FORT WORTH, Texas — Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” opens its first season with Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris strapped to a chair with a bag over his head.

Tommy had been sent out to negotiate an agreement with the cartel, which owned the land his company has the mineral rights to. A punch to the head later, some numbers are crunched and the cartel agrees to Tommy’s proposal.

This may be a dramatized scenario, but there is some truth there to what an actual landman does.

“While the cartel is likely not the owner that me or my team is getting engaged with, you don’t get to pick and choose who you are going to engage with,” certified professional landman Julie Woodard said.

“Landman” returned Sunday, Nov. 16, for its second season on Paramount+.

Much of the cast is back for this go-around, including Thornton, Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Andy Garcia, Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph and more. “1883” star Sam Elliott also joins the cast as Tommy’s father, T.L.

“In Season 2, as oil rises from the earth, so do secrets – and Tommy Norris’s (Thornton) breaking point may be closer than he realizes. Facing mounting pressure from M-Tex Oil, Cami Miller (Moore), and the shadow of his kin, survival in West Texas isn’t noble – it’s brutal. And sooner or later something’s got to break,” the show’s synopsis reads.

While it does dramatize the job, Woodard said the show has been a net positive so far in raising awareness for the profession and helping explain the important role landmen play.

“The roles and expertise of our profession are crucial to basically the entire lifecycle of an energy project,” said Woodard, who is the senior land manager for Expand Energy and senior vice president of the American Association of Professional Landmen. “It goes beyond the signing of the agreement.”

How real-life landmen helped ‘Landman’

A few years before “Landman” released, Kyle Reynolds recalls seeing an interview with Sheridan where he mentioned writing a series based in the oil and gas industry.

Reynolds, managing member for RBG Permian LLC and AAPL president, then brought it to the attention of the landmen association, which got in contact with the filmmaker. The AAPL helped provide Sheridan with educational material on the profession and the association.

That help also led to show changing titles from “Land Man” to “Landman,” which Reynolds said is the correct one-word term for the profession.

“I think it really helped them craft a little bit more accurate story than where they began,” Reynolds said.

The AAPL’s involvement in the show continued throughout the first season, with a weekly companion podcast.

Each episode saw landmen discuss the episode and dispel fact from fiction. Reynolds said the AAPL saw a “great” response with the podcast and is planning to cover the show again this season.

After “Landman” airs Sunday, the podcast will release a new episode the following Thursday.

Thornton’s Tommy is seen negotiating land deals, visiting oil rigs and answering what seems like 50 phone calls a day throughout the first season.

One particular heroic moment in Episode 2 sees Tommy seal a leak on a blown-out oil rig that’s still on fire. In the process, he smashes his pinky with a hammer and later slices off the tip at the hospital while growing impatient with the doctor.

This isn’t something that real-life landmen typically do, but there are certain environmental and human threats that could pop up, Woodard said. Plus, there have been times when security has been a concern, just not as dramatic as the show presents.

“It’s not common, I would say, to face life or death encounters,” she said.

What the show gets right is the complexity of some of the deals and arrangements made between companies and landowners.

A landman will help clarify what the operator’s rights are going to be for use of the land, while talking to the owner about what their rights are throughout the life cycle of a well, Woodard said.

Landmen also find themselves in morally ambiguous situations just like Tommy does.

Oftentimes they’re balancing business interests with what’s ethically right or what the most socially responsible way to handle something is, Woodard said. There’s also the legal and regulatory aspects of the job.

Every day landmen are running things through their legal department to comply with state, local or county regulations. There’s an attempt to represent that in Kayla Wallace’s Rebecca, who is a lawyer working hand-in-hand with Tommy.

“Again, fully dramatized in the show, but similar,” Woodard said.

Does the accuracy in ‘Landman’ matter to landmen?

Any news is good news, Reynolds said.

Most people probably do not know how the electricity gets there when they flip on a light switch. If the show can help start some of that conversation, Reynolds said that would be a plus.

The analogy Reynolds uses is if people thought hospitals ran like “Grey’s Anatomy” or “ER,” they would be terrified to go to them. Thus, there are some creative liberties with “Landman,” especially in how Tommy’s job on the show makes up about five to six people’s duties in real life.

“[They] condense all those into one character and then have every day of his life be the most exciting day in somebody’s career,” Reynolds said.

For Woodard, the only thing that “Landman” does to make the industry look bad revolves around its portrayal of safety standards.

From explosions to workers being crushed, there are several injuries seen through the show’s first season. Moreso than other industries, the oil industry has strict regulations and protocols to ensure everybody stays safe on a rig.

Granted, most people likely realize the truth and know that it’s the complete opposite in real life, but Woodard said that’s the one thing she doesn’t see portrayed in the show.

“For me, looking at all the things that the show does really well, I think that outweighs the things that it probably exaggerates or doesn’t get exactly right,” Woodard said. “Because I do think it draws that awareness to the profession.”

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“Landman” Season 2 airs Sundays on Paramount+.

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