March 11, 2025 | Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor
Content warning: this article contains spoilers for “Landman”
I never thought I’d care about the West Texas oil drills until two weeks ago. Now I know more than the average person should about what it means to run an oil company.
I’d seen a lot of clips for the show “Landman” on Instagram before I even started watching it, but I didn’t anticipate how addictive it would be. I’ll admit, I spent too many nights staying up until 1 a.m. glued to my television.
The first season opens with the main character, Tommy Norris, played by Billy Bob Thornton, tied up by members of the cartel while he tries to secure oil leases on their land for the company MTex Oil. He eventually succeeds in getting the leases signed, though not without injury.
The scene that follows immediately after? More chaos. Six months after Norris secures the oil leases, a stolen MTex plane lands on a company-owned road, where it is struck by a tanker from a rival oil company, triggering a massive explosion. I was immediately hooked.
As the show progresses, we’re introduced to Norris’ son and daughter, Cooper and Ainsley, as well as his ex-wife, Angela. Each member of the Norris clan is unique and has their own equally chaotic storyline. For example, the first crew that Cooper Norris works for is blown up in a gas accident, and he slowly starts spending time and falling in love with Ariana Medina, the widow of one of his crewmates. His plotlines are explosive — both literally and figuratively — and mean to hit home about how dangerous it is being a roughneck on an oil rig. They’re also the most frustrating, because Medina keeps going back and forth between being in love with him and insisting they can’t be together, creating a constant push-and-pull that makes their relationship feel uncertain and emotionally exhausting.
While Cooper Norris fights for life and limb to survive his career choice, Angela and Ainsley Norris’ plot lines tend to explore more of the familial and social sides of Texas. No Norris family dinner ends without Angela Norris absolutely crashing out on Tommy Norris for no apparent reason.
My favorite character, however, is Rebecca Falcone — played by Kayla Wallace, who is best known for the Hallmark series “When Calls the Heart” — the liability attorney for MTex. Initially brought in to help the company handle the situation involving the company plane and the oil tanker, Falcone quickly becomes the go-to for nearly every legal issue — even over Nathan, MTex’s attorney and administrator, played by Colm Feore of “Chicago” and “The Umbrella Academy.”
Falcone is cutthroat in litigation and knows how to stand her ground against other attorneys, as well as the powerful executives and oilmen who try to intimidate or outmaneuver her. Confident and sharp-tongued, she navigates high-stakes legal battles with a mix of strategic thinking and unapologetic toughness, quickly establishing herself as someone the company relies on when situations become complicated or volatile. Honestly, I was excited when she returned for Season 2, especially when the stakes were raised. While I love Angela and Ainsley Norris, they tend to err on the side of insufferable and out of touch, which I know is the point of their characters, but there is only so much I can handle of them.
As I said earlier, Season 2 really ups the show’s stakes. At the end of the first season, MTex’s CEO, Monty Miller, passes after he suffers a heart attack. His wife, Cami Miller, then becomes CEO and appoints Tommy Norris as president. This is when things amp up.
MTex is in a financial crisis. Monty Miller knew how to play longball, but when he passed, it meant that Cami Miller could not access the accounts he had the company’s finances in. So, she started turning to Gallino, a cartel boss who runs drugs on MTex’s roads.
It’s messy, but oh so riveting.
Cooper Norris and Medina’s relationship also steadies out in this season. The pair decides that, yes, they in fact can make this relationship work, though Medina wants Cooper Norris to drive to Corpus Christi to ask her father’s permission before he marries her. When she asked him to do that, I was so ecstatic. They were finally settling into being with each other and not pushing away.
Season 2 didn’t come without controversy, however. It seems that no work by Taylor Sheridan — the show’s creator, who is also known for the “Yellowstone” universe — is without its dispute.
“Landman’s” controversy comes in Episode 9 of Season 2, when Ainsley Cooper goes to TCU for cheer camp. There, she meets Paigyn Meester, her pre-assigned roommate, who will also be her roommate in the fall. It’s clear that the pair doesn’t mesh well from the start. Meester is nonbinary, vegan and has a ferret. Ainsley Cooper, being an upper-middle-class suburban girl, has not interacted with people who do not share her own identity. It’s an interesting commentary on identity, culture clash and the discomfort that can arise when people with vastly different worldviews are suddenly forced to share space. What begins as awkward tension quickly turns into a broader reflection of generational attitudes, privilege and the assumptions people carry with them into unfamiliar environments.
However, this is where the controversy has arisen. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community feel that Meester is a stereotype, an inaccurate representation and mean-spirited.
Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Meester’s actor, admitted they were barely familiar with Sheridan and his works when they signed on for the show.
“I’d seen posters, I’d seen flyers, but I actually hadn’t seen the show before. So, I didn’t even totally comprehend how big of a deal it was until all those CCed agents on the chain that I don’t even usually talk to are suddenly texting me, ‘Congratulations!’” they said in an interview.
But once they realized the scale of the audience and the inevitable reactions to Meester’s identity, they prepared themselves.
“Knowing the impact of this show, I just knew there would be a lot of different responses from all sides of the spectrum,” Menuez said. “If you look at American politics, obviously this is a hot button topic.”
Honestly, I loved the two episodes that Menuez starred in. They explored prejudice and the treatment of others, no matter what someone feels about someone’s identity, beliefs or lifestyle. The storyline forced the characters to confront their own biases and discomfort, showing how quickly people can be to judge what they don’t understand. By putting those tensions front and center, the episodes highlight how empathy and basic respect should exist even when people fundamentally disagree.
“Landman” has been renewed for a third season, which will likely be released in November 2026, following the schedule of the previous two seasons. It is currently streaming on Paramount+, which is where the third season will be released in the fall.
10/10.
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
