Digital Review: LANDMAN: SEASON TWO

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Apr 29 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The second season of Taylor Sheridan’s (Yellowstone, Lioness, Tulsa King) Landman picks up right where the first season left off. Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) works as the head of operations for the M-Tex Oil Company. After the passing of her husband, Cami Miller (Demi Moore) becomes the company’s new owner, and is trying to prove herself as the new face of M-Tex, with the help of Tommy, who’s been promoted to president. However, this becomes tougher as they soon discover that Cami’s husband Monty had been hiding many details about the company’s financials. As lawyers Nathan (Colm Feore) and Rebecca (Kayla Wallace) try to make sense of the financial situation, Tommy deals with other day-to-day issues in the Patch, still trying to do double-duty as head of operations.

At the end of the first season, Tommy’s 22-year-old son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) had secretly bought up some oil field leases and started his own exploratory oil company with the help of an anonymous business partner. Somehow Cooper has had tremendous luck, with all 6 of his wells striking oil. But this success starts to cause a rift in his relationship with girlfriend Ariana (Paulina Chávez), who doesn’t necessarily share the same dreams . And when Cooper seeks his father’s advice on how to proceed (both in love and in business), Tommy discovers that Cooper’s mysterious investor is none other than drug cartel leader Gallino (Andy Garcia), and he is eager to keep this man far away from his son.

Meanwhile, Tommy and his over-the-top ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter) decided to give things another go, and so they’re once again living like a married couple in their crowded company-provided housing, which also includes 18-year-old daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), who’s preparing to head off to college at TCU. Ainsley and Angela are still having fun helping out at an old age home, and Angela continues to find ways to spend Tommy’s money, house shopping and planning elaborate family suppers at the house—which also include housemates Dale (James Jordan) and Nathan. And this season the house gets even more crowded as Tommy’s estranged 80-year-old father T.L. (Sam Elliott) also moves in.

In its second season, Landman continues to be my favorite of Taylor Sheridan’s series. The show finds this thoroughly-entertaining blend of humor, drama, action and suspense, and there are lots of twists and turns throughout the season. The second season focuses more on the various relationships between the characters, and a bit less on the big drill site disasters and action set pieces that were more prominent in the first season—though the season still has its big action moments. I thought this new focus actually worked out really well. It’s the characters and witty and humorous dialogue that I really enjoy the most about this show—especially the wild and hilarious family suppers where anything can happen! And this season there’s a particularly hilarious pirate-themed event.

At the core of the series is Tommy and his relationship with his family, and in this season in particular, mending his relationship with his father and getting back together with Angela. Sam Elliott is a wonderful addition to this cast this season, adding a lot of heart and humor to the show. He forces Tommy to confront his traumatic past, while being with the family also forces T.L. to confront his own bottled-up feelings. However, it’s especially enjoyable to see T.L.’s reaction to the craziness of those family suppers.

Another relationship that is explored this season is that between mother and daughter. Ainsley has always been by Angela’s side like a best friend. Now she’s growing up and about to head off to college, and Angela fears that her daughter won’t need her anymore. She worries what her life is going to be like without her daughter at her her side all the time. At the same time, Angela also continues to pursue her totally dysfunctional but loving and hilarious relationship with Tommy. Those two are so crazy, they’re perfect for one another.

Meanwhile, Cooper is also going through his own relationship issues. He loves Ariana and only wants to be with her, but he has such little experience when it comes to relationships that he doesn’t know how to proceed when his hits its first bump. He seeks the advice of his father, but Tommy may not be the best source of relationship advice! Cooper also discovers that even though he’s been lucky with his wells, he doesn’t know the first thing about running an oil company.

This season we also get some fun stuff with Rebecca, who doesn’t like to fly because she doesn’t have control, which this leads to a hilarious meet-cute with Charlie Newsom (Guy Burnet).

The second season also explores the idea of loss. Demi Moore gets a much bigger role this season as we see Cami struggle with the loss of her husband. She sees Tommy and Angela, and Gallino and his loving wife Bella (Stefania Spampinato), and it makes her miss Monty even more. At the same time, she’s also trying to prove herself in the business world, secure her own legacy, and save her company. But this starts to put Cami at odds with Tommy. While she loves and appreciates what he has done for her husband and his company, she and Tommy don’t necessarily share the same ideas for the direction M-Tex should take.

The cast of this series is amazing, and have such great chemistry with one another. The Norris family is so dysfunctional and it’s hilarious to watch these people together, especially around the dinner table. The series has many fun running jokes, such as Angela constantly “forgetting” Nathan’s name and referring to him as Neil. While the series does have very witty writing, and a lot of humor, there is also a lot of heart-wrenching drama and some very sweet moments, as well as some action-packed sequences as things go wrong or take an ominous turn. I enjoyed the second season just as much as the first, binging through all 10 episodes over a weekend. What I really appreciated was how the season tells a complete story, not leaving anything on a cliffhanger, but also setting things up for a potential third season (which there will be).

Paramount/CBS Home Entertainment has currently released this second season on Digital&mdash a Blu-ray/DVD release has not yet been announced. I was sent a digital code redeemable at Fandango at Home for this review. Fandango at Home offers the series in 4K, while Apple still doesn’t offer any TV shows for purchase in 4K. The presentation looks and sounds excellent. The picture is crisp and clean with an excellent level of detail, matching the quality of the original, 4K release on Paramount+. The audio is rich and immersive, which is especially noticeable during some of the more action-packed sequences. The release also includes some bonus material—2 behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew, totaling about 36 minutes.

What’s Included:
Specs may vary by provider

Episodes: (9:21:33)

All 10 episodes of the second season:
“Death and a Sunset”, “Sins of the Father”, “Almost a Home”, “Dancing Rainbows”, “The Pirate Dinner”, “Dark Night of the Soul”, “Forever Is an Instant”, “Handsome Touched Me”, “Plans, Tears and Sirens”, “Tragedy and Flies”
2160p / Widescreen 2.00:1
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English

Extras:
Special features available on select platforms.

Going Deeper: Inside Landman Season 2 (28:18)
The cast discuss returning to these characters for season 2, the relationship dynamics, working with Sam Elliott, some of the season’s storylines, working with director Stephen Kay, and more. Billy Bob also gives a tour of a day on the set. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with stars Billy Bob Thornton (“Tommy Norris”), Ali Larter (“Angela Norris”), Sam Elliott (“T.L. Norris”), James Jordan (“Dale”), Michelle Randolph (“Ainsley Norris”), Jacob Lofland (“Cooper Norris”), Paulina Chávez (“Ariana”), Andy Garcia (“Gallino”), Colm Feore (“Nathan”), Mark Collie (“Sheriff Walt Joeberg”), Mustafa Speaks (“Boss”), Demi Moore (“Cami Miller”), Kayla Wallace (“Rebecca Falcone”) & Guy Burnet (“Charlie Newsom”).
Finding Character in Clothing (8:28)
Costume designer Janie Bryant takes viewers on a tour of the show’s costumer trailer, showing off and discussing the different looks for each character— Tommy, Cami, Angela, Ainsley, Cooper, Rebecca, Ariana, Gallino & T.L.—and how things have changed for season 2.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Episodes:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Highly Recommended

Landman is a cleverly-written, highly-entertaining series that is hilarious, heartwarming, exciting and suspenseful, and the series does a great job of balancing all these tones. Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, and the rest of the cast have amazing chemistry—you just want to keep spending time with these fun characters. The season also brings in Sam Elliott and Andy Garcia, and boosts Demi Moore’s role. The 4K Digital release looks and sounds great and contains an entertaining selection of bonus material. After binging through season 2 on this Digital release, I can’t wait for the third season!