‘Landman’s Billy Bob Thornton on What That Coyote Means for Tommy Norris in Season 2

In Taylor Sheridan’s latest hit drama Landman, there’s more to fear than cartel politics and corporate pressure. For Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris, the real threats are harder to name — but in the Season 1 finale, one showed up with sharp teeth and a knowing stare. The final scene, featuring Tommy staring down a lone coyote, left fans buzzing about the meaning behind the animal’s sudden appearance. As it turns out, that ambiguous moment wasn’t just window dressing. It’s a reflection of everything Tommy’s grappling with — and a hint of what’s to come.

Speaking to Awards Radar, Thornton opened up about how he and Sheridan shaped the now-iconic moment, and what it reveals about Tommy’s mental state heading into Landman Season 2.

“Well, there are two coyote scenes. There’s one earlier in the episode, too,” Thornton said. “There were several lines of dialogue in the first coyote scene to myself and then to a neighbor, and Taylor and I talked it over one night, and we decided this scene should have no dialogue, because you’re kind of putting a hat on a hat, you know what I mean?”

Billy Bob Thornton Says The ‘Landman’ Coyote Is a Metaphor

Instead, they let the visual do the talking — and it says a lot. “To me, and I think Taylor agrees with this in terms of what he meant when he wrote it, the coyote is like, it’s symbolic to me. It’s a metaphor,” Thornton continued.

“I think Tommy looks at this coyote and thinks, ‘Am I the coyote or is the coyote going to eat me? Am I going to kill a coyote or is the coyote going to kill me? Which one am I in this?’ And I think he identified with this coyote in some weird way, just like seeing this coyote staring at him. It’s like, ‘What’s your part in this?’ I think Tommy saw himself in the coyote, and I think he also saw his potential future or maybe demise in this coyote.”

Now that Season 2 is filming, Thornton teased that things will only get more intense — and personal.

“We’ve been shooting for about a month and a half, and I am loving it. The relationships are getting even more developed, and the cast is gelling even more. It deals with the relationships a lot this year, so I’m very happy about that.”

Landman Season 2 is currently in production and will return to Paramount+ later this year. Keep your eyes peeled, and maybe don’t look too long at any coyotes.