Things In Landman That Make No Sense

On the surface, a show like Taylor Sheridan's "Landman" seems to be a straightforward exercise in machismo. The adventures of Tommy Norris (series star Billy Bob Thornton) are very workaday. Plots revolve around corporate intrigue, his relationship with his family, the never-ending battle of solar and wind energy versus oil energy (and the show is very much on the side of oil-based energy), and his feelings about getting older. 

But even in such a simplistic story, there are still opportunities for mistakes and accidents. There are actual landmen and oil field workers among the show's viewers, and they have plenty of bones to pick with how Paramount+ portrays their industry. 

But beyond that, there are characterization issues, costume choices and plenty of other problems the show brings to the table. For all of its successes, there are definitely some failures to be found. Some moments in "Landman" just plain don't make any sense, and here's a select few examples of that fact.

The action flies fast and furious when someone strikes a gusher in "Landman," but plenty of people who watch the show think that it doesn't know the basics of drilling or using oil derricks in the field. The wrong terminology is sometimes used when people talk about the job, and different structures are called derricks when they're really other objects. The way they rig workers to use those derricks has also been called into question.

Even worse, these jobs can be misrepresented. "Sheridan doesn't know the difference between a drilling crew and production crew. Roughnecks don't work on pumpjacks. In my time in the field I also never saw the whole drilling crew hazing someone to do something dangerous on location. They wouldn't just get run off, but blacklisted. Nobody wants that liability," u/BakerCakeMaker said on the "Landman" subreddit.

Others, like u/Single_Humor_9256, agree: "The rigs shown are ancient hardware. Some tiny Mom and Pop companies still use spinning chains but the number of fingers lost to them due to bad communication between the driller and the floor hands caused most to be replaced by power tongs and, nowadays, Iron Roughneck units."  These small details might not pop out to most fans of the show, but they definitely matter to actual oil professionals. 

One of the most frequently revisited themes in "Landman" is the battle between renewable energy resources and oil discovery. The show comes down solidly on the side of the oilman, often mocking more environmentally friendly sources the same way Taylor Sheridan went after vegans in "Yellowstone." But experts have noticed that it's never given the renewable energy folks a fair shake in storylines — to the point where the show ends up looking foolish. 

During Episode 4 of Season 1, for instance, Tommy goes on a rant about renewable energy. It went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter), but many statements within the speech prove inaccurate. "In its [wind farms'] 20-year lifespan, it won't offset the carbon footprint of making it," he says in part. 

But Newsweek took a deep dive into that claim and quickly discovered it wasn't true; a wind farm actually recoups its carbon footprint within months. Expert testimony dug up by the magazine also proved equally damning. "Billy Bob Thornton is very good at portraying a common character that one meets when talking about wind energy; unfortunately, that character is misinformed and wrong," noted Alasdair McDonald, a professor in the Institute for Energy Systems and Mechanical Engineering Discipline at the University of Edinburgh, in a statement to Newsweek.

"Landman" also scored poorly in the reality department when it came to the solar energy portion of Tommy's speech. Several sources claim that while solar-powered batteries aren't perfect, they're more easily renewed than gas-powered power sources.

Unsurprisingly, "Landman" isn't aces when it comes to portraying how to properly use equipment while drilling, either. Characters have repeatedly failed to use proper masking and guidance, or engage in careful behavior. A deleted poster in r/oil called the show out for making multiple mistakes in how it portrays a worker's actions and equipment usage out in the oil fields. 

"It's sort of weird how much they are getting wrong. The show should so easily have be a hit with patch workers, but I just find most every scene extremely cringey to the point it maybe is not made for anyone who has set foot in the field. They've obviously got a great budget, why not get some oversight from someone who knows their s*** out there. They get a lot of big picture stuff right. And Cooper the greenhand's first day wasn't bad. They just really c*** up a lot of the details," the post concludes. 

Other posters proceeded to take "Landman" to task for using incorrect terminology, using tools wrong, and even the character's dirty hygiene can come into question. 

Another false step in the show's accurate portrayal of landmen? Tommy has a fairly small, humble house — albeit one with a pool in the backyard. He shares the place with Dale Bradley (James Jordan) and Nathan (Colm Feore), two of his best M-Tex hands. His ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter, formerly Grace Sawyer in "The Rookie") and daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) have also shared space there. When Tommy's father T.L. (Sam Elliott) joins the cast of "Landman," he moves into the house, too.

That's a lot of people in a pretty small house, and fans think that Tommy would naturally be able to afford more. "I find it strange that Billy Bob Thornton apparently is the worst salary negotiator in world history. He seems to be one of the most crucial employees of a massive oil company, negotiates with drug cartels for oil rights (and his life), has the CEO on speed dial, etc. and yet lives in a dumpy little house with 2 other guys and is in a mountain of debt," said u/Dan-Flashes on the "Landman" subreddit. 

Indeed, Tommy is portrayed as a very astute businessman — which means his continued debt makes no sense. That's worth asking our next big question.

How does Tommy, a guy at the top of his game, coveted by drug cartels and oil companies alike, manage to make it through his day to day life without losing tons of cash? He's good at being a manager but is often tripped up when trying to act as President of M-Tex. Constant disasters and lawsuits plague the company, but Tommy manages to make it through by the skin of his teeth. Thus, the company continues to survive. 

Ironically, it's his inability to take risks that ultimately louses things up for him, and Cami (movie star Demi Moore) ultimately can't ignore that, which leads to her firing him at the back end of Season 2.

But Tommy manages to pull off a Hail Mary, creating his own company with the help of his family. He also saves six oil wells that his son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) had initially signed over to M-Tex. So far, things seem to be going smoothly for Tommy — but now he's in bed with Danny "Gallino" Morrel (Andy Garcia) and his drug cartel. For such a successful guy, he sure knows how to make awful choices.

Tommy isn't the only one who seems to fly by the seat of his pants. Ainsley and Angela are equally awful at their jobs when volunteering at the old folks home. They repeatedly flout rules and, in spite of their best intentions, often cause calamity, serving booze to the residents and taking them off on field trips to gamble without telling anyone else.

While Cami is an extremely competent force for working women everywhere, she does manage to fumble Tommy by demanding he be bold. Then her entire company walks out on her in loyalty to him, leaving Cami to rebuild everything by herself. Even the ever-unflappable and uberconfident Rebecca (Kayla Wallace) manages to get her lunch handed to her legally a couple of times. Cooper makes newbie mistakes nonstop, ones that nearly land him in jail. 

The show is utterly loaded with fallible people, and that both makes it a realistic outing ... and a very frustrating watch.

It's hard to ignore the fact that Ainsley is something of a walking stereotype. A pretty blonde teenager who also cheerleads, she's sometimes portrayed as being shallow, silly and promiscuous. In early seasons, she's often seen wearing skimpy clothing in front of her father's friends — uncomfortable stuff, since she's supposed to be a 17-year-old. The show tends to use Ainsley and her mother as eye candy, and while that's acceptable with Angela, Ainsley is just starting to prepare for her college career.

To be fair, Ainsley has begun to take on some deeper layers as she grows up — the way she supported her cheer camp roommate Paigyn Meester (Bobbi Salvör Menuez) against a group of bullies is a promising sign. Because the entire show is written solely by Taylor Sheridan, it's easy to place all the blame squarely on his shoulders. Hopefully he'll think to round her out more by the end.

Did we mention that Ainsley's over-sexualization can sometimes get really creepy? In the pilot episode of "Landman," she explains to an exasperated Tommy that she and her boyfriend have a rule. Whenever they make love, he can't finish inside of her — but he can anywhere on her body.

Public reaction to that outrageous bit of dialogue fell in line with Tommy's reaction: the audience was pretty disgusted. And actress Michelle Randolph, who plays Ainsley, could see it all coming. "How could you not? I knew. You knew. I just thought to myself, 'How am I going to say this with a straight face, looking into Billy's eyes?' I was Ainsley in that moment. I was not Michelle. And as Michelle, I will never be saying that to my father. Let's be clear," she told The Wrap. 

How did she get through the scene? She admits she disassociated from the moment. Understandable.

Every Taylor Sheridan TV show has the exact same problem – his track record in writing female characters can be very hit or miss. Even his most lionized female characters, like Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) on "Yellowstone," often end up becoming shrill, hyperviolent or sexist caricatures on their worst day. 

"Landman" suffers from similar problems, with Angela coming off as a strident trophy wife caricature who's vain and likes showing off, Ainsley as the stereotypical popular cheerleader, and Rebecca is cast as the hard-nosed attorney. Occasionally, all three of them are allowed flashes of depth, but those moments are never consistent and often come off as hackneyed and stultifying. 

Only Cami and Cooper's fiancée, Ariana Medina (Paulina Chavez) escape full-out stereotyping, though Cami can sometimes be simplified into a girlboss and Ariana into a victim. But Sheridan can and ought to do better, and his female characters continue to suffer, especially on "Landman."

One final "Landman" thing that doesn't make sense? The way it handled the cartel plotline. Gallino and his men may have a lot of might, but their behavior rarely follows Earth logic. It theoretically makes sense that they can steal planes, but they also do foolish things like threaten DEA agents on US soil. 

It's mixed-bag behavior that makes them threatening but not too threatening, a wishy-washy imbalance the makes the whole plotline farfetched and hard to enjoy. "It's a, hard to believe, plot. I think the writer is trying to depict the Mexican cartels as something more than they are," said u/carbon370z.

Most of the other viewers posting to the "Landman" subreddit agreed that the plotline seems to be carried out by lower-level members of the cartel. But it also somehow feels fitting that the sometimes incompetent Tommy's managed to align himself with a somewhat-incompetent team of mobsters. In a way, "Landman" is a Dad's beloved soap, with all the idiosyncrasies and errors that can include — especially when it comes to villains.