Landman Is Going Full There Will Be Blood In Season 3

2 hours ago 14

Published Sep 4, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.

Since Landman revolves around the shady dealings of the oil industry, and the guys making money hand over fist from exploding wells of black gold, it’s often been compared to There Will Be Blood. Taylor Sheridan’s writing is nowhere near as subtle or as nuanced or as profound as Paul Thomas Anderson’s, but Billy Bob Thornton is every bit as captivating a screen presence as Daniel Day-Lewis. Even through Landman’s weaker storylines, Thornton’s irresistible Southern charms and cowboy swagger keep it more than watchable.

So far, Landman has only been compared to There Will Be Blood in broad strokes. They’re both dramas about oilmen, bolstered by pitch-black humor and a compelling antihero, using the horrors of the oil industry as a microcosm of American industry as a whole: unchecked capitalism, unsafe working conditions, separating the worker from the means of production, etc. But in season 3, the parallels will become a lot more direct.

At the end of Landman season 2, Tommy got squeezed out of his job and decided to start a new company with all his friends and family on the board of directors. Free from the puppet-strings of a larger corporation, Tommy is going out on his own, working the new wells with an independent, family-run business. They’ll be the Bob’s Burgers of the Texas oil fields.

Tommy has named his son Cooper as the president of his new company, so they’re officially in business together. This is the closest parallel between Landman and There Will Be Blood yet. There Will Be Blood is a father-son business story, following the uneasy partnership between Daniel Plainview and his adopted son H.W. The cutthroat business world tests their personal relationship, and the same thing could happen in Landman season 3 when naive, inexperienced Cooper comes to play with the big dogs.

Landman Is The Anti-There Will Be Blood

Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris driving in Landman Season 2 Episode 5

While Landman is often compared to There Will Be Blood, they couldn’t be less alike. They both take place in the business of oil, but their approaches are completely different, and their views on oil are diametrically opposed. Where There Will Be Blood uses oil as a thick, black, gooey visual metaphor for the corruption of Daniel’s soul, Landman adheres to the much more romantic “Texas tea” portrayal of the oil industry. In There Will Be Blood, striking oil is the first step toward becoming a monster. But in Landman, striking oil is just the first step toward living the American dream, baby!

Much like Daniel Plainview, Tommy Norris made his fortune in oil and left more than a few dead bodies along the way. It’s actually kind of weird how many of Tommy’s employees end up dead. Every couple of episodes, Tommy loses an employee in a freak workplace accident. It’s a way to imbue the series with some action and high stakes, and show how dangerous oil drilling can be, but the show makes it look like all the oil-drilling deaths come from the same company. Tommy has to pay a visit to more grieving Texas widows than the U.S. military.

There Will Be Blood is one of the greatest movies of the 21st century, while Landman is basically a glorified soap opera. But Landman is still solid entertainment. It might not have as much depth or substance as P.T.A.’s magnum opus, but it’s a fun watch. Every time I hear Angela’s ringtone on Tommy’s phone, I can’t help but crack a smile.

While There Will Be Blood is a cinematic masterpiece, it’s pretty bleak and intense. Landman, on the other hand, is breezy and funny and fast-paced. They’re apples and oranges, but sometimes you just want an orange.