Season 2 Was Inconsistent But Brilliant

Over 70 percent of people who took a Landman Season 2 finale survey felt the same kind of way. A deeper exploration of the responses to Ep. 10 proves the streaming show’s audience is more than willing to forgive and forget.

My review of Landman Season 2 is included at the end of this article.

On Tuesday afternoon, my Dutton Rules co-host Adison Haager will join me to argue the finer points of the series during another live podcast episode.

We do this knowing a crucial Landman truth: critics who try to grade or evaluate Taylor Sheridan’s Texas oil business drama (or is it a comedy?) are missing the point.

Landman isn’t for the television or media professionals. It’s fan-first TV built for a multi-season run.

READ MORE: Landman’s Most Risqué Scenes — Is the Hotel Scene No. 1?

It’s also proof that Taylor Sheridan is getting very good at something he’d previously struggled with.

Landman, Season 2 Episode 10, Fan Review

The numbers speak for themselves. On YouTube, we asked fans to rate Landman‘s Season 2 finale. The platform limits the choices, but over 90 percent of voters had a positive opinion of the show.

Here are a few of the comments. This batch is representative; some people had a neutral or negative opinion of the series overall, but it was hard to find critics of this particular ep.

“The Landman finale was awesome.”

“Freaking EPIC! I almost cried because I thought the complete opposite was going to happen. Thank goodness it all turned out good.”

“I did like the ending and how it shapes the future for most of the cast.”

“Damn! What an awesome season, finale! This kept me on the edge of my seat until the end! Awesome.”

“My daughter and I just finished watching the two seasons of Landman and we are obsessed love this show!!!?”

I’m right there with the fans.

Episode 10 was not what I was expecting, but once I detached myself from expectations, I found myself really enjoying a final scene that was delightful, if just a little bit corny.

No spoilers here, but CTT Oil Exploration + Cattle seems kind of like an Oil Avengers group of characters.

Landman Season 2 Review:

This year we figured out what Landman is. On the podcast, I asked this question a lot: are we watching a comedy or a drama?

The fact is, it’s both.

That usually doesn’t work well, and at times, it did not work well on Landman, but so much of my criticism this season was a product of my expectations having watched Yellowstone, 1883, 1923 etc …

Taylor Sheridan fundamentally changed what the show is for Season 2, and at times it was clumsy.

Certain episodes felt like a series of disconnected sketches, and others felt like an excuse to back-scratch his friends or to justify a character.

It all came together in the end for me, and there’s not a sequence of scenes that better represents this than Ainsley standing up for Paigyn.

That’s when we saw the growth we’d been missing through nine episodes. Paigyn could return for Season 3, and I’m good with that.

When I think back on this season I remember the highlights.

I remember TL’s emotional scenes, where he discloses the truth about Tommy Norris’ (Billy Bob Thornton) mother and childhood. Sam Elliott carried this show at times this season, but then he receded into the background in a truly remarkable, generous way.

I remember a pretty powerful love story between Cooper and Ariana. I remember Rebecca’s boardroom speeches, but also her being smitten with Charlie.

I gained a better understanding of Angela during the final few episodes of Season 2, and that will carry over to a third season that’s coming sooner than anyone thought.

The show isn’t perfect. For a long time, Taylor Sheridan’s comedy writing felt like what happens when Stephen King writes kids. You applaud the effort, but hope he gets back to what he does best.

With Landman, he didn’t retreat.

My guess is Sheridan used his experiences (and the very uneven response) from writing Seasons 2 and 3 of Tulsa King and fine-tuned it for this show, which has a very similar tone.

Was it great? It was not consistently great, but the highs outweigh the lows in my memory, so I’m giving Season 2 of Landman a solid B.