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Taylor Sheridan tackles dirty jobs related to working in the oil and gas industry in LANDMAN. Dirty from the blue collar workers doing very dangerous work, and Billy Bob Thornton's job at managing multiple crises at once, often making morally questionable decisions. In addition to his day job, he tries to manage his family: An oversexualized teenage daughter, an ex wife worming her way back into his life, and his son, whose dubious decision to follow in his father's footsteps almost gets him killed.

A few observations from season one:

1. The ex-wife character is annoying and useless. I found myself fast forwarding through many of her scenes.

2. The show overused the skimpy outfits worn by the daughter. Isn't she 17 in this series?

3. The show underutilized Demi Moore. I didn't recognize her until several episodes in, because we barely see or hear from her character. Maybe she needed the paycheck.

4. The opening scene in episode 8 explains where dead lawyers come from.

By the end of the first half of the movie (the point where the American family leaves the rural property then returns to retrieve their daughter's teddy bear), I felt pity rather than sympathy for the Dalton family. The parents, played by Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis, had zero redeeming qualities. Davis played the unfaithful and unaccountable wife, accurately representing so many things that are wrong with American women today. McNairy played the wimpy beta male husband who refused to grow a set of balls with either his wife or his daughter, and deserved his wife's disrespect and condescension. If the goal of the director was to make both of these characters extremely unlikable, they were successful.

Fast forward to part two, where the Dalton family returns to Paddy and Ciara's property to retrieve their daughter's teddy bear, in spite of HUGE red flags that drove them away in the first place. James McAvoy, to no one's surprise, steals the show as his once charming character gradually becomes unhinged and violent.

I did not see the European version of this movie, but other reviewers have been critical of the apparent dumbed down version for the American screen. How unfortunate.

I just finished watching EP3 of The Terminal List: Dark Wolf. EP4 will be released in two days following this writing. Interesting story and great cinematography, but two things stand out: First, this is NOT a Chris Pratt vehicle about the James Reece character. This is a full blown Taylor Kitsch drama. Second, Taylor Kitsch so far has one expression the whole time: serious to the point of being monotone. I hope this improves during the following episodes.