[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
Earlier this year, it dawned on me that while I never picked up Yellowstone, for the last few years, I’ve still been roaming around a fair share of Taylor Sheridan’s imagination between Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, and Landman. The last one, which launched almost a year ago to the day, seems to be the fastest one to return, and its second season premieres Sunday on Paramount+.
Landman brings Sheridan back to Texas, home of Hell or High Water, the Oscar-nominated film he wrote and was also nominated for, which set him on this path to building a streaming dynasty. Plumbing the haves and have nots in the oil business (awl bidness) that runs between Midland and Fort Worth, the series focuses on two families and their tangential friends, colleagues, in-laws and outlaws. Amid that heightened reality of extreme risk and extreme reward lie stories that are sometimes completely ridiculous one moment and heartbreaking the next.
Season 2 is more of that mix, and it leans heavily into that second emotion to give Demi Moore a showcase as Cami, the grieving widow of Monty (Jon Hamm), last season’s oil baron boss to Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton). What might seem an easy segue to move her out of the business and on to something else becomes anything but that as she’s determined to succeed where he didn’t while also honoring his legacy–and inheriting his mistakes. As she tells a roomful of bankers, the only difference between her and her husband is she’s meaner.
Tommy’s family life is more tempestuous. On-again wife Angela (Ali Larter) is as bold, brash, and erratic as ever, and itching for them to have a home of their own for their second act while their kids adapt also to new changes. Cooper (Jacob Lofland) carving out his prospect wells while Ariana (Paulina Chávez) hesitates to commit to that life and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) heading to TCU as a cheerleader (after a particularly cruel admissions interview that I hope has a callback later in the season).
Tonally, the new season is just as whiplashy as the first, but also just as easily consumable. Thornton again has the lion’s share of dialogue and we marvel at the volume of oil-speak he can deliver without missing a beat. Joining the cast this season are Sam Elliott as Tommy’s dad, T.L., and a returning Andy Garcia as Gallino, who’s closer to Tommy’s professional and personal life than he would like.
The series navigates the emotional conflicts and complications families can throw at each other, which makes for some lovely and raw scenes where the sparest of dialogue hits its mark and the cast do some really lovely work. The Season 2 capital P Problems are introduced pretty early on, giving us multiple hooks and threads for the season. I’m glad they’re back.
You can catch the Season 2 premiere of Landman Sunday morning, November 16th, at 3:01 am on Paramount+, where you can also stream Season 1 now. Here are a couple of sneak peeks, and there are a ton of videos and BTS shorts on a dedicated YouTube channel here.
Photos courtesy of Emerson Miller/Paramount+; videos courtesy of Paramount+.
