Landman opens under its now all-too familiar contemplative atmospheric music as an oil pumpjack slowly pulls liquid life from the ground in the glow of a West Texas sunrise. Now seven episodes in, the scene signals it is going to be another day of hard labor on The Patch, and the start of the latest installment of Taylor Sheridan’s oil-spired megahit on Paramount+. However, on this particular day, Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris finds himself at the hospital early — it’s release day for his son, Cooper (Jacob Lolfland).
In a surprise turn, young widow Ariana Medina (Paulina Chavez) has also arrived to be the one to take the battered and bruised young roughneck home. Despite Tommy’s protests of the two leaving together as being the worst of the all-time worst ideas, a defiant Ariana leaves with Cooper in tow to her house to continue his recovery from the brutal beating he took at the close of episode 5. Once there, Cooper winces and groans, as Ariana assists him to the only comforting bed in the house — in, of all places, the master bedroom.
Cue the dramatic opening theme music.
While you could see the signs on this from a mile away, the burgeoning Romeo-and-Juliet romance between Cooper and Ariana remains the standout storyline, as the series moves into the back half of its debut season. Outside of Thornton, Lofland and Chavez remain the only other two onscreen for the show allowed to explore any measure of depth in their characters.
Their often tender and poignant scenes give the gritty oil drama the emotional beats it so desperately needs, and, perhaps, more importantly a reason for any us to care about life away from the oilfield. Despite his visible battle scars, Cooper and Ariana are physically beautiful together. And, when balancing an unexpected charm to the often complicated circumstances confronting the lead character, the young couple’s brief, yet refreshingly simple scenes work wonders at keeping audiences engaged, regardless of the fact they are never awash with elaborate dialogue.
Meanwhile, across town, the same cannot often be said for the workout wonder twins, aka Tommy’s ex-wife/rekindled pseudo new wife, Angela (Ali Larter), and their coming-of-age daughter, Ainsley (Michelle Randolph). While there is always hope with each new episode, that these two characters, in particular, would be written with a modicum of more nuance and depth, we remain in the shallow end of the pool with them once again in this episode. In scenes rife with I-cannot-believe-that’s-the-dialogue moments, we are subjected to watching the two settle into their new lives in Midland. In these decidedly filler scenes, Angela educates her daughter about how life works. And, for a woman, apparently, that’s only through the use of her body to make a man happy, or, as we soon learn, killing time being the savior of the world at a nursing home, complete with supplying residents with homemade margaritas and spearheading a rousing round of Cards Against Humanity. What are we even doing, Taylor? For the love of Whataburger fries and ketchup, please give these women something more meaningful to do onscreen.
Nevertheless, to keep things moving on the other side of the equation, oil executive Monty Miller, played by Jon Hamm, makes his requisite single appearance for the episode. In his role serving as a reminder that there is an oil company that needs to be run here, he remains in Fort Worth wheeling and dealing his way to millions. When Monty calls Tommy to tell him about the deal he is working to seal on drilling for another company, Tommy reminds him of those pesky drug smugglers lurking behind the sagebrush, and his need for more people, protection, and permits to make this new payday a reality.
Back out in the field, Tommy and oil engineer Dale (James Jordan) begin the maintenance on their boss’ stagnant wells. As expected, the menacing drug cartel’s goons arrive within minutes to renew fresh threats of no drilling in the area until the smugglers are paid back for their product lost in the series’ season opener plane/tanker fire. Not one to bring a knife to a gunfight, Tommy digs his dusty heels in, as he stands prepared for this eventuality, this time, backed with a crew bringing more heat than the smugglers. And, though the latter retreat in response, it is a no-brainer for anyone paying attention, they will not be gone for long.
For all its support character flaws, the sharp and clever dialogue, reserved primarily for Thornton in each scene with his co-stars, does a decent job capturing the absurdities of his grizzled landsman’s daily situations. This plays out in vivid technicolor in the closing minutes of the show, when Tommy, by order of his wife, finds himself dealing with his daughter’s potentially promiscuous social life at her first Patch party by car light in the West Texas desert, and the daddy-daughter sex talk no one should have wanted.
Despite Landman’s hightlighting of the realities of big oil life, thematically, it continues to skirt the idea of diving too deep into the controversial issues surrounding it, such as environmental concerns, corporate ethics, or the impact of land ownership, often present with its cinematic Montana cousin, Yellowstone. Instead, the narrative continues to centers directly on Tommy’s desperate attempt at finding a plausible work-life balance, whether he asked to do so or not. Showcasing both the humorous and often tragic consequences of life working in the oil industry, as well as the even more complicated navigation of his unconventional family life, the show continues to resonate well each week with contemporary audiences for its character-driven storytelling, as evidenced by the attraction of more than 650 million minutes of viewing across just three of the show’s episodes.
Nevertheless, Thornton’s portrayal of the titular character, himself, as the weathered roughneck for life that strikes liquid gold for the series. As the episodes unfold each week, viewers find themselves more and more invested in his world, no doubt, in a desperate effort to find out whether it will be the work or the life that ultimately gets the better of everyone’s favorite landman.
Created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Landman streams each week on Sundays. Watch it from the very beginning on Paramount+.
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