In an Uneven Season, Sam Elliott Elevated ‘Landman’ With a Brutal, Funny and Horny Depiction of Being an Old Man

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from Season 2 of “Landman,” now available to stream on Paramount+.

When we first see Sam Elliott, he’s watching the sunset, waiting to die.

The veteran actor joined the second season of “Landman” as T.L., the estranged father of the titular landman, Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton). In his first scene, he’s seated in the backyard of a run-down assisted living facility during the West Texas golden hour, transfixed by the sun. At that point, it’s the only thing that gets T.L. up in the morning, especially since his wife, Dorothy, is at a separate memory care facility.

Memories are what keep Tommy and T.L. at odds, as T.L. is still in love with a vision of Dorothy that no longer exists. She spiraled into darkness after losing a child, and while T.L. left home to work in the fields and avoid his grief, young Tommy knew his mother only as a violent alcoholic.

When Dorothy dies, Tommy’s ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter) insists that T.L. moves in to be with the newly reconciled family — and one of writer and co-creator Taylor Sheridan’s best character arcs kicks into gear. Elliott is the perfect vessel; and every line on his face evokes the bad decisions he made that Tommy still has time to avoid.

At 81, Elliott has entertained generations of audiences, from his barrel-chested breakout role in 1976’s “Lifeguard,” to unforgettable performances in ’90s historical blockbusters like 1993’s “Gettysburg” and “Tombstone,” as a cowboy poet in 1998’s “The Big Lebowski,” and a tearjerking, Oscar-nominated performance in 2018’s “A Star Is Born.” In “Landman,” he’s able to synthesize a lifetime of work into scene-stealing moments older actors rarely receive.

As the season starts, things are tough for T.L. As Elliott told me before the season began, “I spent a good part of my time in tears” on set. It was affecting to see an actor so known for his physical presence and bravado play a broken-down man. “My body is turning against me,” T.L. says in one episode, with both of the actor’s signature features — that deep voice and mustache — quavering from the realization of his age. A lifetime in the oil fields has left him weakened and wobbly, leading to embarrassing moments such as his joints seizing up or falling into the pool and not being able to get back out.

Yet the joy of seeing Angela and his granddaughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) making themed dinners around the house quickly warms the man, who is able to find a second chance at life through their energy. Elliott’s progression from cranky old salt to warm grandpa is gradual and profanity-filled, but he ends up being a beacon of change for Tommy, who is constantly annoyed by the problems of his fast-paced life and the somewhat frivolous problems of his ex-wife and daughter.

“You got it all, son, but you’re too fucking stupid to see it,” T.L. tells Tommy one day over lunch at a diner in the middle of nowhere. “Or too mad, or too addicted to the fix. Whatever it is, you’re missing it.”

Normally, Tommy would tell anyone else with advice to kick rocks, but instead, moved by his father’s candor, he steps outside to take some contemplative drags off a cigarette. Later that night, he turns over a new leaf emotionally with Angela, verbalizing that he loves her — a move that couldn’t have been done without his father.

Luckily, things never get too mushy with T.L. When a man from his past starts talking about his just-passed wife, T.L. starts swinging until the police have to intervene. He cusses out Tommy for pulling on his mustache when he believes he passed away during his nap. And T.L. is quick to talk about how much he loves women.

Yes, “Landman” is a show unafraid to explore how horny octogenarians can be. T.L. was constantly waxing philosophically about the touch of a woman, and took no greater joy than a friendly conversation with a beautiful neighbor, or even a gentle dance with Angela at the honkey tonk. This led to one of the season’s most unexpected and touching friendships, when Tommy hired an exotic dancer named Cheyenne (Francesca Xuereb) to be T.L.’s dubiously skilled physical therapist and aquatherapy expert. The pair spent hours embracing in a pool, with Cheyenne in her barely-there bikini and T.L. floating along in jeans. Elliott’s blissed-out expression was miles away from where we met him earlier in the season, baking away in the sun.

This season has faced criticism from fans as prioritizing Tommy’s family drama at the expense of the oil industry gamesmanship of the first season. But during the last shot of the season — as Tommy is staring into the setting sun after making things right with Angela — he speaks to God one last time, as he’s been doing the whole episode: “No, you can’t have today, bud. Today is mine.”

He never would have gotten there without T.L. showing him what that sunset could bring, and only an actor like Elliott could conjure so much pathos and humor into this cowboy’s last ride.

Watch a key scene between T.L. and Tommy below.