SERIES REVIEW – Premiering on SkyShowtime, Landman is one of Taylor Sheridan’s latest dramas, offering an unflinching look at the harsh and intricate world of the oil industry through the sprawling Texas Permian Basin. With compelling performances by Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm, the series takes a unique approach to its genre, blending realism, social critique, and sharp humor. While its weaker family storylines occasionally disrupt the narrative balance, the series excels in its vivid depiction of the industry and its intricacies. Once again, Sheridan skillfully intertwines character-driven drama with broader societal tensions.

Taylor Sheridan, celebrated as one of television’s most influential creators for his monumental Western saga Yellowstone, moves away from romanticized ranch life. His latest protagonist, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton), confronts the idyllic agrarian dreams of landowners with ruthless pragmatism. In one sharp exchange, he tells a rancher that he isn’t truly a rancher but “an oilman who spends the money we pay him on cattle.”

Now airing on SkyShowtime, Landman centers its narrative on the “black gold” of Sheridan’s native Texas. While it retains the conservative undertones and masculine bravado of Yellowstone, the series crafts an intricately detailed world within the sun-scorched Permian Basin. This carefully constructed setting not only grounds the narrative but also reinforces the series’ authenticity.

The Dark Side of the Oil Industry

This meticulous attention to detail is no accident. Sheridan wrote all the scripts himself, staying true to his hands-on style, but he shares creator credit with Christian Wallace, host of Texas Monthly’s Boomtown podcast. Wallace’s firsthand experience working on oil fields shines through in Tommy Norris’s seasoned tactics and in the grueling daily life of his son Cooper (Jacob Lofland). After dropping out of college, Cooper takes on backbreaking and dangerous work on oil rigs, showcasing a raw, unfiltered look at the industry’s realities.

Landman is at its best when Billy Bob Thornton’s magnetic presence guides viewers through the oil and gas sector’s complexities, exploring potential alternatives and the looming shadow of climate change. The opening scene finds Norris negotiating with a cartel operative while hooded, quipping that both are dealing in addictive substances: “Ours just happens to be bigger.” This high-stakes, adrenaline-fueled moment effectively introduces seemingly dry topics, such as the distinction between surface and mineral rights.

Billy Bob Thornton’s Charisma

Once a business owner himself, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) now works as a jack-of-all-trades for the fictional M-Tex Oil, led by billionaire Monty Miller (Jon Hamm). While Monty navigates a world of polished boardrooms and private jets, Tommy handles the company’s gritty day-to-day operations. This dynamic provides Landman with opportunities to showcase the oil industry’s unique landscapes: abandoned luxury housing developments shared by M-Tex employees; privately funded roads often commandeered by cartels; and the early-morning coffee lines of M-Tex pickup trucks queuing at roadside huts before dawn.

Though weathered and jaded, Tommy remains one of Sheridan’s quintessential rugged cowboys. He pronounces “oil” with a Texan drawl as “uhl,” and rather than face a string of surgeries for his hand, he opts to cut off part of his pinky. An alcoholic, he conveniently dismisses Michelob Ultra as counting toward his drinking habit. Sheridan’s penchant for exaggeration occasionally pushes Tommy’s character to absurd extremes: when accused of having a big mouth, he doesn’t just retort, “That’s your wife’s favorite thing about me,” but also adds, “other than my dick,” flipping the offender off for good measure. Thornton’s performance anchors the character, delivering lengthy monologues on the oil industry and the myth of “clean energy” with remarkable conviction. These speeches present a pragmatic view of petroleum as an inescapable global dependency, one that current infrastructure is ill-equipped to replace.

Weak Family Dynamics

Landman falters as a family drama, largely due to its consistently one-dimensional portrayal of female characters. Tommy’s flirtatious ex-wife Angelica (Ali Larter) delivers snappy one-liners and dons eye-catching outfits, but after five episodes, her character remains an emotionally unstable, money-hungry archetype. Their daughter, Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), is essentially a younger version of Angelica, with an added focus on her teenage sexuality. Demi Moore, who recently delivered career-high work in The Substance, is surprisingly underutilized as Monty’s wife, Cami. While the season’s second half may justify her casting, her limited presence thus far raises questions.

This lack of depth extends to Tommy’s professional sphere as well. A bulldog attorney investigating an onsite accident exhibits Beth Dutton-style aggression reminiscent of Yellowstone, but she lacks nuance and depth. These shortcomings are most apparent in the Norris family, which is meant to serve as the series’ emotional core but ultimately takes a backseat to the oil fields, known locally as “the patch.” The show’s decision to exclude Spanish-speaking workers from prominent roles is another missed opportunity, especially considering their ubiquity in the industry. The closest exception is Michael Peña’s Armando, a brash bully whose toxic masculinity becomes grating as he clashes with Cooper.

Strong World-Building

Despite its flaws, Landman excels in its vivid world-building, capturing a sense of place that hasn’t been seen on television in this region since Friday Night Lights. (Odessa, a key location in Friday Night Lights, is frequently referenced in Landman.) Although the narrative doesn’t fully coalesce in the first half of the season, the show’s richly crafted setting keeps viewers engaged for the long haul.

-Herpai Gergely “BadSector”-