When we first meet Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton), he’s been kidnapped and is negotiating a land-rights deal with a local drug cartel underboss while wearing a bag over his head. After getting the man to sign an agreement, Tommy — nursing a freshly bloodied cheek — lets us know how things work for a landman in the giant petroleum industry. “My job [is] to secure [land lease rights] and manage the people. The first part’s pretty simple. It’s the second part that can get you killed.”

Landman, among the newer hits in the Taylor Sheridan TV universe, transports audiences to the modern-day edition of the Wild West — this time, the Permian Basin at the Texas – New Mexico border, where oil is indeed king and everyone’s racing to drill it out the fastest. At the show’s center, Tommy is the cynical wordsmith who acts as the brains and brawn of the entire operation for the oil empire M-Tex. He’s the one who puts his cowboy boots on the ground to see all the deals get done. Most often, you’ll find him speeding down a Texas highway in his oversized pickup, chain-smoking, spitting swear words on speakerphone, or wearing dusty old blazers to swanky hotels with the fancy executive types he serves. At all times, he is ready with a quick-witted one-liner or an existential lecture on the morality of his industry. The formula has made Landman a dark, bingeable sensation that’s been renewed for a third season.

As nimble as his profession requires him to be — with daily challenges ranging from bizarre mishaps to truly tragic turns of events — Season 2 of the series kept Tommy on his toes. After the death of Monty (Jon Hamm), the CEO of M-Tex, in the Season 1 finale, Monty’s widow Cami (Demi Moore) took over and challenged Tommy’s authority and decision-making in a number of ways, including bringing in ruthless cartel boss Gallino (Andy Garcia) as a partner and financier at a critical time.

Ultimately, though Tommy tried to dutifully continue his service to Cami and M-Tex, his never-veiled doubts led her to drop him as president of the company, and the Season 2 finale in January saw him making his own deal with Gallino to prop up his shingle and tap into the wells Tommy’s son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) found.

At his heart, and despite his gruff demeanor, Tommy is a family man, and this bold new venture, called CTT Oil Exploration & Cattle, promises to bring him closer to his son and his father, Thomas, aka “T.L.” (Sam Elliott), both of whom he’s bringing into the business in key roles.

Emerson Miller / Paramount+

While Tommy isn’t bringing the women in his life into the oil fields, he has grown closer than ever to his ex-wife turned rekindled flame Angela (Ali Larter), just in time to help her grapple with having an empty nest after their daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) moved on to cheerleading and college life. And it appears Angela might be sticking by Tommy through this moment of career uncertainty, despite her own expensive ambitions.

Season 3 looks to bring Tommy that much closer to Cooper, whom he’d been keeping somewhat at arm’s length. That is, until the death of Tommy’s estranged mother forced him to confront his feelings of abandonment and neglect by her. In the second season’s most emotionally poignant moment, Tommy apologized to Cooper for being absent for much of his youth, even becoming visibly overcome with tears. Cooper assured Tommy he knew he did his best. It was a scene that brought home for Thornton the heart of the series, and its appeal to him as an actor.

“I’ve got sons. I have a daughter. I had a difficult relationship with my dad. All those things are there,” he says. “[I’m] from the natural out-of-the-ground acting school. Sometimes, I’ll bawl my eyes out in a scene. In this case, when Jacob was talking to me, you can’t help it and you go there. And Taylor writes very natural stuff, and he hired a bunch of natural actors. He knew what he was doing there.”

There’s no word yet on when Landman will return, but Sheridan, who has written every word of the series so far, indeed knows what he’s doing. With Nate (Colm Feore), Dale (James Jordan), Boss (Mustafa Speaks), and even the lawyer Rebecca (Kayla Wallace) all joining Tommy’s team, the odds seem stacked in his favor. For now.