Landman Season 2, Episode 9: Taylor Sheridan’s Messy Misfire Hits All-Time Low

Landman season 2, episode 9, “Plans, Tears and Sirens,” is a complete whiff of a penultimate episode and clear evidence of what has become an egregious sophomore slump for Taylor Sheridan’s once-promising neo-Western drama.

While the most controversial part of this episode is obviously Ainsley’s forcefully antagonistic, uneducated, and generic politically charged conversation with her non-binary TCU roommate, I’m more confused as to why it took nine episodes to put Ainsley in a college setting. She has had next to no purpose this season other than being Angela’s privileged mini-me, only to now have her arrive on campus and leave the instant life didn’t meet her manicured expectations. This entire review could attempt to dissect what is undoubtedly the most unnecessary scene in all of Landman, but unfortunately, it’s only the biggest of several fundamental errors this series has made in this aimless, uninspired, and total misfire of a second season.

Landman Season 2’s Penultimate Episode Has More Cons Than Pros

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Let’s start with the positive. Landman season 2, episode 9, does possess a few interesting story developments. After Gallino warned Tommy about Cami’s lack of faith in him in episode 6, episode 9 ends with Cami dropping the axe on Tommy as the President of M-Tex. Cami’s self-imposed prowess has really broken through this season, fueled mainly by greed and a false sense of confidence. Tommy tries to tell Cami the truth about her risky maneuvering – going all in on a 10% chance of hitting gas – and the truth just doesn’t fit into Cami’s “business” strategy, likening her to a high-stakes gambler. If M-Tex is the Titanic, consider Cami the captain going down with the ship, and Tommy, I guess, Rose floating at sea. This show can’t exist without Tommy, so expect him to land on his feet in due time.

Another positive takeaway from Landman season 2 includes Cooper asserting himself as a leader of his drilling crew, which includes his former superior, Boss. While he does come off as cocky and even a bit entitled, his comeback story is more redeeming this time around, considering how broken and beaten he was last season. That said, both Cooper and Ainsley are shielded by inherent nepotism in this episode, which makes them both harder to relate to or root for. While horrific and downright shocking, the final scene of Landman season 2, episode 9, in which Cooper fights off Ariana’s would-be assaulter, added a much-needed jolt of lightning as this season limps toward the finish line. Other than this, Landman season 2, episode 9 mostly offered more long-winded circular filler, off-base subplots, and soapy romances that simply fail to satisfy or entertain.

Landman’s Divisive New Character Is Uninspired & So Unnecessary

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

If it wasn’t apparent before, Landman season 2’s penultimate episode proves that this series has a foundational issue with its range of women characters, both young and old. The younger ones, like Ainsley, Ariana, and newcomer Cheyenne, are overly identified by their sexual value as determined by the male gaze. As characters with emotional depth, they would collapse from the slightest gust of wind. The women characters who aren’t Southern belles in Landman, mainly Cami, Rebecca, and partially Ariana, are forced to assert themselves with over-the-top aggression. That is, until their emotions get the best of them, either through grief, as seen in both Cami and Ariana, or puppy love, as demonstrated in Rebecca and Ariana as well.

The only exception is Angela, who is wildly aggressive, sexualized, and emotional, making her an uncontrollable force by comparison, who always has a million-dollar pillow to crash on. Meanwhile, Tommy and other male characters, like Cooper, Nate, and formerly Monty, have to “deal” with these women by either “correcting” or “coping” with their actions and perspectives. Even T.L. is immobilized by Dorothy, only to be saved by Cheyenne.

This is why introducing a non-binary character like Paigyn in Landman is downright flammable and inserts an unnecessary divide in the show’s audience. Ainsley’s various scenes (the most she’s had all season), either talking directly to Paigyn or trying to convince the similarly “PC” admissions counselor to switch dorms, very notably express a one-sided point of view. Perhaps Ainsley comes from a place of compassion while holding herself to a different standard, but having Angela save her reinforces the notion that she’s just a spoiled kid. Paigyn seems insensitively constructed to be antagonistic in Landman and feels like an intentionally generalized caricature meant to clash with Ainsley in her small bubble, rather than challenge her in an open-minded way. Paigyn was certainly rude, controlling, and an inconsiderate roommate that most would find difficult to live with, but anyone can act that way. Crafting her entire personality to stage an overly simplified and biased right vs. left conflict is not what Landman needed at this point.

I just wonder why, if Sheridan felt compelled to address these complex and sensitive subjects, he would take up so much screen time in what is supposed to be a thrilling episode of his “best” TV show currently streaming. Regardless of who is “offended” and who’s not, none of this so-called drama between Ainsley and Paigyn is entertaining or worth watching nine episodes in, and only further proves that this season of Landman has hardly any worthwhile substance or direction left in the tank. Sheridan’s previous shows have thrived on being escapist, genre-driven, and nostalgic, taking audiences away from reality through storytelling. This latest episode is circling the drain of a failed season, igniting a completely irrelevant conversation that belongs in an online comment section, not Paramount’s #1 show right now. I’m not sure what quality to expect out of Landman anymore, but I’m no longer looking forward to it.