Landman’s mysterious coyote has a sadder meaning than you think

Tommy makes a new animal buddy in the final episodes of Landman, but this seemingly harmless coyote could mean bad things to come in Taylor Sheridan’s drama series. (Warning: spoilers ahead!)

There are a few examples of animal symbolism to be found in Sheridan’s past work (remember Kayce and his wolf in Yellowstone?), but Landman might be the most obvious instance of foreshadowing to date.

Tommy shares two moments with the creatures in Landman. The first comes at the end of Episode 9, when he watches a neighbor shoot down a coyote, admonishing it for killing pets. Then, in Episode 10, the final scene shows a bloody Tommy warning another one, “You better run, buddy. They kill coyotes around here.”

It’s a quiet moment following the brutal and explosive finale. And what’s more, the meaning of the coyote could be darker than you think, with Billy Bob Thornton describing it as a metaphor for death.

The coyote in Landman represents Tommy’s troubling future

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Thornton addressed the symbolism of the coyote in the finale, revealing that it could be a sign of an even more violent and tragic future for the landman.

“The symbolism of the coyote to me, and I’ve talked to Taylor about this quite a bit, there was more dialogue in both of the coyote scenes originally,” Thornton said. “We talked it over and said, ‘You know what, I think these are essentially silent scenes because this is Tommy locking eyes with this wild coyote.'”

Paramount

“I think Tommy looks at that coyote and at the end, it’s like, ‘Here they come. They are coming for me.’ Or, ‘Are they coming for me? Am I the coyote, am I looking myself in the eye? Am I this lone wolf out here, just running across these plains trying to keep from getting killed? Or is the coyote the cartel?'”

“I think it’s a very symbolic moment of Tommy trying to figure out who he is here. And I think he’s kind of staring himself, and possibly death, in the eye.”

Indeed, things aren’t looking great for Tommy going forward. He survived cartel’s torture tactics (just barely), but he also found a new potential enemy in Gallino. Plus, his boss and mentor, Monty, is now dead, leaving him in a position of responsibility he doesn’t necessarily want.

This, plus the coyote, could point to more troubles on the horizon.

All episodes of Landman are available to stream on Paramount+ now.

See what’s ahead with our guide to whether there’ll be a Landman Season 2. You can also check out all the other Taylor Sheridan shows and movies to watch, and revisit some of the best Western TV shows of all time.