Warning: this article contains spoilers for Landman season 1.Unfortunately, the decision not to shy away from its most unusual running joke comes at the expense of Landman‘s best story. The ongoing Paramount+ series explores the lives of people working in the oil industry in West Texas, from those working on the oil rigs to the wealthy oil executives. Landman features an impressive cast led by Billy Bob Thorton in the lead role of Tommy Norris, a crisis manager for an oil company. The show’s gripping representation of the lives of people in the oil industry doesn’t sidestep the gritty, dangerous aspects of being a landman or the drama. However, the show has also garnered some very specific complaints from viewers.
Taylor Sheridan’s most recent series has come under fire for its depictions of women characters, and, in particular, Tommy Norris’s teenage daughter Ainsley Norris. From Landman episode one, the character of Ainsley was set up in a very unsettling way that sexualized her and created some strange interactions with her father and other adult men. Audiences quickly began to criticize Landman‘s depiction of the 17-year-old girl, and, based on the events of episode 4, it seems that the show is continuing to lean into her uncomfortable scenes.
Tommy & Ainsley’s Story Is The Heart Of Landman
Their Reconnection Is The Sweetest Part Of The Show At Times
Despite the show’s intense subject matter surrounding Tommy’s work life, his story with his daughter is the heart of the series. Because, at the beginning of the season, the family’s dynamics were quite strange and disconnected, Tommy’s attempts to rejoin his family are crucial emotional underpinnings for the show. Though Landman itself often seems to forget this: Ainsley is still a teenager, and she wants her family to be together, or at least to get along.
The relationship between Tommy and Ainsley is truly at the core of Landman and is indicative of his attempts to create a true connection, but Sheridan’s choices for Ainsley sadly undercut the emotional depth that the character could add to the show.
This is made very clear through her actions in episode 4, “The Sting of Second Chances,” in which Ainsley attempts to serve as a mediator between her parents when they encounter each other at the bar. Later, she works to assure her dad that she would never leave him like her mom, creating a crucial moment of reconciliation between the two. The relationship between Tommy and Ainsley is truly at the core of Landman and is indicative of his attempts to create a true connection, but Sheridan’s choices for Ainsley sadly undercut the emotional depth that the character could add to the show.
Landman’s Creepy Ainsley Story Is Holding The Show Back
Ainsley Points To A Bigger Problem In Sheridan’s Writing
Similar to Ainsley’s interactions with her father’s friends in previous episodes, Landman episode 4 replays the same joke of her appearing in skimpy outfits while the men are barely able to contain their interest. Then, rather than telling off his friends for their inappropriate behavior, Tommy tells his daughter to cover up more. Unfortunately, these moments detract from the value of the show, and they make audiences question whether Tommy and Ainsley’s relationship, which had the potential to be quite wholesome, is really adding anything positive to Landman at all.
Angela Norris surprisingly got jealous of Rebecca Falcone and got back together with Tommy in Landman episode 4, and there’s a simple reason why.
While creating a difficult but fixable family dynamic for Tommy Norris could have been a good counterpoint to Landman‘s intense scenes of the oil business, Sheridan’s choice to constantly sexualize Ainsley ends up holding the show back. While the character has a lot of potential with Michelle Randolph playing the character, she’s yet to have the opportunity to present her as the layered, multidimensional character that she can be in Landman.
