LOS ANGELES – If Taylor Sheridan’s Landman was a gusher in Season 1, Season 2 is the full-on Permian Basin blowout everyone’s been drilling for. The Paramount+ drama struck ratings black gold this week, racking up a staggering 9.2 million global streaming views for its premiere episode in just the first 48 hours after dropping on November 16, 2025. That’s a jaw-dropping 262% surge from the Season 1 launch, cementing it as the most-watched original series premiere in the streamer’s history and sending Sheridan’s oil-soaked empire into overdrive. Fans aren’t just tuning in; they’re hooked, blasting social media with clips of Billy Bob Thornton’s grizzled fixer Tommy Norris staring down corporate sharks and family ghosts, all while the West Texas dust swirls thicker than ever. “Sheridan cranked the pressure to 11 – this season’s gonna bury you in secrets deeper than a fracking well,” one X user raved, echoing the frenzy that’s got #LandmanS2 trending with over 500k posts in three days.

Paramount+ didn’t hold back on the victory lap. In a rare transparent flex, the platform revealed the numbers using the industry’s gold-standard metric: total minutes viewed (a whopping 450.8 million for the 49-minute opener) divided by runtime. It’s a metric tweak from Season 1’s household counts, but the results speak volumes – and louder than the seismic rumbles in the show’s fictional boomtowns. Samba TV’s U.S.-only household data clocked 1.7 million homes on premiere day, a dip from Season 1’s 2.7 million, but Paramount’s global tally paints the fuller picture: this bad boy is drilling international audiences harder than M-Tex Oil chasing the next strike. Bonus boom? Views for the entire first season spiked 320% in the 28 days post-premiere, proving newbies aren’t just dipping a toe – they’re diving headfirst into the muck.

Social buzz? It’s a fracking explosion. The Season 2 drop clocked 255.6k interactions across platforms in the first day alone – a 489% leap from last year’s debut. X lit up like a gas flare, with Billy Bob Thornton himself stumping for Fort Worth in a promo clip that racked up 1.8k views overnight. “Season 2 coming in hot 🔥,” the official @landmanpplus account teased with a sizzle reel, pulling 44k views and 441 likes before the dust settled. Over on Reddit and TikTok, fan edits mash up Thornton’s drawl with explosive rig footage, while theories swirl about Demi Moore’s Cami Miller: Is she Tommy’s salvation or the spark that blows the whole operation sky-high? “Bigger stakes, bolder lies – Sheridan’s got me yelling at my TV again,” one viral thread proclaimed, with 2k upvotes.

Sheridan’s fingerprints are all over this geyser of success. The co-creator (with Christian Wallace, inspired by the Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown) has built an empire on rugged antiheroes clawing through moral oil slicks – think Yellowstone‘s Dutton ranch feuds meets 1883‘s frontier grit, but swapped for hardhats and hydraulic fracturing. Season 1 averaged 15.8 million cross-platform viewers in its Nielsen window, but Season 2’s launch feels like Sheridan hitting paydirt after years of priming the pump. “As oil rises from the earth, so do secrets,” teases the logline, and the premiere delivers: Tommy’s mounting debts to M-Tex collide with family vendettas and Cami’s shadowy pull, all while the Permian Basin’s boom-bust cycle chews up dreamers like so much drilling mud. Critics are eating it up – The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette crowned it “Sheridan’s best yet,” while The Times (UK) hailed Thornton’s “wonderfully crafted” turn as the crisis manager who’d sell his soul for a dry hole. Collider? They called Moore “excellent… a breath of fresh air,” her expanded role injecting rom-drama venom into the testosterone-fueled rigs.

The red carpet rollout was pure Sheridan spectacle. At the NYC premiere on November 12, Thornton and new addition Sam Elliott (as Tommy’s grizzled dad) posed like oil barons, their father-son dynamic already meme’d to death. Demi Moore turned heads in a lace Gucci gown dripping high jewelry, channeling Cami’s ruthless elegance. Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph, and Kayla Wallace brought the ensemble heat, with Wallace glowing in a custom frock that screamed West Texas wildcat. Even UFC flyweight Tracy Cortez crashed the party, fresh off a red-carpet slay that had MMA fans buzzing. London got its fix too, with Moore in a sculpted Erdem floral number that’s already dissected on fashion feeds. “Gorgeous & glowing,” one fan captioned the group shot, summing up the vibe.

But it’s the on-screen firepower that’s got viewers glued. Episode 1 – “The Breaking Point” – wastes no time: Tommy’s juggling a rig explosion cover-up, a blackmailing ex (Andy Garcia’s cartel-tied oilman), and Cami’s siren call that’s equal parts boardroom power play and bedroom betrayal. New blood like Garcia and Elliott amp the stakes, with the latter’s gravelly monologues hitting like a sledgehammer on rebar. “It doesn’t get any better than this,” Elliott told The Wrap of teaming with Thornton, and the chemistry crackles – father-son tension thicker than crude. Supporting players shine too: Paulina Chávez as Tommy’s spitfire daughter, James Jordan as the comic-relief roughneck who’s one bad lease away from snapping. Sheridan’s script? Razor-sharp, blending Friday Night Lights heart with Sicario menace, all underscored by that twangy score that makes every dust devil feel fateful.

Episode drops continue weekly – next one’s November 23 – but the binge urge is real. Harper’s Bazaar broke down the top five premiere takeaways: that opener explosion sequence (practical effects gold), Moore’s “softer glam” pivot mirroring Cami’s arc, and a mid-ep cliffhanger that has fans theorizing Tommy’s kin might be the real gusher of trouble. Tom’s Guide called it a seamless handoff from Season 1, no formula fatigue in sight. One YouTuber review? “Strong contender for Sheridan’s most popular yet,” with 2k views and climbing. Taste of Country grilled if it lived up to the hype: Spoiler – yes, especially with Elliott’s debut stealing scenes like a landman closing a hostile takeover.

Sheridan’s hot streak isn’t slowing. Fresh off Yellowstone spin-offs and Tulsa King renewals, Landman feels like his sharpest swing at the American Dream’s underbelly – fortune-seeking in boomtowns where the only thing rising faster than oil prices is the body count. With Season 3 whispers already bubbling (cast like Elliott are “mentally living” it), this 9.2 million milestone isn’t just a win; it’s a seismic shift. Paramount’s betting big: enhanced VFX for rig blasts, deeper dives into cartel ties, and maybe even a crossover nod to Sheridan’s web. Fans? They’re all in, one explosive tweet at a time.

Stream Landman Season 2 now on Paramount+ – but fair warning: once you hit play, that West Texas pull might just rig your weekend. What’s your take – Tommy’s breaking point or Sheridan’s peak? Drop it below.