Landman season 2 has been saved by Sam Elliott — but father-son scenes 'weren't easy' for Billy Bob Thornton

With Landman season 2 episode 9 dropping on Paramount+ this weekend, we're only one week away from the season finale. There's been a chaotic flurry of drama every time we've tuned in, but I'm convinced that season 2 has been the tale of the father-son relationship.

This works in two ways. Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) has had his hands full with firefighting Cooper's (Jacob Lofland) decision to take out a loan to finance an oil rig he had his eye on, deepening Tommy's rivalry with Gallino (Andy Garcia).

But for me, the most beautiful relationship is between Tommy and his own dad, T.L. (Sam Elliott). T.L. is a new Landman character for season 2, introduced after the death of Tommy's mother brings them closer together. Tommy might view him as a thorn in his side, but T.L. has been instrumental in trying to shape Tommy's life for the better.

T.L.'s sage life advice in Landman season 2 episode 8 is the perfect example of this, bringing a tear to my eye even though Tommy chose to ignore it. However, there's more to these scenes than meets the eye, as Thornton himself told me.

Billy Bob Thornton and Sam Elliott 'go way back' — and that makes emotion Landman season 2 scenes harder

Landman Season 2 Official Trailer | Paramount+ - YouTube

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"Sam and I go way back. I love the man, and he loves me," Thornton explains. "We are literally like a father and son in real life, in a lot of ways. When we're doing scenes together, they're so natural, because it's me and Sam sitting there talking to each other. The hardest part of it is probably when one or the other of us has to be mean to the other, because it's not in our hearts.

"So that's when the acting starts. It ain't gonna be easy, but I gotta do it, because as an actor, you can't hold back. If I'd done Bad Santa and said, 'can't I just be nice to some of the kids?' it wouldn't have worked. You really have to go 100% any any character you play."

Frankly, I'd pay to see that version of Bad Santa, possibly re-marketed as a Disney movie. But as Thornton rightly says, playing it wholesome in this scenario isn't going to cut the mustard.

He continues, "Some of the moments we have throughout this this season are so difficult because I'm looking him in the eye, he's looking me in the eye. He's telling me I'm not worth a damn, or I'm saying 'stop bugging the hell out of me'. It's not easy to do, but the emotion of it is there because we do love each other, and so that's what it's supposed to be in the show, too."

Landman season 3 has already been confirmed, and I'm really hoping that Elliott makes a return. New episodes are more enriched and fleshed-out with him in it – and let's be real, who's going to turn down seeing more of him?

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