‘Landman’: Billy Bob Thornton Dominates as a Complex Fixer in Taylor Sheridan’s West Texas Oil Drama

Tony Sokol

Taylor Sheridan’s latest series, “Landman,” weaves a complex, soapy story built around the West Texas oil industry. Its central character, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton), is a complicated character, and only likable to a certain extent. Certain breeds of people thrive on pressure. One of Norris’ functions is to keep combustible steam-leakage in check on oil excavation rigs, and this man in charge of such dangerous disasters is a tightly wound screw waiting for a spark.

Pressure feeds Tommy. It gives him strength. He can slice off a piece of his own thumb without a second thought when the squeeze is on, because time means money. In a market where product price affects the global GDP, physical pain offers temporary release in a state of perpetual catastrophe. Thornton pulls this off almost effortlessly, it is obvious the portrayal is jarring to circumnavigate.

Tommy is a crisis manager, or a “fixer,” for M-Tex Oil, a growing Midland-Odessa firm willing to partner with a drug cartel in a plan to grow into a major oil industry player. This series goes to great lengths explaining the knowledge that fossil fuel is an absolutely necessary evil, because of the bottom line. The product, across the board, is worth more than its international importance. In Midland, and beyond, it is the biggest game in town. But it comes with the perennially looming, game-changing assurance of a disappearing resource, with devastating economic repercussions. Any loss is a big loss, both in media coverage and shareholder returns. “Landman” creates a character in the scrappy little company itself. Not a particularly affable one, but worth its weight in anecdotes.

Liability attorney Rebecca Savage (Kayla Wallace) plays each hand, dealt from the bottom of the deck, close to the chest, and always stuffs cards up her sleeve. Four years on the job as an attorney with an ostentatious hourly fee, Angela plays down each strength until force is necessary. Until then, she is the most studious observer in any room, especially when Larter appears to be looking away. These moments are usually a prelude to a jackpot.

M-Tex Oil owner Monty Miller (Jon Hamm) may not like to gamble, but Angela brings a sure thing into every meeting she attends. “Landman” is a contemporary cash-grab in the world of oil rigs, petroleum cargo, and the industry’s acceptable costs of doing business. This is a dual-edged sword, as the bottom line can only eat so much of the meat being ground up by the machines.

The drug cartel brings their own threat of carnage, which promises further dramatic thrills from a network which is used to being paid cash, and always on time. This subplot, which begins with a collision between a truck carrying crude oil and an FAA-reported stolen plane transporting narcotics into a waiting van, bubbles beneath the incidents and personal entanglements which make up the bulk of this series. As does obscene affluence, the fruit of such a dangerous payroll. Even the ex-convicts who work the crews make enough to put a down payment on a house. Risky work rates a higher pay scale, and every family tragedy teaches lessons in the paperwork which follows death. It is occasionally bloodier than the accidents which make them necessary.

Character are well-rounded, even those who do not have long life spans. Tommy’s son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), who is determined to learn the oil business from the ground up, makes quite a few friends at his first day on the job. Sure, the well-oiled crew haze the new guy, but they then bond over midnight dinner, beer, and non-shop talk. The major legal cleanup of the earliest episodes includes one of these crews, exactly as they are becoming relatable and likable side characters. This is not a consistent rule, as other seemingly small players wind up dominating entire episodes.

Tommy is housed with two roommates, Nathan (Colm Feore), a lawyer for the company, and petroleum engineer Dale Bradley (James Jordan). Adding to the job-related stress, Tommy and his housemates must indeterminately entertain guests. The intrusions come in waves, like Tommy’s 17-year-old daughter, Ainsley Norris (Michelle Randolph), sent by her mother and Tommy’s ex-wife, Angela (Ali Larter), to ensure she is derailed from an almost certain young pregnancy. The boyfriend, Dakota, is a star athlete with creative ideas about sexual alternatives, but none for short-term abstinence plays.

Tommy’s overall strategy can be seen in how he deals, as a family man, to the situation. This series’ comedy, which comes from scenarios not setups, is light and recycled. It is completely character-driven, and as revelatory as personal confessions, which are few. The melodrama, on the other hand, increases exponentially every time disaster strikes, and merely rises by degrees when incidents are personally injurious.

While his material is becoming increasingly soapy, Sheridan, who co-created “Yellowstone,” “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Special Ops: Lioness,” and Sylvester Stallone’s small-screen debut “Tulsa King,” still understands the nuances of structure. Episodes may stray, but characters cultivates so much of the viewers’ vested interest, it is only a scenic route. “Landman” is an underhanded exposé with all the deceit and vile intent neatly packaged into universal compliance. This series manages to maintain conscientious diligence and urgency, but it is so earnest it’s hokey.

“Landman” season one begins streaming Nov. 17 with new episodes premiering Sundays on Paramount+.