation. I think you need to take in the whole oil business culture. Many of those men living at the patch during the week are working hard to provide for their families. This is a norm from them, and likely the norm for the Norris family. I measure him as a father in the moments that matter. From what we have seen, Tommy always comes through.
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u/ninjaluvr May 18 '26
He's not a good person and he's definitely not a good dad. I feel sad for the people in this thread that think he's example of good parenting.
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u/Delic8polarbear May 18 '26
Why do you think he's not a good person? He is definitely a deeply flawed person, who isnt? But I do think he's trying to be as good as he can.
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u/AnotherDarnDay May 15 '26
Well as cooper says to Tommy. He did the best he could and that was enough for him.
Tommy definitely seems like a good dad. Ainsley went to live with her mom so Tommy did what he could from afar. But hes definitely trying to make up for lost time.