Hell Has a Front Yard

Unapologetic landman Billy Bob Thornton is rootin' tootin' his way through the oilfields of West Texas. As always, BB is the most compelling character in the show.

Unfortunately, a show requires more than one character. Even worse, this show that's ostensibly about manly oilfields is getting wrecked by three female characters: Billy Bob's ex-wife, his daughter, and a New York lawyer.

First the ex-wife. She's a foul-mouthed sk3nk who adds nothing to the drama and she isn't funny. I was kinda hoping she'd drown in the country club pool, to be honest.

His daughter is just more T&A who adds nothing. But empty GeZ angst.

The New York lawyer, who looks like she's about 24 yet handles 9-figure liability cases, is so sheltered she doesn't know a wind turbine when she sees one. Even worse, she offers BB obnoxious GenZ lectures on workplace respect. I nearly barfed.

BB also has a son who barely survived last week's well-head blowout. He does well, paying his respects to the widows of his late crew mates.

The highlight of this episode is BB's rant about the importance of the oil industry. What a beauty.

Anyway, if this show were to focus on the male characters we might have a show worthy of all the praise it's getting. But if keeps falling back on the females it will probably be super-popular but completely empty.

I'll give it one more episode.

Typical Sheridan. Every show he's made has followed the same basic formula. Lead off with a couple of really good episodes to get people interested and ONLY THEN does he throw these ridiculous gen z over the top annoying as hell valley girls that takes the show down to the level of a Kartrashian revue. This episode was so annoying. Every time the story started to develop we switch over to two of the most worthless characters whose biggest concerns are where they can shop and where the closest mirror is. Based on every single one of his other shows I can already see where this is going. I guess the only real mystery was whether she'd be a blonde or a brunette. This was a great show for two episodes.

By Ep 3, Landman begins to find its footing. It's not racing ahead, but there's now a clear sense of direction and the stakes are quietly mounting. The storytelling is measured, almost to a fault, but the atmosphere and character work are starting to pay off.

Billy Bob Thornton remains effortlessly compelling,,, dry, wry, and completely in control. He brings gravity to every scene without ever overplaying it. The supporting cast are beginning to sharpen too. Michelle Randolph is given more room and steps up well, while Ali Larter continues to underplay with precision, adding an understated steel to her role.

The direction is confident and unfussy, favouring long pauses and tight framing over big moments. That approach works when the writing is tight, though here it occasionally teeters on being a bit too subtle for its own good. Still, it keeps things grounded.

As for Demi Moore - is she still hovering on the periphery? Whether she's being deliberately held back or just underused remains to be seen, but it's becoming noticeable.

Overall, it's the strongest episode so far. Landman may be a slow burn, but it's warming up nicely, with the promise of deeper conflict just under the surface.

Episode three of Landman is definitely the weakest, but still a satisfying experience. Thornton's wife arrives and they improve their relationship a bit. Also does he want his daughter to stay with him. His son Cooper in the meantime gets lots of hate from his colleagues, since he survived the explosion, while their family did not. But in the end the oil business has no place for sentimentalities. The farm gets rebuild exactly as it has been and the work will go on. As Thornton says to the lady in the suit: Everything is made out of oil. We rather run out of it, before we can replace it. With that said, I let you go my fellow reader.

Just when you thought Billy Bob would completely dominate this series, almost to a fault, enter co-star Ali Larter, super-sexy and easily controlling the screen even when sharing it with Thornton. And it doesn't hurt to throw in a pay-cable-ready briefly topless scene for Ali, something her fans from "Heroes" have been patiently waiting for.

Hamm and Thornton have some forceful speeches written for them by Sheridan to express the oil industry's point-of-view, which I found quite interesting to consider, even though I'm in the Clean Energy camp. It's amusing that one of the series' prime sponsors is the American Petroleum Institute, with commercials that carefully stress the serious attention to safety - an important and unsubtle way of counteracting the drama's need for danger and sensationalism. I guess that qualifies as equal time.

The heart of the show is Thornton's son played by Jacob Lofland, perhaps the only major character (apart from the Mexican-Americans) who Sheridan has not written with massive faults to atone for. Not to say that the female leads aren't sympathetic -Sheridan uses this episode to acquaint us with Larter's issues, the lawyer played by Kayla Wallace's toughness, more time with daughter Michelle Randolph, and the great appeal of Paulina Chavez as the young widow of one of the deceased crewmen. Only Demi Moore, looking great at age 61(!) in a bathing suit, remains a mystery as Hamm's wife.