Landman Season 2 Review: Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Replacement Fails to Live Up to the Neo-Western Drama

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It’s difficult to categorize the Paramount+ show as a serious drama. While centered on the West Texas oil industry and boasting a talented cast, including Academy Award winners and nominees, the characters and dialogue feel oddly pretentious and heavy-handed. The show’s unwavering seriousness, despite its often absurd nature, almost suggests it’s a dark comedy. However, knowing it’s written by Taylor Sheridan, it’s clear irony isn’t part of the intention.

Taylor Sheridan is a major force in television, currently involved in numerous projects. His recent deal, which ends his long relationship with Paramount in 2029, is worth over a billion dollars – an amount most TV writers can only imagine. Interestingly, Sheridan often doesn’t use a traditional writers’ room for his shows, and this is particularly noticeable in the second season of Landman. While the first season of Landman had its issues, it showed potential. Billy Bob Thornton did a solid job as a knowledgeable businessman dealing with the harsh realities of the oil industry and human nature. However, Season 2 feels less like a unique show and more like a rehash of Yellowstone – Sheridan’s breakout hit – struggling to find its own place within his expanding television universe.

Taylor Sheridan Fails to Make Oil Interesting

Paramount released only the first three episodes of the ten-episode season, making it hard to get a good sense of the season’s overall quality. New characters aren’t developed much, while familiar characters keep repeating the same destructive patterns. Creator Taylor Sheridan continues to fall into the habit of over-explaining things – details that feel more suited for a documentary than a dramatic series. This is especially frustrating. Scenes often drag on unnecessarily, simply because Sheridan wants to demonstrate his knowledge of the oil industry or offer his perspective on women’s behavior. If you’re a father of a teenage daughter or a husband struggling to understand his wife, you might be surprised to find a ten-minute scene dedicated to explaining the female menstrual cycle – from a male point of view!

Season 2 of Landman shows Tommy Norris (played by Thornton) facing even more challenges as more people scramble to strike it rich. Following Monty Miller’s death (Jon Hamm), his wife Cami (Demi Moore) takes control of M-Tex, where the competition is fierce. Tommy continues to offer advice when he can, but his own family issues often weigh him down. In fact, Tommy’s son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), has a particularly engaging story arc this season, arguably more compelling than the plots involving Tommy, Angela, and Ainsley. However, viewers familiar with Yellowstone might anticipate the consequences of Cooper’s actions. Sam Elliott also appears in Season 2, delivering a powerful performance even in a limited role.

The series Landman aims for authenticity in its portrayal of the oil industry and the people who live it, but struggles to create genuine excitement. Even talented actors like Edward Norton and Demi Moore can’t elevate the story beyond a typical industry event. For the first two episodes, the show mostly presents facts without the dramatic flair Taylor Sheridan is known for. While the end of Episode 2 hints at more compelling storylines to come, it takes a while for the show to find its footing. Currently, the only plots that manage to hold attention involve the characters Angela and Ainsley, though even those aren’t particularly well-written.

Landman Is a Man’s Best Friend and a Woman’s Worst Enemy

Honestly, I feel a little sorry for Ali Larter, having to work with such awful female characters on the show. But then she defends the writing, and it’s hard to feel bad for her. Regardless of what the actors think, the characters are just written as over-the-top stereotypes that make fun of women, and it’s all set up to make the male characters look good. It’s the same thing over and over: Angela or Ainsley say or do something really naive, and then Tommy or Cooper (or even Rebecca, who’s basically written like a guy) step in to correct them. They aren’t portrayed as strong, independent women; they come across as clueless and in need of a lesson. It’s frustrating to watch!

What’s particularly troubling is how the show relies on the outdated “male gaze” – something women hoped would be a thing of the past by now. When female characters are on screen, the camera focuses excessively on their bodies in a way it doesn’t with male characters. While the creator tries to portray female empowerment through speeches about ambition, these moments are undermined by storylines that ultimately diminish the women’s agency and focus on their physical appearance. This is just one example of a larger problem: the show reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of women. The characters’ drive for wealth and power is explored in depth, but the interests of the female characters – things like shopping, exercise, and cheerleading – are treated as silly or unimportant. According to the show’s logic, life seems to lack any lightheartedness or joy.

Landman Can’t Help But Imitate Yellowstone

Ultimately, the biggest strength – and weakness – of Landman is how much it resembles Yellowstone. The second season relies too heavily on the successful formula of its predecessor, preventing the show from truly finding its own identity. Many aspects feel copied from Yellowstone: the camaraderie between oil rig workers mirrors the cowboys’ relationships, and the romantic troubles of Cooper and Ariana echo those of Kayce and Monica. Characters like Tommy and John share similar stern and lecturing personalities, and even Sam Elliott’s character feels like a version of John Dutton’s father.

Sheridan has found a successful formula and consistently profits from it. While he’s clearly good at appealing to audiences, his creative range is debatable. He connects with working-class viewers by portraying gritty, politically charged stories and subtly weaving in his own social views. However, after several shows, it’s becoming obvious he’s repeating similar characters and plotlines. This is especially noticeable in Landman. Yellowstone benefited from the public’s fondness for Westerns, which made its dramatic storylines easier to accept. But the oil industry doesn’t have the same broad appeal as a multi-generational ranch, making it harder to present Landman as captivating.

While Landman excels at its music choices and visually stunning depictions of West Texas, the second season struggles with a confusing and poorly developed story. Despite needing stronger editing and collaboration to address its weaknesses, the show seems unlikely to change course significantly. It’s best avoided by viewers who dislike overly masculine themes or aren’t already familiar with the oil and gas industry. Ultimately, Landman feels like a show made for men who want to showcase their perceived successes while simultaneously lamenting the challenges that come with them.

Landman Season 2 premieres November 16 on Paramount+.

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2025-11-12 11:07