How Taylor Sheridan's Personal Life Helped Influence Angela's Arc In Landman

Compared to his numerous other TV shows that are brimming with testosterone, intensity, and gravitas, Taylor Sheridan's Paramount+ hit "Landman" is significantly looser. I mean that in a good way. It's not that the Billy Bob Thornton-led oil drama doesn't have its raw, violent, and utterly suspenseful moments — hell, it even kicks off with one, as our hero stares down a Mexican cartel member in a hangar after he just shot someone dead — but this time the writer-creator also allows his characters to dabble in some more casual fun. That mainly happens when Thornton's Tommy Norris isn't out there on the field trying to solve problems for his billionaire oilman employer, Monty Miller (Jon Hamm). When Tommy is simply being a dad and an ex-husband whose wife wants to get back with him, his much-welcome deadpan humor lands with great aplomb.

But that wouldn't be nearly as entertaining without Ali Larter's feisty and vivacious Angela Norris, an absolute force of nature of a woman who riles up everyone around her just the right amount for fun. Still, Sheridan had continuously received criticism for writing awfully stereotypical and one-dimensional female characters for years, and I wouldn't say "Landman" resolves that whatsoever. But here, they're certainly more amusing to watch. For once, some of them actually serve as comic relief instead of simply being tough-as-nails and relentless women trying to survive in a man's world. Angela is definitely one of those, and her storyline repeatedly brings on hilarious and bonkers moments that almost feel uncharacteristic and out-of-place in a Sheridan project. Yet they're nothing if not a hoot. And one of those instances is a simultaneously funny and sweet one inspired by Sheridan's personal life.

In episode 7 of the first season, Angela and her daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) spontaneously decide to visit a nursing home as they drive past it to surprise its residents and liven up their mundane lives a little. After speaking to them and seeing how bleak and miserable their usual days are, the two throw a party for them, playing card games and having margaritas, and then taking the bunch to a bowling alley and eventually to a strip club later on. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Larter talked about where the inspiration for these scenes came from. She said,

"A lot of his [Sheridan's] stories are inspired by his wife. She does that. She goes to the homes here and has these incredible relationships. She plays games and sets up a bar for them. It's the way it should be. They're in their prime and they get shoved into these awful retirement homes where nobody loves or cares for them. Nicole [Sheridan] has really opened up this world of the way that we can see senior citizens, how we can treat them and have fun with them, and how little effort it takes to bring so much happiness to someone's life."

Although these moments practically have nothing to do with "Landman's" main storyline, they offer a refreshing change of pace and tone in a series that's riddled with gritty men making hard, sometimes life-threatening choices that bring them nothing but grief, violence, and greed. And as it turns out, those regular macho themes can co-exist with some silly and light-hearted fun even in a typical Taylor Sheridan series.