Am I a Prude or Did ‘Landman’ Go Too Far? Season 1 Finale Breakdown

The season finale of Landman featured torture, murder, strippers and acts of terrorism (sort of), but it was all within the confines of the world creator Taylor Sheridan had built with previous shows.

You expect R-rated programming that more sensitive pop culturists will have to turn away from at times. If someone isn’t getting kidnapped and beaten with a hammer, it’s probably not any good, right?

Consider this a spoiler alert, as we’ll dive deep into plot points here. My Dutton Rules podcast co-host Adison Haager and I will do a full episode breakdown on Tuesday (Jan. 14).

Season 1 of Landman finished on Jan. 12 on Paramount+. Season 2 has not yet been confirmed.
Billy Bob Thornton stars as Tommy Norris, with Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland and Michelle Randolph rounding out his family.
The show zooms in on the Midland, Texas oil industry.

Landman: Season 1, Episode 10 Recap:

Episode 10 opened with an oil-centric clip from the late Paul Harvey’s Rest of the Story radio program before attempting to resolve Monty Miller’s (Jon Hamm) plot line. He was left having another major cardiac event as Ep. 9 finished, and fans learn he needs a new heart, fast.

Tommy is made president while Monty is incapacitated, and he quickly gets to work telling new M-Tek lawyer Rebecca (Kayla Wallace) to renegotiate a “farm out” that Monty agreed to.

This is another of those complicated business propositions fans have learned to nod through to get to more action, but the TL;DR version is the deal (as is) is high risk, high reward and involves fracking.

Paramount+

Elsewhere, Cooper (Lofland) and Ariana (Paulina Chavez) work through her emotions as she tries to move past her late husband. It continues to be clumsy, with Ariana sending mixed messages in the way you’d sort of expect from a woman in her position.

Cooper Norris is patient and caring at every turn, and his kindness is working. The meat of this couple’s S1 plot came during the first seven episodes — during Ep. 10 they were garnish, but I’d argue their predicament feels the most authentic and real.

Who Dies During Ep. 10 of Landman?

After Tommy meets with Rebecca, he’s kidnapped by the drug cartel henchman, Jimenez. They take him to a club and Jimenez begins physically and psychologically torturing Tommy — to be honest, the actual visual wasn’t as bad as the imagined totality of it all. It’s as if the drug dealer put a bag on the viewers’ heads too, because all senses were heightened in the same way he describes to Tommy.

Paramount+

Miraculously, Tommy survives, because the cartel’s leader (Gallino, played by Andy Garcia) guns down Jimenez and all his men. He gently frees Tommy and says he hopes they can be friends. A lot of people believe he owns Tommy now, but I didn’t take that away from their conversation. Instead I got the impression that they reset the relationship, with more troubles to come.

So, Tommy lives, but Monty does not. At the end, his family is seen grieving over his body as his EKG machine rests silently. Doctors thought he could live a few days or weeks with his bad heart, but he didn’t make it 24 hours. This means Tommy is permanent president of M-Tek and he’ll need to execute Monty’s long list of wishes, which include selling the company.

This Landman Scene Went Too Far

Ainsley Norris tells her father that she’s a very sexual person during one of their famous father/daughter conversations, and her story relied heavy on that trait. A few pearl-clutchers may have been bothered by this, but teenaged lust is as important to American TV and filmmaking as gun fights and handsome men.

During Ep. 10, she and her mother bring a group of senior citizens to a strip club, and it’s hilarious. The men are really excited — especially after Angela hands out rolls of $20 — but the women seem to be enjoying the change of pace, as well.

One women (Ethel) expresses a desire for a male stripper, and Ainsley delivers by offering up her boyfriend Ryder, a high school senior. This is where the show crossed the line in my opinion. And I’m not alone:

Teen sexuality is fine and adult sexuality is great. Teens and adults sharing sexual screen time is cringey — I’m reminded of the Kevin Spacey film American Beauty and his scene with Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). That’s not the comparison one hopes for.

Several other people left similar comments on our YouTube channel, but it should be mentioned that these complaints follow a “but.” As in, “Love the show, but …”

Perhaps the good news is Ainsley and her boyfriend will turn 18 and be off to college then. An 18-year-old getting frisky with an octogenarian is still weird, but at least it’s legal.

Paramount+

‘Landman’: Who Is Ali Larter, AKA Angela Norris

Ali Larter says she wanted the role of Angela Norris on Landman because the character is so colorful. She expresses all her emotions with volume but has a big heart beneath it all.

Ali Larter as Angela Norris In Landman