Yellowstone and Landman’s new episodes reveal Taylor Sheridan’s weirdest writing habit

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2, Landman, and even Lioness Season 2 are all proving that, in Taylor Sheridan’s world, the kids aren’t alright.

Let me guess: you probably signed up to watch Yellowstone for the dreamy look at cowboy culture, right? And with Landman, it was likely the allure of Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm duking it out over oil rights that caught your attention, yes? 

Whatever it was, I highly doubt the reason you tuned into these shows was to witness some of the most uncomfortable dialogue between parents and children ever put to screen.

Well, that’s what Taylor Sheridan has been delivering with some of his TV shows. From desperately inappropriate dialogue to poorly placed sex scenes, there’s plenty of trauma to be found…from these fictional kids and parents alike.

Landman keeps it in the family

Anyone who’s been online in the Sheridansphere over the past week will know that Landman is getting plenty of attention, but all for the wrong reasons. The Billy Bob Thornton-led oil drama went semi-viral after Episode 1 premiered, with one conversation between the fictional landman Tommy Norris and his daughter causing jaws to drop.

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In the scene, Tommy’s teenage daughter Ainsley has unexpectedly brought her boyfriend along with her on her visit. The three stop off at a football game, and as her boyfriend is distracted by cheerleaders, Tommy quickly goes about analyzing his daughter’s sex life.

We can’t get into detail here (even the internet has its limits), but the conversation quickly establishes that Ainsley and her boyfriend are going at it like bunny rabbits and that their “rule” ensures there won’t be any resulting pregnancy. (Use your imagination.) Tommy’s stunned, speechless reaction mirrored that of the viewers, and the clip has since been used as ammunition for those who think Taylor Sheridan has been spinning too many plates.

After all, dialogue like this could only have slipped in if Sheridan hadn’t been madly distracted with Yellowstone, Lioness, and the like. The worst part is, that scene isn’t even the only horrifying example of terrible daddy-daughter talk in Landman.

Later that episode, Ainsley laments not being able to sleep with her boyfriend on Tommy’s couch, and one episode later, she’s running around his house in a towel too small for human concealment. In the newly-released Episode 3, Ainsley’s mother is intent on helping her daughter take the perfect pictures to bait her ex. Essentially, there’s rarely a “normal” conversation going on between father, mother, and daughter.

Because of all this, Landman suffers. What could be a genuinely cool show about the ruthless oil industry gets hindered by an uncomfortable layer of sexualization, and most of it occurs between a father and daughter. 

Hmm… a father and daughter discussing uncomfortable topics out in the open. Sound familiar?

Yellowstone’s oversharing

Across Yellowstone’s five and a half seasons, Beth Dutton has been the mistress of cringe. She’s often found describing her sex life to her father, John Dutton, lacking any sense of innuendo and tact. (“Oh Daddy, the blush was f**ked out of me years ago” is a real doozy.) 

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But unlike Tommy Norris, John Dutton at least has the good graces to turn away and utter some embarrassed comeback, often begging Beth to not talk to him that way. Even now, in the midst of Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2, things haven’t really changed on the parent-child front. 

John Dutton is gone and Beth is busy avenging him, so Sheridan has turned to another child: Tate. In all three episodes of Season 5 Part 2 so far, Tate has found the time to mumble in his monotone voice some comment or another about his parents’ kissing. 

Whether it’s a quick peck on the cheek or a full make-out session for Kayce and Monica, Tate is somehow always there to witness it. And instead of, say, simply walking away, Tate always points it out. “Stop using your tongue,” he tells them in Episode 1. (Even worse, Monica turns around and tells him that it’s time he learned about these things.)

Lioness gets graphic

If you were thinking there was no way Sheridan would find time to insert his Freudian nightmare style into a show about covert spy operations, you’d be wrong. Dead wrong. 

In fact, Lioness Season 2 Episode 3 presents an equally shocking exchange between Joe, Noel, and Kate, wherein the latter (their teenage daughter) walks in on them getting down to it in the middle of the day.

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When Joe goes to discuss the day’s horrors with Kate, (who’s naturally traumatized), her approach is to tell Kate that she should be thankful that her parents love each other so much.

There’s no rhyme or reason as to why Sheridan’s latest projects seem obsessed with throwing in these bizarre and deeply strange conversations between parents and children. Is it a sign that the Paramount golden goose is getting overworked? Could it be that it’s more about what Sheridan isn’t doing (giving the appropriate time and care into working on scripts and storylines) than what he is?

Either way, even the toughest cowboys would find themselves shying away from some of this cringey nonsense.

For more, take a look at our feature on why John Dutton’s death is more brutal than we thought. You can also keep up to date with 6666, The Madison, and 1944 for future Yellowstone spinoffs.