Oil and masculinity: Both are often crude, and both are considered toxic in the twenty-first century. So it only makes sense that these two are connected as tightly as a bolt on a rig in Landman, neo-Western TV auteur Taylor Sheridan's latest hit series on Paramount+. The show centers on Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton), a grizzled and cynical but ultimately good-hearted advisor to reckless oil billionaire Monty Miller (Jon Hamm). Where is the expansive Sheridan?Yellowstone“The franchise focuses on the landowning class, “Landlord” depicts the far less glamorous world of a middleman working for the rich. Tommy drives his taupe Ford F-350 pickup, emblazoned with Monty's M-Tex company logo, through the dusty, flat expanse of the West Texas Permian Basin, nicknamed “Patch.” His job as the titular landowner is to secure leases for oil extraction, rule In Landman, oil pollutes the landscape just as machismo pollutes the soul, leading to beatings and broken families. But according to Sheridan, poison is also a cure: oil leads to wealth, and wealth allows one to leave the oil fields; the wise use of masculine posturing leads to power over other men, as well as the reluctant respect of some brash women who have the courage to become lawyers or executives.
For the traditional audience of prestige television, Landman's policy is disastrous. The show is openly anti-environmental; In one infamous scene from the first season, Tommy makes the virtually absurd argument that wind turbines are just as bad, if not worse, for the planet than oil wells. The script plays fast and loose with sexist stereotypes; Tommy's ex-wife, Angela (played by Ali Larter), with whom he reconnects, is a kind of manic red-state pixie dream. MILFflaunts her cleavage, rushes and acts crazy when she gets her period. (“I need Midol and damn Margarita,” she whines in one of the many one-liners that punctuate the script’s more naturalistic dialogue.) But something about “Landman” has made it a hit even among liberal audiences, especially with the recent launch of a second season. They whisper about the series carefully so that enthusiasm does not cause offense: I'm like. . . into this?? My colleague Inku Kang wrote in August that its first season demonstrated “how conservative shows can be a damn good time.”
Part of the appeal is the opportunity to peek into the workings of a specialized industry drowning in money, not unlike watching “Continuity“features a behind-the-scenes look at media mergers. We see the sharing of oil lease profits, the redevelopment of old wells and lobbying conversations where wealthy owners in cowboy hats strike handshake agreements. “Landman” is based on the podcast reported”Boomtown“, whose creator, Christian Wallace, co-created the series, gives its portrayal of the oil trade a journalistic thrill. The show's aesthetic choices also complicate its apparent enthusiasm for extractive capitalism. Drone footage depicts a barren land dotted with ever-spinning pumps, silhouetted against a sunset haze, reminiscent of Edward Burtynsky photograph or Werner Herzog documentary. The soundtrack intersperses recognizable country hits with Andrew Lockington's sweeping ambient guitar compositions, reminiscent of post-rock band Explosions in the Sky. These artsy details introduce a splash of artisanal juice onto the chicken-fried steak of the storyline, mixing their flavors to the benefit of both.
Ultimately, the success of a series may depend on the charismatic power of its protagonist, who crystallizes the mood of our moment. Thornton, as the debtor and alcoholic Tommy, makes dog faces and looks as tormented by the state of the world as the rest of us. Thornton embraces the physical realities of late middle age to a degree that seems almost daring: his skin is sallow, his beard is unkempt, his threadbare clothes practically ooze sweat, oil and tobacco fumes through the screen. There is nothing ambitious about him except his charming fatalism. As he laments at the start of season two, after being tortured and nearly killed by drug smugglers crazed on Monty's land: “Life pulled out its big dick and hit me over the head with it.”
