Landman Season 2 Review: Yellowstone's heir apparent can't find its own voice
You know that feeling when a show wants to be a hard-edged drama but keeps turning into a lecture? That's Landman Season 2. It stares so intensely at West Texas oil that you can almost feel the heat, then spends whole scenes explaining it to you like a panel at an industry conference. And somehow, with Billy Bob Thornton (movies and tv series) and Demi Moore (movies and tv series) in the room, the air still goes flat.
Oil isn't the problem. The scripts are.
Paramount+ sent out the first three episodes of a 10-part season, so we're judging a sample, not the full ride. Still, the pattern's hard to miss: long, talky sequences about oil deals and "how people are," cut with sharp performances that don't get enough oxygen. There's even a head-shaking, teach-the-audience stretch about women's cycles told through a male narrator, like the world begged for that in 2025. You feel the writer's hand on your shoulder a lot. Too much.
Thornton's Tommy Norris is still the center of gravity - cool, controlled, carrying more than he says. After Monty Miller's death, Cami (Demi Moore) steps into the M-Tex hot seat while the vultures circle. Tommy tries to steady the ship, but his family pulls him sideways. Honestly, Cooper (Jacob Lofland (movies and tv series)) gets the strongest early arc: youthful ambition, predictable landmines, and just enough danger to keep you leaning in. And then Sam Elliott (movies and tv series) shows up for a small, flinty turn that reminds you what presence looks like.
Women on Landman get the short end - again
This part stings. Angela and Ainsley are framed less as people than as setups for men to be right. The camera lingers on bodies when they're onscreen, the tone shifts into a sexier register, and then the script undercuts them with a "lesson." It's the same old formula: big "girlboss" energy in one beat, submission or scolding in the next.
What's weirder is how the show treats interests coded "feminine" - shopping, cheerleading, aerobics - as shallow, while the men's fixation on money and control gets treated like destiny. That's not nuance; that's a tell. And it makes the show feel smaller than it should.
Yellowstone's shadow looms over everything
Here's the familiar part. Off-duty rig workers trade bunkhouse-style banter. Cooper and Ariana echo early Kayce and Monica. Tommy gets the righteous monologues John Dutton made famous. Even Elliott's character feels like a nod to the Dutton patriarch line. It's comfortable - and that's the problem.
Look, formula isn't a sin. But Landman still feels like it's trying on another show's jacket: same cut, different color. The difference? The cowboy myth sells itself. Oil doesn't. You have to make that world irresistible or terrifying. Right now it's just… informative.
The business context matters
Taylor Sheridan (movies and tv series)'s TV empire keeps growing, and his next chapter is already set with NBCUniversal after 2029 - a massive deal that speaks for itself. If you're wondering why the season sometimes plays like a one-voice sermon, well, Sheridan's track record on writers' rooms is part of the conversation. That creative control can be a superpower. It can also turn a drama into a stump speech.
Deadline has covered the broader business moves. Worth a look if you track how these shows are built.
What actually works
- Thornton, steady as a metronome, keeps the show from tipping over.
- Cooper's storyline has propulsion and consequence - the show's best early bet.
- Sam Elliott, even in limited time, cuts through the noise.
- Dreamy West Texas vistas and smart needle drops. It looks and sounds great.
Bottom line
If you're here for Yellowstone energy, you'll find echoes. If you want a drama that treats its women like full-grown adults and makes the oil game feel dangerous or seductive? Not yet. Maybe the back half finds its spark - Episode 2 teases a turn - but the early going is heavy on show-me-how-smart-you-are and light on pulse.
Landman Season 2 premieres Nov. 16 on Paramount+. For details on the series, head to Paramount+.
