‘Landman’ Season 2’s Review Decline Continues a Taylor Sheridan Show Trend

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Taylor Sheridan is currently one of the most productive writers for television, but even his shows aren’t always consistent. The second season of his Paramount+ drama, Landman, demonstrates this. It strayed so far from the original premise of the first season that the finale couldn’t fully compensate for a show that’s losing its direction and becoming increasingly unbelievable.

It’s common for TV shows to decline in quality over time, and Taylor Sheridan isn’t the only creator facing this issue. However, many of his shows – like 1923, Tulsa King, and even Yellowstone – start strong but quickly lose steam. While they still attract a large audience, Sheridan struggles to maintain the initial quality that made these shows popular, a problem that’s becoming clear with Landman after its second season.

‘Landman’ Is the Latest Taylor Sheridan Show to Drop the Ball after a Hot Start


Paramount+

Taylor Sheridan’s new series, Landman, launched on Paramount+ in January 2024 and quickly became one of the platform’s biggest hits. A major draw is Billy Bob Thornton’s portrayal of Tommy Doyle, a tough and experienced oil executive who leads M-Tex Oil. The first season focuses on a crisis Tommy faces when an incident on his property connects to Mexican drug cartels, leading to an investigation led by lawyer Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace).

I’m really invested in Tommy’s story, and it’s so clear how much his family and friends impact everything he does. It’s not just about his business, it’s about people like his ex-wife, Angela, his son Cooper, and his daughter Ainsley. Things get even more complicated when his old friend, Monty, who owned M-Tex Oil, gets sick and leaves the company to Tommy. Now Tommy has to navigate working with Monty’s wife, Cami, and she seems like she’s going to be trouble – she’s definitely manipulative!

The first ten episodes of Landman showcased Taylor Sheridan’s talent for creating immersive worlds, compelling characters, and realistic conversations. However, like many of his shows, the initial excitement faded as the seasons went on. While Landman drew a large audience, Season 2 quickly lost the appeal that initially attracted viewers. This pattern has appeared in Sheridan’s other series, 1923 and Tulsa King, which also started strong but declined in quality after their initial episodes.

‘Landman’ Jumped the Shark in Season 2, Episode 7, “Forever is an Instant”


Paramount+

The pilot episode of Landman received a fantastic IMDb score of 8.1, launching a compelling and well-made TV series that consistently captivated viewers across its nine episodes. The season reached its peak with Episode 6, “Beware the Second Beating,” which earned an 8.6 on IMDb. The season finale, “The Crumbs of Hope,” was nearly as popular, scoring an 8.4 and leaving audiences wanting more.

The second season of Landman doesn’t live up to the first. The premiere episode received a 7.5 rating on IMDb, which is lower than any episode from Season 1. While adding Sam Elliott as Tommy’s father, T.L., seemed promising, he’s unfortunately underutilized, with the show focusing instead on the shallow and, at times, transphobic characters of Angela and Ainsley.

Following a strong episode – Season 2, Episode 4, “Dancing Rainbows,” which received an 8.2 rating – the show Landman stumbled again with two consecutive episodes that felt overly sentimental and filled with unnecessary drama. This shift in tone began with Episode 6, “Dark Night of the Soul,” where the tough cartel leader Gallino (played by Andy Garcia, who wasn’t used enough) unexpectedly starts reciting old poetry – a strange choice for a story set in West Texas.

Sheridan seems aware his show was becoming pretentious, so he had characters Angela and Ainsley make hurtful and insensitive comments about a non-binary character. These unpleasant lines are a major reason why some viewers on IMDb consider Episode 7 the worst episode of the series so far.

The seventh episode of Landman‘s second season, “Forever Is an Instant,” received the show’s lowest ratings yet. Scoring a mere 6.7 on IMDb, the episode felt like a wasted hour, filled with unimportant scenes that didn’t move the story forward. Instead, it focused on shallow character moments for Angela and Ainsley. Many viewers found the episode overly dramatic and frustrating, and have jokingly referred to it as “The Housewives of Permian Basin,” suggesting it was a significant misstep for the series.

Many users have given Landman very poor reviews, saying it’s lost its quality and isn’t as good as it once was. This continues a pattern for Sheridan, who seems to be overextended by working on too many television shows at once.

‘1883’ Proves That Less is More for Taylor Sheridan


Paramount+

Many loyal fans feel that Landman Season 2 has become overly dramatic, like a daytime soap opera, highlighting the idea that simplicity often works best. While Taylor Sheridan remains a remarkably productive TV writer, his recent shows are starting to suffer from diminishing returns. Landman has significantly declined in quality (though the season finale was exciting), and shows like 1923 and Tulsa King have also lost their way. 1923 managed a satisfying conclusion, but its uneven path demonstrated that a compelling story is more important than just reaching a good ending.

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The first season of Tulsa King started strong with an 8.1 rating on IMDb and finished at 8.2. However, the second season saw a noticeable drop, beginning with 7.5 and ending at 7.8. This same issue that affected Landman is now happening with Tulsa King, as Taylor Sheridan wrote all the episodes. No matter if it’s a Western or a crime drama, Sheridan tends to lean into overly dramatic and sentimental storylines that become increasingly ridiculous.

It’s notable that Taylor Sheridan’s TV shows often get better when other writers contribute. Take Mayor of Kingstown for example: the first season, largely written by Sheridan, started with an 8.0 rating and finished at 8.9. He only wrote the first two episodes of Season 2, then handed writing duties over to a larger team. This led to a significant improvement in Season 4, which began with an 8.4 rating and ended with a 9.0 – and crucially, the Season 4 premiere and finale were written by Dave Erickson, not Sheridan.

That leads us to 1883, which many consider to be Sheridan’s strongest and most satisfying TV series so far. Created as a short, 10-episode story, 1883 didn’t drag on, allowing it to avoid losing quality or alienating its audience. It started with a very good 8.5 rating on IMDb and finished strong with a fantastic 9.0 in its final episode.

While it’s unlikely Taylor Sheridan will only make limited series in the future, he might benefit from slowing down and focusing on fewer projects. His shows tend to decline in quality the longer they run, so prioritizing quality over quantity could be a smart move for both him and his audience.

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2026-01-27 20:51