The Worst Kind of People Are Loving ‘Landman’s Latest Ainsley Reveal
Landman’s new season has activated some of the worst people in the fandom. And Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) ended up being at the center of all the drama during “Plans, Tears, and Sirens.”
The second-to-last episode of Season 2 currently sits at a 7.1 rating on IMDB. All of this is wild to watch from a distance because that makes it one of the lowest rated Landman episodes on the platform. In these two seasons, the Paramount favorite has made no secret of its disdain for progressive politics. This is a Taylor Sheridan program, after all.
But, Ainsley’s roommate Paigyn is seemingly just a list of the writer’s grievances masquerading as an actual character in the show. Ainsley’s at TCU for cheerleading camp, and quickly gets paired with a cluster of progressive stereotypes stuffed into a trenchcoat. Let’s count the grievances!
Paigyn is non-binary, vegan, constantly corrects/annoys people, hates music, doesn’t do air freshener (can’t be looking out for the environment in 2026, that’s annoying!), and make sure we know to pronounce their name like “Pagan.” Did I miss anything? The writers room (Taylor Sheridan) deserves an award for loading one character up with this many stereotypes. It’s low-key impressive, if it wasn’t so mean-spirited and shallow.
Of course Ainsley doesn’t “get” Paigyn and instead of learning from this experience, she begs her mother (Ali Larter) to come and rescue her. Why even send the character up here for this “adventure” if she wasn’t going to be changed by any of the experience? It truly boggles the mind.
Ainsley’s roommate Paigyn is just the latest ridiculous moment in Landman
As we mentioned up top, Landman is no stranger to taking political and cultural opinions when it wants to. People who love the show will downplay that, but in honesty, it’s just how all media works. And, for the record, it’s the way that different media has always worked throughout time. This pattern of throwing rocks and hiding your hands afterwards is older than clocks. But, it’s interesting to see the audiences push back on “Plans, Tears, and Sirens” specifically. Why this episode to raise all the fuss about? Well, I would posit that just including the caricature of Ainsley’s roommate did the job?
Taylor Sheridan is a lot of things, but he isn’t subtle, friends. In fact, our head creative on this show is from the Tyler Perry school of using a sledgehammer where a scalpel might be more appropriate. It’s what makes both Landman and Yellowstone before it such thrilling watches for the audiences that love these programs. (There is an argument to be made that Lioness: Special Ops is the most deft of the Sheridan output for the ways it can pull back on the reins at times.) For better and worse, this particular creator enjoys “dynamite, gunpowder, and gasoline.”
The people tuning-in might not even want subtlety, but a lot of them from a certain side of the aisle say they do not want to be preached at either. It’s just funny that this applies to one of their own hectoring at them for an extended period as well. At any rate, things on Landman have stabilized this week with the Season 2 finale. I think we could all use a break from this right now.
(featured image: Emerson Miller/Paramount+)
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