Netflix Just Proved 100M+ Hours Watched Still Isn’t Enough After Canceling This Western After 1 Season

1 week ago 17

Man with a beard holding his hat to his chest

Published 44 minutes ago

Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd | Metacritic

Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King.

The rise in Westerns has benefited many, like Taylor Sheridan and his extended universe on Paramount+, but the same cannot be said for Netflix. After only one season, the streamer abruptly cancelled Kurt Sutter’s The Abandons. Unlike his previous male-dominated series, Sons of Anarchy and The Mayans, The Abandons features the American West from the perspective of two different but equally determined matriarchs. Set in the Washington Territory in the 1850s, the series follows the conflict between the Van Ness family and the Nolans.

Gillian Anderson stars as Constance Van Ness, the most affluent matriarch in these parts, intent on buying up all the land she can. Her greatest holdout is Fiona Nolan (Lena Headey), a widowed Irish immigrant who has collected a hodgepodge family of orphans to help run her land. Fiona is the underdog in this scenario, holding tight onto her right to work the land while Constance represents the unyielding force of the rich getting richer. Things come to a head in the first episode when blood is drawn after a confrontation between Fiona’s adopted daughter Dahlia (Diana Silvers) and Constance’s son Willem (Toby Hemingway). The eldest Van Ness son attempts to force himself on Dahlia, resulting in the Nolan clan killing him in retribution. This impulsive act increases tensions as the two factions prepare for war.

The Abandons differs from many Westerns of its kind by putting a spotlight on underrepresented characters. Sutter has never shied away from showing messy women in the best way possible. Although it lacked the gritty realism of shows like Deadwood, viewers still embraced The Abandons as it logged over 100 million streaming hours. Regrettably, that wasn’t enough to save the series from the infamous Netflix chopping block.

‘The Abandons’ Fit Well Into the World of Kurt Sutter

The cancellation of The Abandons was unsurprising, considering Netflix’s track record. The streaming platform tends to steer away from productions that require a big budget. The Abandons reportedly went over its budget and was met with mixed reviews. The series was also shaken when Kurt Sutter left before production had concluded. This was reportedly due to creative differences, which also happened to end his relationship with The Mayans when he was removed from the project.

Regardless of the troubles that the series had behind the scenes, The Abandons could have been a new calling card for Netflix. The series stayed on the platform’s Top 10 within the first couple of weeks. Especially with the conclusion of Stranger Things, Netflix needed a new sweeping series to grab the attention of fans. The Abandons’ greatest strength was the fact that it didn’t rely on repetitive terrain that Westerns often have. The series used the backdrop of the American West to tell a story about two different women who use their maternal instincts as a weapon. The Abandons is a more heightened Western but still has merit as an immersive story. Sutter welcomed back Sons of Anarchy alums Ryan Hurst and Michael Ornstein in the tragically short-lived series. After the failure of The Bastard Executioner and his removal from The Mayans, Sutter deserved a win.