Landman review: A confused but explosive Taylor Sheridan mess

Landman is Taylor Sheridan’s latest addition to his growing Paramount collection, but this Texas-based fight for power proves he can’t ditch his worst habits.

November has unofficially become Taylor Sheridan month at Paramount. With Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 and Lioness Season 2 airing consecutively with Landman, it’s a battle for which Taylor tale is best.

Landman isn’t the worst Sheridan TV show, but it most certainly isn’t his best work. Comparisons to Yellowstone are natural, despite the change in location, occupation, and family. But Landman can’t get out from under the looming shadow created by the Duttons, despite replicating some of the same old tricks.

There’s plenty to be excited about – there’s an explosion not ten minutes into the pilot episode – but so far, even Landman doesn’t really know what it’s trying to do.

What is Landman about?

Billy Bob Thornton stars as Tommy Norris, the often-baffled and forever snappy landman for M-TEX Oil. He earns a living by negotiating land leases with local landowners, allowing his millionaire boss, Monty Miller (an underused Jon Hamm) to pump those wells for all they’re worth.

But it’s no easy job. Tommy faces everything from gangs to grieving families in his day-to-day life, all for the preservation of a $4.3 trillion-a-year industry. On top of this, Tommy also has to deal with his interfering family, including a son who wants to follow in his footsteps, a naive teenage daughter, and his minx of an ex-wife.

Billy Bob Thornton is to Landman as Kevin Costner was to Yellowstone: a tired and aging problem solver who isn’t afraid to tell those around him to f**k off. There’s plenty of Sheridan-isms for Thornton to spit out with attitude which, though often cringe-worthy, he mostly manages to make sound pretty cool.

Thornton isn’t given much action (most of his scenes are performed alone, in a car, on the phone), but it’s safe to say the show wouldn’t pack as much of a punch without him. And for a show that’s drowning in oil-industry lingo and little to no time to learn, Thornton has the backbone needed to carry the viewers through.

All pain no gain

Okay, so that’s what Landman is about…but really, what is Landman about? As Sheridan’s on-screen empire expands, it’s becoming clear that he can’t quite develop the same beating heart for his other material as he did with Yellowstone. While the Dutton saga is a quest to understand legacy and family, Landman doesn’t have any depth under the surface.

The reason why is pretty clear to me: the relationships don’t click. Tommy’s son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), wants to become a landman and is starting as a “worm” on the oil patch. His daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) has arrived to spend some quality time with her dad. And his ex, Angela (Ali Larter) doesn’t seem to want to leave him alone.

Paramount

All this presents the opportunity for some potentially dramatic musings on what Tommy’s day job has cost him, what his family thinks of him, and why Cooper would want to follow in his footsteps. But what we get instead is some utterly baffling dynamics that left my jaw on the floor.

Daddy issues

Anyone who’s watched Yellowstone will know Sheridan isn’t opposed to writing some pretty uncomfortable dialogue between parents and children. (Beth telling John her bridal blush was “f**ked out of her years ago” is a standout awkward moment.)

But Landman takes this to a whole new level, with the first episode including some highly distracting sexual dialogue between Tommy and Ainsley that can’t be repeated here. This continues deep into the episode, and paired with Tommy’s confusingly flirtatious conversations with Angela, there’s a thick air of discomfort left behind.

Thornton reacts to all this with a shrugging sense of “Eh, what can a man do?”. Admittedly, his unplugged stare and delayed response to Ainsley’s first toe-curling reveal actually got a laugh out of me, but that leads to the next problem.

Paramount

Thornton often resorts to humor to offset the uncomfortable atmosphere, and it usually works. But this makes Landman’s self-serious, high-stakes subplots clash with his approach. Landman isn’t quite a dark comedy, but it’s also too funny to be taken seriously as a drama.

There’s not enough action for audiences to call it popcorn viewing, either. Ultimately, tense phone calls, various legal troubles, and disjointed character relationships means it’s difficult to ever really get a grasp on what Landman is trying to do.

Dexerto Review Score: 2/5

On the cusp of Yellowstone’s big finale, I was excited to see what Sheridan had cooking up outside of his Duttonverse. I wanted to be hooked by Landman, and was disappointed when the only thing that really got me locked in was incredibly out-of-the-blue dialogue and a fun Billy Bob Thornton performance.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s hardly boring. Sheridan knows how to entertain. But if Landman could strengthen its own resolve, it might work its way up the ladder and prove to be one of his better shows. But for now, viewers will see it slipping through their grasp like oil: messy, and hard to get a grip on.

Landman Episodes 1 and 2 premiere on November 17 on Paramount+.

*This review is based on Landman Episodes 1-5

For more, check out our Lioness Season 2 review, and find out what we thought of John Dutton’s death in Yellowstone. Don’t miss all the other TV shows on streaming this month, either.

For more information on how we score TV shows and movies, check out our scoring guidelines here.