In more ways than one, it’s hard to tell if Landman is supposed to be a drama. The Paramount+ show, focused intensely on the oil industry

in West Texas, features so many uncouthly written characters portrayed by big stars doing their absolute best with scripts that are

pretentiously dogmatic. The fact that it takes itself so seriously with such great actors, some of whom are Academy Award-winning or

 

 

nominated, with such vicious babbles makes one wonder if the show is ironically a comedy. But then you remember that this is a show written by Taylor Sheridan. Irony does not have a place here.

Sheridan is a huge name in the television industry right now, overseeing a number of shows and films that it’s hard to keep track of the exact number at this point. His most recent deal with NBCUniversal, which will see him depart from his longtime partnership with

 

 

Paramount in 2029, is worth over $1 billion, a price tag the majority of TV staff writers could only dream of. Sheridan wouldn’t know this, of course, because he doesn’t staff a writers’ room for a lot of his shows. This has never been more obvious in Landman Season 2. Overall, the first season of Landman was flawed, but promising. Billy Bob Thornton competently carried the series as a well-spoken businessman

 

 

who knows a thing or two about oil, capitalism and the ugliness of humanity. In Season 2, Landman feels more like a reincarnation of Yellowstone (Sheridan’s firstborn TV baby that helped him strike gold) that’s struggling to distinguish itself in the Sheridan-verse with its own identity as a younger sibling.

Paramount only offered the first three episodes out of a 10-part season, so it’s difficult to judge the second season’s quality as a whole. New characters barely scratch the surface, old characters run around in the same circles of self-destruction, and Sheridan continues his age-old habit of over-explaining pointless concepts that belong more in a documentary than a drama. The latter is particularly the most frustrating quandary of the series. Scenes can go on twice as long as they need to be only because Sheridan wants to show off how much he thinks he knows about the oil industry or women’s mysterious behaviors. Are you a father of a teenage girl or an aloof husband to a moody wife? You’re in luck: Landman Season 2 features a 10-minute scene that teaches you everything you need to know about a woman’s menstrual cycle and its wonderfully hormonal side effects from a man’s perspective!

What little is shown of Landman Season 2 tells us that Thornton’s Tommy Norris is traversing a rockier landscape that involves more people trying to get rich. After the death of Monty Miller (portrayed by Jon Hamm), Monty’s wife Cami (Demi Moore, who is doing more than swimming and lounging this season) takes over M-Tex where the oil vultures are hungrier than ever. Tommy tries to be a helpful ear whenever possible, but is often bogged down by personal matters involving his complicated family. Tommy’s son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), has a lot going on at the beginning of Season 2, leading a compelling story that is more worth the watch than Tommy, Angela and Ainsley’s storylines. Though, if fans of Yellowstone are watching, they’ll likely catch the predictable fallouts of Cooper’s plot points before they occur. Sam Elliott also joins the series in Season 2 in a small, but commanding role.

In its immersive red state world that feels true to the lifestyle of those who occupy it, Landman wrangles with finding new ways of keeping the oil industry an interesting pursuit to follow. Not even impressive actors like Norton and Moore can make this story any more exciting than watching an oil and gas conference. The series simply trudges through the facts of this business and life, rarely mustering up the usual dramatic chops Sheridan is known for to spice up the story. The end of Season 2, Episode 2 suggests that things will start to get more Sheridan-y from there, but it sure did take a while to get there. In the first two episodes, the only plotlines that will keep audiences from dozing off involve Angela and Ainsley. That still doesn’t mean they’re working off good writing.