Taylor Sheridan has done it again. The return of the Yellowstone creator’s oilfield-based drama series Landman has seen the show’s second season land on 
Paramount+ with another record-breaking debut. The first season of Landman continues to be a popular choice for viewers on Paramount+, alongside other Sheridan shows like Tulsa King, Lioness and, of course, Yellowstone. Now the second season has broken new ground yet again – although its celebration may have been short-lived.
According to a Paramount press release, Landman’s return to screens brought with it yet another record-breaking opener for one of Sheridan’s many series. The first season broke the viewership record set just a few months earlier by the second season of 1923, and now the new season has broken its own record, with 9.2 million global streaming views logged in the first two days. This equates to a massive 262% increase from Season 1’s premiere, making it the most watched premiere for a Paramount original series ever.
There is also a butterfly effect in play right now, because even though Landman Season 1 was charting on Paramount+ weeks before the new season dropped, it gained a 320% increase in views following the debut of Season 2. While this all seems like great news for the series, fans haven’t been quite as pleased with the second season as they were with the first, as the declining Rotten Tomatoes score is proving, and the series was immediately booted from the number one spot by South Park.
What Has Happened to ‘Landman’s Rotten Tomatoes Score?
Season 1 of Landman was something a little different from Taylor Sheridan, as he moved away from the ranches of Yellowstone, the mob bosses of Tulsa King, and the espionage of Lioness. This time around, it was a series about roughnecks and billionaires attempting to get rich in the oil industry, and in the main, a 78% critics score and 64% rating from audiences suggested that there was some room for things to grow in the unavoidable second season.
While critical reviews of remain pretty much static with Season 2 posting a 75% score, the audience rating has plummeted to 37%, one of the lowest ratings of any Sheridan show. Many reviews have pointed to one problem with the new season, that is the “stupid” and “annoying” characters of Angela and Ainsley Norris, played by Ali Larter and Michelle Randolph, respectively. As one review put it, “I would rate the series much higher if they would focus on the main premise of the show rather than getting distracted by this mother/daughter sideshow that seems to take up way too much screen time.”
Taylor Sheridan’s shows have often veered towards a soap opera level of melodrama. This time, it seems that it seems that what was tolerable in the first season has now become something that is turning many viewers off. While Landman has already been renewed for Season 3, and the initial wave of viewers has been vast, whether they stick around for the rest of the season is something we can only wait to find out.