‘Landman’ Co-Creator Teases Season 3 Reset, Talks Billy Bob Thornton’s “Nerve-Racking” Finale Move

Christian Wallace answers The Hollywood Reporter’s burning questions after that surprising season two ending.

Sam Elliott and Billy Bob Thornton in ‘Landman’ season two. Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Landman is headed for a reset in season three.

In the season two finale of co-creators Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace‘s mega-hit Paramount+ series, Billy Bob Thornton‘s Tommy Norris decides to go out on his own after he’s fired by Cami (Demi Moore) from the company, M-Tex Oil, that Tommy was appointed president of after the death of his friend, Monty (Jon Hamm). But in order to launch his family-run company — titled CTT Oil after the Norris men of son Cooper (Jacob Lofland), grandfather T.L. (Sam Elliott) and Tommy (Thornton) — Tommy makes a deal with the devil: cartel boss Gallino (Andy Garcia). Gallino warns Tommy that if their partnership goes south, he will take what he loves most in this world.

Below, Wallace says they are in wait-and-see mode as Sheridan sets out to write season three. “There’s a great level of trust there that whatever Taylor decides will be the right move,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. But what he is sure of is that season three will be a reset for the West Texas-set oil drama, as the Paramount+ series will follow Tommy and co. as they get CTT Oil up and running. Read his season two finale explanation and predictions for next season, below.

***

I’m nervous about what a happy ending means for season three, because I don’t think we get consecutive happy endings in the Sheridan-verse.

I think you’ve watched enough TV to have pretty good instincts.

This season does seem to set up what we spoke about at the start of the season, around your long-term, multi-season Landman plan.

It’s kind of a reset [for season three]. We have these characters entering into different dynamics with one another, and now we have T.L., Tommy and Cooper all working at the same company, but not under the auspices of this larger corporation. It’s now family-run, very small, starting from almost scratch. That’s a whole new dynamic for them. Along with these other characters from M-Tex who are taking a pretty big gamble.

Gambling is kind of a motif this season. You have Angela in the casino, but you have Cami gambling on this as well, and now Tommy is kind of gambling on himself, which he has been reluctant to do. When we meet him in the pilot, he’s talking about how things didn’t work out for him, so he ended up with nothing and working for M-Tex for his buddy Monty. A lot has changed in his life. We’ve seen him grow a lot over the course of season two, and with his family dynamics. Now he’s kind of going back to the roulette wheel and betting on himself. So, it’s exciting and also a little nerve-racking.

What excites you about a reset? Do you feel like you will reinvent the wheel for season three, or do you already have a clear picture of where you guys are going?

At the end of the day, it is Taylor’s plan and we’re all just waiting on what he decides to do. There’s a great level of trust there that whatever Taylor decides will be the right move. There are a lot of possibilities, but I’m not sure myself exactly how it’s going to play out. So, we’ll see.

From what I understand, you are sticking with the timeline — you go back into production in May and season three will release at a similar time next year. Do you feel like you’re in a groove now?

Oh, definitely. We’re in a groove. We are a little bit later than we were the last two seasons, but that only matter for us because of the heat in Texas. When we get back into production this year, it’s going to be pretty full on, and just getting hotter. That’s the big struggle from a production standpoint for us being on set every day. We have so many exteriors, and that’s a good thing because this show thrives in the dust and the heat and the reality of that gritty, hot world. But it is hard on the crew and cast, and on everybody. Twelve-hour days in 100-plus degree weather is no joke. But that is our cross to bear, not the audiences’. I’m excited about the schedule and I think the rhythm we’re in right now works really well.

Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy with Demi Moore’s Cami in season two. Emerson Miller/Paramount+

You don’t know what Taylor has in store, but when you think about filming that final season two scene — both Tommy and Angela’s conversation and Tommy’s face off with the coyote — how worried should Tommy be about this threat from Gallno that if he messes up this deal, the cartel boss is coming after everyone Tommy loves?

We ended season one with the reality of how violent and real that threat can be. Tommy knows it better than anybody. He’s the one who had a nail in his thigh; that level of reality was being doused in gasoline [in the season one finale]. So he knows that these are not idle threats. But also, Tommy is a survivor and also a predator himself. The symbolism of that coyote can mean so many different things, but I do think it is great that we get to have a couple of those moments where Tommy is present and has absorbed the lessons from T.L. throughout this season.

“Look, man, your life is going to pass you by; this is your life, and your life doesn’t suck as bad as you make it out to be. You have all these people around you who are insane, but they love you, and they love each other. Enjoy that. Don’t forget that is also as real as the blowouts you’re dealing with in the patch.” We see Tommy in a few of those moments actually take that in, and those, to me, are some of the really nice moments in this season.

Is there a role for Cami in season three? Do you think Demi Moore will return?

I think there are so many different opportunities and ways this can play out. At the end of the day, I’m putting my trust in Taylor and his decisions for all of these characters’ storylines. That one is above my pay grade.

This season, viewers went wild for Billy Bob Thornton’s full-frontal nudity scene.

To clarify, it wasn’t an actual full frontal. We had an on-set intimacy coordinator, and the original prosthetic she brought in made everyone laugh. We were like, “No.” So we went with a more humble alternative. (Laughs.) That was a hilarious day on set. But it is surprising to me that people think that was actually Billy doing full-frontal nudity. So I should say props to our intimacy coordinator for making it extremely realistic, and to the props team. They had a whole rig, as Billy called it: “Got my rig on.”

Another storyline that sparked a reaction was with Ainsley’s nonbinary roommate, Paigyn (Bobbi Salvör Menuez). Some viewers say this is Taylor speaking to the conservative audience. Did this feel like a hot-button storyline when you were filming, and would you say Taylor likes to make some noise and push some of those buttons?

I think there are moments in both seasons of Landman that do press some buttons, and they start interesting conversations. A lot of the time, they’re portrayed as more one dimensional than they actually are. A lot of times, these hot-button issues that are pressed, those little pokes, are more nuanced than they’re portrayed. I think we all kind of knew it would elicit some reaction, but if you follow the storyline, it’s not as one dimensional as it’s made out to be by a lot of outlets.

These two seasons have taken place across 10 to 15 days, with some time in between seasons. So the entire Landman story is only over a couple of months. Do you anticipate season three would be similar, and that you would pick up not long after and it would play out in a condensed time period?

Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to depart too far from the storytelling template we’ve put forth so far. It feels right for this story, and we’ll continue to operate within that format we’ve established.

Now with CTT Oil, will season three spend more time in the oil fields? Will there be more action; will the show still spend time with Ainsley in college? Does Angela have a role in CTT?

You can definitely expect that we’ll continue to see the range of dynamics that is embedded in this show. The show is Ainsley and Dale [James Jordan[ and Cooper and Ariana [Paulina Chávez]. It really is this conglomerate of crazy, diverse storylines. But that’s a modern family. They’re all over the place, and I think we can expect more of that. As a West Texas guy myself, I’m always going to want to push more storylines in the Permian Basin and that kind of gritty oil and gas. I love those characters. I love that setting. So anytime we can get more of that into the show, I’m all for it. This definitely presents more opportunities for that, with them starting the small independent company. It’s really exciting for me to see what we can do and play with there.

And this confirms Sam Elliott will return for season three?

I think Sam has said it on the record that he’s coming back!