Following the success of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan returned with Landman, another drama about the families of those who work in the great expanses of the US. The series’ first season ran on Paramount+ across late 2024 and early 2025.

This three-disc set includes all 10 of Season One’s episodes. The plot synopses come from the package’s inserts.

Landman: “Set in the boomtown of West Texas, roughnecks and billionaires in the world of oil seek fortune.”

Well, that’s a vague summary, isn’t it? We get more a general concept for the series than anything specific.

Which makes some sense since pilot episodes like this act as introductions. We’ll find more details later.

At the very least, Landman opens with a bang, as it shows protagonist Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) as the hooded captive of a drug cartel who needs to bargain for his life. This allows us an intriguing view of his job as the man who serves oil companies to secure leases and deal with controversies.

While the rest of the pilot show doesn’t seem quite as intriguing, it nonetheless offers a good launch to the series. We get the expected – and necessary – exposition delivered in a positive manner that makes this a vivid start to Landman.

Dreamers and Losers: “Tommy deals with the aftermath of a tragedy at the oil patch. Dynamics are disrupted when his daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) moves into the oil house.”

At 27, the notion that Randolph can play a 17-year-old high school student seems silly. That criticism aside, “Losers” moves along Season One well.

The pilot episode ended on an explosive note – literally – and “Losers” pursues the aftermath of this event. Add some more character development and the show works.

Hell Has a Front Yard: “Tommy’s son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) makes an impression at the oil patch. Things get complicated for Tommy when his ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter) comes to town.”

“Yard” sets up “city girl” attorney Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace) as a foil to Tommy in a cliché manner. This feels like a clumsy “country folk know best” trend that seems trite.

Other aspects of “Yard” fare better, but the episode still represents a dip after the first two. Hopefully the series will bounce back quickly.

The Sting of Second Chances: “After a rocky first impression, attorney Rebecca Falcone comes to Tommy’s defense. Cooper gets an unexpected call.”

After making her look silly in “Yard”, “Sting” allows Rebecca to shine. This sequence seems contrived and “over-written” but it still brings some charge.

“Sting” leans a little goofy when it contrives to combine Rebecca with Angela and Ainsley as well. Still, while the episode leans toward some over the top moments, it digs into these with enough gusto to mostly make them work.

Where Is Home: “Tommy and his crew receive an unwelcome visit at the oil patch. Angela hosts a family dinner at the oil house.

So far in S1, Cooper becomes the least interesting character, and it doesn’t help that the series pursues a predictable and trite stab at romance between him and young widow Ariana (Paulina Chávez). Maybe future episodes will find a way to make Cooper and this thread interesting, but so far, he remains a dud.

Other aspects of “Home” lean toward the sudsy side of the street, mainly because it continues to show the wreckage Hurricane Angela wreaks on her family. This leads to a spotty episode.

Beware the Second Beating: “Angela is caught off-guard when visiting Victor. The Norris family rallies around Cooper during his greatest time of need.”

When Landman fares best, it concentrates on aspects of the oil business. When it sputters, it leans toward soap opera shenanigans among the Norris clan.

Not that these elements kneecap the show, as it remains reasonably interesting. However, the deeper into S1 we go, the more melodramatic matters become, and that seems like a less than ideal trend.

All Roads Lead to a Hole: “Tommy's cartel problem continues to escalate. Angela and Ainsley get to know their community.”

The first part of that synopsis offers some intriguing material, whereas the second seems less compelling. “Roads” does soften Angela a bit and show a compassionate side not evident previously. Nonetheless, the melodramatic side of the show damages it.

Clumsy, This Life: “Tommy gets connected to the National Guard. Rebecca becomes increasingly suspicious of Cooper.”

Does that last sentence imply Cooper suddenly seems more interesting? Nope – he remains the series’ most boring character.

Other aspects of “Life” fare better, though I continue to wish Landman spent less time with various soap opera domains. It works best when it digs into the business side of matters.

WolfCamp: “After a health scare, Monty (Jon Hamm) puts Tommy in a tough position. Cooper comes up with a plan.”

As S1 pushes toward its finale, it ladles out the melodrama. Of course, that aspect has been a constant for much of the series, but “WolfCamp” ratchets up this side of matters.

Which makes it a less than strong show. While “WolfCamp” does give us a lead-in to the last show, it sputters too much.

The Crumbs of Hope: “Tommy and Cami (Demi Moore) discuss whether to gamble or play it safe. The cartel makes a move.”

The presence of Moore as a castmember feels gimmicky, mainly because she barely appears until these last couple of episodes. She gets a more prominent role over the final pair of shows but this still seems like a part that didn’t need a star for it.

Anyway, “Hope” concludes S1 in a spotty manner. It doesn’t really tie up any narrative threads, so it feels like an iffy way to finish the year.

Not that I expected anything conclusive given the nature of the project. Still, “Hope” could’ve brought some domains to a close while it still pointed the way toward Season Two.

“Hope” does introduce a Reasonably Famous Actor as a new character who I assume will appear in S2. I hope so, as he offers an intriguing presence.

As a whole, though, S1 of Landman becomes an erratic affair. When it concentrates on the oil business, it excels, but when it delves into family lives, it sags, and S1 gets less compelling as it goes. Hopefully S2 will find a better balance.

Landman appears in an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 on these Blu-ray Discs. Expect terrific visuals from the series.

Sharpness worked well across the board. Nary a sliver of softness impacted this concise and accurate presentation.

No issues with jaggies or shimmering materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to appear.

In addition to some blue/teal, the palette of Landman came dominated by a sandy yellow/amber. This makes sense for the show’s arid Texas setting and the colors felt appropriate.

Blacks appeared deep and dense, while low-light shots brought positive clarity. All in all, the image excelled.

Though not as strong, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio of Landman seemed more than satisfying. Given the series’ ambitions, it largely stuck with ambience, but it conveyed the various settings well.

When the soundscape needed to become more robust, it did so in a vivid manner. Various scenes of violence used the spectrum in a compelling way.

Audio quality felt solid, with music that came across as full and lush. Effects offered strong dynamics and punch.

Speech remained natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. While the mix rarely dazzled, it suited the series.

Eight featurettes show up on Disc Three. Constant Crisis goes for 30 minutes, 47 seconds and brings remarks from actors Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Jon Hamm, Ali Larter, James Jordan, Jacob Lofland, Kayla Wallace, Colm Feore, Mark Collie, Paulina Chávez, and Michelle Randolph.

We hear about story, characters, cast and performances. With more than half an hour at its disposal, I expected some substance from “Crisis”, but instead, it becomes a fluffy exploration of how great the series is and how much the actors loved their experiences.

Passion and Poise runs 10 minutes, 11 seconds. It involves Thornton, Moore, Hamm, and Larter.

In this one, we get thoughts about the series’ two primary married couples. A few minor insights emerge but this mainly offers more happy talk.

Next comes Welcome to the Patch. This one lasts 14 minutes, 55 seconds and provides notes from Jordan, Lofland, Thornton, supervising stunt coordinator Wade Allen, special effects supervisor Garry Elmendorf, and actor Michael Peña.

The program covers stunts and pyrotechnic effects. “Patch” becomes a fairly succinct overview of these topics.

Inside the Series occupies 22 minutes, four seconds. Hosted by Larter, it delivers remarks from Thornton, Jordan, Wallace, Hamm, Moore, Collie, Feore, Elmendorf, Lofland, Peña and Randolph.

With “Inside”, we get a general overview of the series. It exists to promote Landman so little of interest manifests across its 22 minutes.

After this we head to Meet the Millers, a two-minute, three-second reel with Moore and Hamm as they give us a general overview of their characters. Expect more promo fluff, though I guess it helped sell audiences on the belief that Moore would play a much bigger role in the series than she does.

The Best of Tommy fills two minutes, 18 seconds and simply provides a compilation of moments with the series’ lead character. It becomes a moderately entertaining collection of shots.

Up next, we find Roughnecking It, a one-minute, 45-second segment that involves Jordan. Lofland and Thornton they discuss the life of the “roughneck”. It’s another ad but it comes with a few decent thoughts about the life of the oil rig worker.

Finally, Digging Deep lasts two minutes, 58 seconds and shows Moore, Thornton, Hamm, Feore, Wallace, Jordan, Lofland, Chávez, Larter, Collie and Randolph while they answer some semi-trivia questions. It becomes another mildly enjoyable but insubstantial reel.

Set in the world of Texas oil, Landman brings an erratic first season. Despite some interesting segments related to the business, too much dull character drama materializes. The Blu-rays offer excellent picture, good audio and largely superficial bonus materials. S1 kept me with it but I hope S2 avoids as much soap opera.