Sumith Prasad
Created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Paramount+’s drama series ‘Landman’ revolves around Tommy Norris, a crisis executive or a “landman” who works for the prominent oil company M-Tex Oil. Tommy not only procures land to turn it into oil fields but also manages the workers employed at these places known as the “patches.” Through his POV, the show sheds light on the operation and growth of the oil companies and the industry in general in the state of Texas. Since oil is an integral and unignorable part of life in the Lone Star State, it is obvious that the narrative has roots in reality. Still, the division of truth and fiction within the series’ storylines deserves an examination!
Landman is a Fictional Drama Series Inspired by a Documentary Podcast
The principal narrative of ‘Landman’ is fictional and created by Taylor Sheridan. However, a documentary series that details the growth of the oil industry in Texas in the 21st century serves as the foundation for the show’s storylines. Sheridan wrote the episodes partially based on Christian Wallace’s celebrated podcast ‘Boomtown,’ which explores the reality behind the oil companies in the Lone Star State and the lives of workers employed by these industrial heavyweights. As someone who worked as a roughneck on drilling rigs for a year, Wallace relied on his first-hand experiences to host the podcast.
Wallace described his podcast as “just a launching point” for ‘Landman,’ clarifying that Sheridan independently created the dramatic narrative of the show. “Taylor had a lot of his own ideas coming into it and already had some characters and things he wanted to do. So we just combined some elements of the podcast with a story and the family that he already had in mind, and it worked out really, really well,” the co-creator told EW. In other words, the characters in the drama series are fictional, with real-life events inspiring their respective storylines.
Wallace reportedly regularly discussed his and his family members’ experiences working in oil fields with Sheridan for two years, which seemingly enhanced the authenticity of the characters and storylines the latter created. Thus, the fictional portion of the series is heavily rooted in reality.
The Independent Storylines in Landman Draw Inspiration From Real-Life Events
‘Landman’ begins with a crash between an oil tank and a small aircraft that kills several individuals. The rest of the first episode explores how Tommy Norris, the protagonist, deals with the incident. Similarly, the second episode delves into the aftermath of an explosion that occurs in an oil field that demands the crisis executive’s intervention. In real life, we can see multiple parallels to these happenings. As per ‘Boomtown,’ the growth of the oil industry has resulted in an increase in automobile accidents on U.S. Route 285, which is infamous as the Highway to Hell. As the first episode depicts, these traffic fatalities often involve trucks transporting oil from the fields.
Blowouts similar to the one in the show’s first episode have become a recurring tragedy in Texas since the “oil boom” began in the state. A blowout that occurred in a Wendland well operated by Chesapeake Energy in Burleson County in January 2020 killed three employees and injured one. The numbers align perfectly with the casualties of the tragedy in the show. This one example doesn’t really represent the frequency and scale of the explosions that happened in Texas. Throughout the 2010s, blowouts shook the state severely, and the plights of the workers who continue to put their lives on the line for their daily wage in these oil patches, irrespective of these tragedies, are portrayed in ‘Landman’ through the experiences of Cooper, Armando, and many more characters.
In a way, the series pays homage to the lives that perished in the oil fields in Texas. “I just hope that people can appreciate the idea of people who work really hard, most of their lives, in a place that is not the prettiest,” Wallace told EW, emphasizing the need to acknowledge the thankless work done by employees whose lives are on the line day after day. “For better or for worse, our world runs on [oil], and until we have another alternative, somebody has to do the dirty work. And I think that the people who do it deserve some credit, and I think that is something that this show will do,” the co-creator added.
Tommy Norris Represents the Landmen Who Made the Oil Boom Possible in Texas
Tommy Norris is not based on any one landman based in Texas. Instead, he represents the entire group of workers who ensure that oil companies make a lot of money from the fields in the state. Over the years, many prominent personalities have worked as landmen sometime in their lifetimes, including George W. Bush, a former president of the country. Aubrey McClendon and Tom L. Ward, the former CEOs of Chesapeake Energy and SandRidge Energy, respectively, also began their career working as landmen. Tommy is a representative of all these figures who contributed immensely to the growth of the oil industry.
Through Tommy, Taylor Sheridan’s series depicts the cost of being a landman. His commitment to his job severely affects his duties as a husband and father, resulting in intricate relationships with his ex-wife and two children. Even though he is fictional, his experiences and struggles are seemingly part of this real-life profession. “The oil business… It’s a job where your time is very limited with the people around you, your friends, your family,” Billy Bob Thornton, who plays Tommy, said in the same EW interview. “And so part of this show is about that struggle to be a father and desperately wanting to be, but having a lot of trouble doing it well,” the actor added, clarifying why his character is extremely relatable.
We can see landmen like Tommy throughout West Texas. Their dedication and hard work are reflected in the show through the protagonist’s commitment to M-Tex Oil, an oil company that is not drastically different from the major players in the industry in real life. Ultimately, it is immensely difficult to separate the truth and fiction in ‘Landman’ since the latter elements heavily rely on the former.
Read More: Landman Season 2 Confirmed; to be Filmed in Midland and Fort Worth
