It’s so common these days for TV shows to inflate themselves beyond all reason – over three years later, I think I’m always watching the Season 4 finale of “Stranger Things” — how ungrateful it is 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 set against its epic, vast landscape. (“The Abandons” is set in 19th-century Washington state and was filmed in Alberta.) Even without knowing the production’s chaotic history, in which creator Kurt Sutter left the series before filming was even finished, and a 10-episode order cut first to eight, then to just seven, something is already wrong. With episodes that often last longer than 30 minutes rather than 60, 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 frustratingly incomplete version of a compelling premise. The title refers to its underserved protagonists in more ways than one.
“The Abandons” centers on the rivalry between widowed mining magnate Constance Van Ness (Gillian Anderson) and pious Irishwoman Fiona Nolan (Lena Headey), the matriarch of an adopted clan whose land Constance covets. There are echoes of “Deadwood” in the way Constance pretends to defend the entire fictional town of Angel’s Ridge, not just her own interests – right down to invoking a real-life robber baron, this time Cornelius Vanderbilt in place of George Hearst, as an investor. But for Sutter’s tastes, the “Sons of Anarchy” creator is more interested in blood feuds and family than the gradual path from the frontier to civilization. Tensions are already high between the two groups, 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 de facto daughter Dahlia (Diana Silvers), a violent confrontation ensues and the conflict escalates.
Apparently, “The Abandons” refers to Fiona’s motley crew, who reside in the small, potentially money-rich community of Jasper’s Hollow alongside a handful of other outcasts. Fiona raised Dahlia and her brother Elias (Nick Robinson) as a nanny, then took over their father’s land with the siblings after his death. The trio connected with Albert (Lamar Johnson), the son of a black school teacher, and native girl Lilla Belle (Natalia del Riego) on their way West, but the exact origins of the group’s close, socially abnormal bond remain largely unexplained. Albert is entitled to a flagship episode, but we have the impression that the mysterious Lilla is missing one; Elias gets a cookie-cutter Romeo and Juliet story with Constance’s daughter Trisha (Aisling Franciosi), whose piano skills attest to her erudition, but Dahlia is given almost nothing to do except exist in proximity to extreme violence. Such blatantly uneven character development places the entire show on shaky ground.
While neglecting its whole, “The Abandoned” gives pride of place to its two antiheroines. The two leads are well within their wheelhouse: Anderson, the former Margaret Thatcher, as a steely, raspy-voiced Machiavellian; Headey, who became known as Cersei Lannister, as a mother willing to cross many lines to protect her children. While neither are exactly a revelation – in the sense that these talents were revealed a long time ago – each is treated to monologues and menacing monologues. hand to hand confrontations. No one will mistake “The Abandons” for a feminist treatise, especially given how the story treats Dahlia, but it’s at least a better iteration on the “women in the Wild West” concept than “Godless,” another Netflix release from 2017, by the same title. Super fan of “Mayans MC”? – as the mayor is interrupted by a CGI grizzly bear in episode 2. Unfortunately, we don’t see how the bear incursions will figure in subsequent elections.)
In other words, “The Abandons” knows what to do with Headey and Anderson, at least until their long-awaited confrontation ends without resolution. May it show the same awareness of its other elements. The name refers to a family founded hoping to thrive within the looser social restrictions of a society still under construction. It’s the setup for a great revisionist period piece, but from a blocky, simplistic title that replaces a proper credits sequence, “The Abandons” is a half-hearted execution. Whatever happened between Sutter and Netflix, many embattled set pieces produced interesting end results. “The Abandoned” is not one of them.
All seven episodes of “The Abandons” are now streaming on Netflix.
