‘The Abandons’ Review: Netflix Western is half-hearted
It’s so common these days for TV shows to bloat beyond reason – over three years later I think that’s me still watching the Season 4 finale of “Stranger Things” – that it feels ungrateful to complain about the opposite problem. But then you get a series like “The Abandons,” the Netflix western that feels strangely thin and compressed, especially when held up against the epic, sweeping landscape. (“The Abandons” is set in 19th-century Washington and shot in Alberta.) Even without knowing the production’s chaotic backstory, which saw creator Kurt Sutter leave the show before filming had even wrapped, and a reported 10-episode order was winnowed down first to eight and then to just seven, something already feels off. With episodes often shorter than 30 minutes, an underdeveloped premise, and a finale that ends the season so abruptly that I had to check to make sure there weren’t more chapters on the way, “The Abandons” is a frustrating, incomplete take on a compelling premise. The title refers to the subordinated protagonists in more than one way.
“The Abandons” centers on the rivalry between widow Constance Van Ness (Gillian Anderson) and pious Irish woman Fiona Nolan (Lena Headey), the matriarch of an adopted clan whose land Constance covets. There are echoes of “Deadwood” in the way Constance claims to be an advocate for the entire fictional town of Angel’s Ridge, not just her own interests — right down to the invocation of a real-life robber baron, this time Cornelius Vanderbilt instead of George Hearst, as her investor. But to Sutter’s taste, the creator of “Sons of Anarchy” is more interested in blood feuds and family than the gradual path from frontier to civilization. Tensions between the two groups are already high, with Constance’s men terrorizing Fiona’s livestock while the town sheriff looks the other way. When Van Ness’ eldest son, a violent sociopath, corners Fiona’s actual daughter Dahlia (Diana Silvers), a violent confrontation ensues and the conflict accelerates.
Ostensibly, “The Abandons” refers to Fiona’s ragtag gang, who live with a handful of fellow outcasts in the small, potentially silver-rich community of Jasper’s Hollow. Fiona raised Dahlia and her brother Elias (Nick Robinson) as their nanny and then took over their father’s land with the siblings after he passed away. The trio makes contact with Albert (Lamar Johnson), the son of a black schoolteacher, and native girl Lilla Belle (Natalia del Riego) on their way west, but the exact origins of the group’s close and socially deviant bond remain largely unexplained. Albert gets a spotlight episode, but it feels like the stubbornly mysterious Lilla is missing one; Elias gets a Romeo-and-Juliet storyline with Constance’s daughter Trisha (Aisling Franciosi), whose piano skills hint at her erudition, but Dahlia is given almost nothing to do but live around extreme violence. Such strikingly uneven character development places the entire show on unstable ground.
Although the ensemble is neglected, ‘The Abandons’ gives a place of honor to its two anti-heroines. Both leads are well in their wheelhouse: Anderson, the former Margaret Thatcher, as a steely, gravelly-voiced Machiavellian; Headey, who broke out as Cersei Lannister, as a mother willing to cross any number of boundaries to protect her children. While neither is exactly a revelation – in the sense that these talents were revealed long ago – each is given room for menacing monologues and mano a mano matchups. No one will confuse “The Abandons” with a feminist treatise, especially given how the story centers on Dahlia, but it’s at least a better iteration of the “women in the Old West” concept than the similar “Godless,” another 2017 Netflix release. (“The Abandons” is at least equal opportunity with the explicit violence, another Sutter signature: a stunning appearance from comedian Patton Oswalt — maybe he’s a “Maya’s MC” superfan? – while the mayor is interrupted by a CGI grizzly in episode 2. Unfortunately, we don’t see how bear raids play a role in the subsequent election.)
In other words, “The Abandons” knows what to do with Headey and Anderson, at least until their long-awaited showdown ends unresolved. I wish it showed the same awareness of its other elements. The name refers to a found family hoping to thrive in the looser social constraints of a society still in the making. That’s the setup for a great revisionist period piece, but from a blocky, simplistic title card that takes the place of a good closing credits, “The Abandons” is a half-hearted execution. Whatever happened between Sutter and Netflix, many beleaguered sets produced valuable end results. “The Abandons” is not one of them.
All seven episodes of ‘The Abandons’ are now available to stream on Netflix.
