The Abandons Review: Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey Star in a Dull Take on the Classic Western

Gillian Anderson brings poise and menace to The Abandons, Netflix's gritty new Western series about two feuding families in 19th century Washington Territory. Dressed in a series of beautifully tailored gowns and waistcoats, Anderson's Constance Van Ness presents a respectable facade: a wealthy widow with the soul of a gangster. As the owner of the local silver mine, her latest business venture involves gaining control of Jasper Hollow, a nearby tract of land settled by independent farmers. The most powerful among them is Fiona Nolan (Lena Headey), an Irish Catholic cattle rancher who lives with her four adopted children.

In many ways these two matriarchs are polar opposites. Constance is feminine and genteel, while Fiona stomps around in trousers, shaped by a life of violence and physical labor. She just wants to settle down and tend her land in peace, whereas Constance is a mercilessly ambitious businesswoman. The one trait they share is stubbornness, sowing the seeds for a bitter dispute when Constance tries to acquire Fiona's ranch by force. Complicating matters further, two of their children are embroiled in a star-crossed flirtation — a predictable problem, due both to the rules of storytelling and the limited dating pool of hot singles in a small mining town.

Propelled by the success of Yellowstone, we're now enjoying a boom in small-screen Westerns, with The Abandons as an original project from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter. It sounds like it went through a conflicted production process, with Sutter leaving due to creative differences during filming, leading to reshoots and extensive edits last year. Netflix clearly facilitated a respectable budget for horses, historical scenery, and headline stars. As an ensemble drama, however, it's not much to write home about.

Most of the cast remain underdeveloped by the end of this seven-episode season, and like many Netflix series at the moment, The Abandons suffers from a glut of explanatory dialogue. The characters all seem subconsciously aware that they're recapping their lives for an unseen audience, constantly telling each other what they're doing, where they're going, and why.

5.5

The Abandons

at Netflix

Like

• Gillian Anderson's quietly menacing performance
• The middle-aged female leads make a change from the typical Western formula

Dislike

• Too much dull explanatory writing
• Underdeveloped characters
• Unimaginative use of classic Western themes

This style of storytelling lines up with recent reports of streaming services asking screenwriters to dumb down their dialogue, catering to viewers who split their attention between their TV screen and phone. Along with being a dismal creative goal, I'm inclined to see this as a self-perpetuating problem. The more time a show spends trying to simplify itself for unengaged viewers, the harder it is for anyone to stay engaged. We're no longer watching proper drama, with all the conversational flourishes and emotional subtext that entails. The Abandons may not be the worst culprit in this regard, but it's dispiriting to settle in for a supposedly high-stakes tale of murder, betrayal, and family secrets where we're never permitted to grasp the main characters as real, complicated people. They're too busy explaining what's going on.  

One element I'd like to see more of is the emotional backstory for Fiona's unusual family, whose ranch, The Abandons — a reference to their identity as abandoned orphans — gives the show its name. Fiona has led a difficult life, and in middle age she's guided by three defining values: her children, her land, and her religion, in that order. Christian morals tend to fall by the wayside when her first two priorities are in danger, and while we get plenty of hints about her dark past, we learn surprisingly little about her children's origins.

Now young adults, Fiona's four kids provide a contrast to Constance Van Ness's prosperous but rigidly hierarchical household. While Constance has raised an obedient heir (Lucas Till), an irresponsible spare (Toby Hemingway), and a rebellious but eminently marriageable daughter (Aisling Franciosi), Fiona's family embodies a diverse cross section of the Old West, united by love and loyalty rather than blood.

The Abandons' lead casting is probably enough to get viewers through the door, and whenever Anderson and Headey share the screen, things do tend to heat up. Known for playing tough, independent characters (The X-Files' Scully and Game of Thrones' Cersei Lannister being the big two), both actresses elevate the tension of any given scene. The same can't be said for some of the supporting cast, who struggle to liven up the thin writing around subplots like the Romeo/Juliet romance between Fiona's boring eldest son (Nick Robinson) and Constance's daughter. By the end of the season I was baffled by how much airtime they received compared to the limited role for one of Fiona's other children (Natalia del Riego), who struggles with conflicted feelings about her identity as an adoptee. Or, indeed, compared to our brief glimpses into the respective sex lives of Constance and her son Garret (Till), whose desires reflect a more interesting view of the town's power dynamics. 

With its blend of mob drama tropes and Wild West setting, a show like this comes with certain expectations. We know that the plot will be driven by frontier politics, and that we'll be treated to various genre-appropriate set pieces involving horses, shootouts, masked outlaws, and bar fights. But those ingredients arrive without any seasoning.

Aside from the refreshing choice to put two older women in the lead roles, The Abandons doesn't have much of a personality, opting for a tone of serious (even humorless) adult drama, without the smarts to back it up. In fact, the creative team doesn't really seem to know what it's aiming for. This isn't a show with a distinctive historical location or political theme, or a particular strength for action or romance or clever crime plots. It's essentially checking boxes for moderate competence across the board, doing a disservice to the power of its lead actors. It's easy to imagine a more entertaining version of The Abandons where Headey and Anderson really get to cook, but here they're just battling against unmemorable material.

Premieres: Thursday, Dec. 4 on Netflix
Who's in it: Lena Headey, Gillian Anderson, Lucas Till, Aisling Franciosi, Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Natalia del Riego
Who's behind it: Kurt Sutter (creator and showrunner), Otto Bathurst (executive producer)
For fans of: Gillian Anderson, Lena Headey, gritty Westerns
Episodes watched: 7 of 7