Landman Season 2 has stumbled out of the gate, marking one of Taylor Sheridan’s weakest launches ever. The Rotten Tomatoes critic score has already dipped from 81% to 77%, but the real blow comes from audiences: a brutal 40% (up from an initial 36%), well below Season 1’s 64%. Fans complain the story feels stagnant, characters frozen in place despite stellar work from Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, and Michelle Randolph. All eyes are now on Sam Elliott’s arrival and Episode 3 (Nov 30 on Paramount+), hoping it reignites the fire.
Landman Season 2 Stumbles: Taylor Sheridan’s Weakest Launch Yet
Taylor Sheridan’s once-untouchable streak has hit a rare speed bump. Landman Season 2, which premiered on Paramount+ earlier this month, has quickly become one of the lowest-rated projects in the Yellowstone creator’s glittering career.
After just two episodes, the show’s Rotten Tomatoes critic score has slipped from an encouraging 81% to a shaky 77%. More telling, however, is the audience response: a brutal 40% approval rating, up only marginally from an opening-weekend low of 36%. For context, Season 1 closed at a respectable 64%. The drop is among the steepest in Sheridan’s recent catalog, undercutting even the divisive Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 (52%).
Viewer feedback has been unusually blunt. Many complain that Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) and his orbit feel trapped in a narrative loop. The high-stakes oil-patch power plays that defined Season 1 now feel repetitive, with subplots involving Rebecca Savage (Ali Larter), her daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), and the cartel-tangled Monty Miller (Jon Hamm in Season 1) struggling to find fresh oxygen. “Same crises, different day,” one top critic review summed up. “Everyone’s yelling, nobody’s growing.”
Yet the performances remain a saving grace. Thornton continues to deliver a masterclass as the cynical, silver-tongued crisis fixer, while Ali Larter’s steely energy and Michelle Randolph’s fiery rebellion keep their scenes crackling even when the writing stalls. Jacob Lofland and Kayla Wallace also shine in expanded roles, hinting at untapped potential the scripts have yet to fully exploit.
The biggest wildcard arrives in Episode 3 (dropping November 30), when Sam Elliott saddles up as Calvin Bonds, a grizzled outsider with deep roots in the West Texas patch. Early screeners suggest Elliott’s character immediately disrupts the status quo, forcing Tommy to confront uncomfortable truths about loyalty, legacy, and the human cost of the boom-and-bust oil game. Advance buzz calls his debut “the jolt the season desperately needs.”
Sheridan himself has acknowledged the sophomore challenge in recent interviews, teasing that the first half of Season 2 deliberately keeps the characters “stuck in the mud” before a seismic shift around the midpoint. Whether that gamble pays off remains the central question hanging over the remaining eight episodes.
Paramount+ clearly still believes in the property; a third season was greenlit months ago. But for the first time in years, a Taylor Sheridan show enters mid-season fighting for its reputation rather than coasting on it.
Landman has never been Yellowstone-level appointment viewing, but it carved out a loyal niche with its gritty, profane portrait of modern wildcatters. Now it faces a familiar Sheridan test: evolve or bleed viewers. With Sam Elliott riding in and Billy Bob Thornton still commanding every frame, there’s more than enough horsepower under the hood. The question is whether the writers can finally hit the accelerator.
Episode 3 drops Sunday, November 30. The patch is watching.