Landman's Finale Finally Introduced The Character I've Been Waiting For, But Totally Dropped The Ball With Another Underused Actor

Major spoilers below for the Season 1 finale of Taylor Sheridan’s Landman, so tread carefully if you haven’t yet streamed the ep with a Paramount+ subscription.

With its first two episodes, Landman set up Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris as a lead character who won some fans over more than Yellowstone’s John Dutton had, and the streaming drama’s first season ended with the oil-focused patriarch suffering more than a few wounds at the hands (and hammered nails) of the Mexican cartel. All while Ali Larter’s Angela and Michelle Randolph’s Ainsley provided good vibes a-plenty while exploiting Mitchell Slaggert’s Ryder for his stripping skills.

Arguably most exciting was the arrival of a character whose introduction was set up by a long-ago casting report, but I’m not altogether sold on how successful the ep was on the whole, considering the Season 1 conclusion committed the same sin as the rest of the season by under-utilizing co-star Demi Moore. But we’ll get into that a bit lower down.

Andy Garcia's Galino Finally Arrived In A More Peaceful Way Than Expected

As one of the first major TV finales of the 2025 TV schedule, Landman delivered all kinds of titillation, from fiery explosions to close-up violence to strip-club shenanigans. Those first two tied back Episode 8’s National Guard airstrike test that accidentally took out a cartel vehicle and its inhabitants. Tommy’s dwindling relationship with the criminal organization might have fizzled out completely if Alex Meraz’s Jiminez had been able to continue torturing Tommy to death to send a message.

Fortunately for Billy Bob Thornton’s lead, Jiminez’s efforts were limited to several punches to the face, a hammer thwack to the hand, a nail driven into his thigh, and a can of gasoline being poured over his hooded head. Before the cartel enforcer could issue further damage, a slew of gunshots rang out in the gentleman’s club located above their heads, and Jiminez was shot to death by his own organization.

Which is when we joined Tommy in finally some face-time with Andy Garcia’s cartel kingpin Galino, whose personality and motivations are largely still a mystery to audiences, since he was only on screen for around seven minutes. I can’t be sure, but it seems like Jerry Jones’ cameo in the penultimate episode had more speaking time, but maybe it’s just because he told a long anecdote.

Considering the majority of the first season played out without his on-screen involvement, I’m hoping Galino and Tommy have to work closely together in the future to maintain peace without the need for more bodies to drop. Because if Galino didn’t hesitate to take out seemingly Jimenez's entire team, I imagine his more chaotic impulses will be very fun to watch Tommy tiptoe around as he tries to manipulate the gang boss.

Demi Moore's Cami Remained Criminally Underused, Which Needs To Be Fixed For Season 2

I realize that Taylor Sheridan likely had no inkling in mind that Demi Moore would win her first major acting award as Landman was in the midst of its first season. (She took home the 2025 Golden Globe for her stellar performance in Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance.) And so he didn’t have it in mind that he could easily capitalize on such success with her character Cami, who was easily the most underused in Season 1’s fully loaded ensemble.

As the doting wife of Jon Hamm’s oil-tethered bazillionaire Monty Miller, Cami appeared in more than half of Landman’s episodes, but without heading up her own storyline, and the finale didn’t exactly change the game in that respect. Because even though the preceding episode ended in a way that made it appear as if Monty had died, which could have led to Moore’s Cami nailing a marquee emotional sequence in the concluding ep, things didn’t play out so fatally.

Though her screentime was definitely upped in the extended-length episode, Moore’s character was mostly limited to looking sad during conversations about handling Monty’s will and assets in ways that are most likely to leave everyone millionaires. Later, we finally do get a moment with Cami sobbing against Monty’s chest as their daughters weep nearby, and the flat lines on the monitor make it seem clear that he did indeed pass on.

I’ll allow that Sheridan might not have even had much in mind for Camy’s story beyond her being a dutiful wife and friend to Tommy, and that Moore may not have been primed to take on anything wildly dramatic. But now that we’re at a point where she’s as hot an acting commodity as ever, I can only hope that Cami’s role in Season 2 is as beefy as Texas’ heaviest cattle, even if it means the creator has to make a few changes to his scripts before production begins anew.

All in all, the finale did a solid enough job of setting up this world’s near future, even if Paramount+ execs haven’t officially put the order in yet. Despite our hopes to see Jacob Lofland’s Cooper in the field more, it appears he’s taking a more physically manageable route as a deal broker for Tim DeZarn’s Perry Hardin and his neighbors, and his relationship with Paulina Chavez’s Ariana Medina is still heading in positive directions, albeit understandably slowly as she continues to mourn.

But before we can see how any of the above story points play out in the future, Season 2 has to actually exist. So just in case the studio bosses still need convincing, be sure to tell everyone you know to stream episodes of Landman on Paramount+.