As the so-called ‘streaming wars’ march on, it seems some of the participants are in a bind. Do they double down on the areas in which they have become successful and for which they are known, or branch out and try and take one another on at their own games?
When it comes to Netflix, at least when it was in the stage of commissioning a few years ago, it seems they opted for the latter. While Paramount+ may have become known as the home of Westerns thanks to Taylor Sheridan’s hugely popular Yellowstone, the original streamer clearly wanted a piece of the pie.
In fact, it didn’t just want one piece, but multiple. In just the past 14 months, we have seen the debuts of Territory, American Primeval and Ransom Canyon – to varying success.
Now, it’s the turn of The Abandons, a seven-part series which was first ordered in 2022 and which, according to reports, has had quite the troubled path to the screen.
We know for sure that this first season was originally meant to be made up of 10 episodes, but the number has shifted repeatedly over the years, now coming in at an irregular seven.
We also know that its creator Kurt Sutter, who had been thinking about the series before his previous show Sons of Anarchy even began, left it entirely just three weeks before shooting was set to wrap.
When this news broke, Deadline reported that it was due to creative differences. That report also noted that the first episode had to be cut in two and a new cliffhanger created in the middle, due to it originally running for 1 hours and 40 minutes, and that Netflix bosses felt the episodes were “disjointed and not propulsive enough”.
Naturally, although I attempted to put this history out of my mind when viewing the episodes, there is a part of me which was looking for signs of this apparent dysfunction in the final product, expecting one almighty mess to have been birthed. Thankfully, on that front, I have some good news.
While there are elements of this on display, with strange episode lengths and some abrupt endings, for the most part this is a competently put together series. If you didn’t know, I doubt you’d know. However, sadly, I have to report there is actually a bigger problem with the series, one which cannot be ignored.
For context – the series stars Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson as the matriarchs of two very different families, both living in Washington Territory in 1854.
Headey’s Fiona heads up a found family – the titular Abandons. She was unable to have her own children, and instead has raised a group of orphans and outcasts.
Meanwhile, Anderson’s Constance is the head of the wealthy Van Ness family, who is trying to get her hands on the land held by the Abandons, as it is rich in silver. She and her family will use any means to take the land, but the Abandons will not give it up without a fight.
Other stars who play key roles include Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Natalia Del Riego, Lucas Till and Aisling Franciosi, with all doing sterling work here.
So, what’s the problem? Well, the truth of the matter is that The Abandons is just really rather dull.
The Deadline report noted a concern within Netflix that the series wasn’t propulsive enough, and I would say that despite all the apparent scrambling behind the scenes to rectify this, it is still the biggest problem with the series.
Having watched all seven episode, once all is said and done, I have to say that very little of substance actually happened. There’s an inciting incident, followed by a whole lot of pontificating and really rather mild family drama.
In among this, there are a number of different individual stories, each of which works to a greater or lesser extent, but none of which exactly romp through at a quick pace, nor are any of them in any way substantively new.
Perhaps the strongest of these storyline is a romance between Nick Robinson’s Elias, a member of the Abandons, and Trisha, the Van Ness daughter.
It has some sweet moment and some dramatic moments for sure, and both actors give it their all, making it entirely watchable. Yet it’s all just so utterly clichéd – if you haven’t watched a star-crossed, forbidden lovers storyline you really haven’t engaged with any form of art of media.
The odd cliché can be overlooked or even enjoyed – sometimes a cliché is a cliché for a reason, because it’s a tried and tested form of storytelling that works on a deeply human level.
But when almost everything in a series falls into that camp, you start to wonder what exactly the point of it all is – especially when the whole thing is moving at such a glacial pace.
I suppose we’ll never know what Sutter’s original version of this would have been before any behind the scenes changes were made, but this does certainly feel like a Western made by a committee – a series which is desperately trying to capture a zeitgeist and which is therefore playing into every trope imaginable, with little of its own to say.
One would think that given it is led by two female leads in their fifties, it would at least have something novel and exciting to explore there. But, alas, there seems to be no interest in exploring what this means, given the time period and setting.
The series also takes itself far too seriously, meaning it’s not only narratively dull, but also tonally.
As with most series, there are still elements of worth here to discuss. For one thing, it’s visually stunning. It’s been reported that the series has been given quite the budget, and that certainly would seem to be the case given the incredible locations and visual splendour on screen.
As previously mentioned, there’s also the matter of the cast – even if the majority of them, if not all of them, are really rather wasted.
Headey and Anderson make for compelling nemeses in their scenes together, and there are glimpses of what this series could have been were there more chances for them to shine, and opportunities for deeper character scenes.
Were we allowed to see more of this dynamic, perhaps with a slimmed down cast and more focused gaze, then that also could have helped the series stand out from the crowd. A proper cat-and-mouse game between two matriarchs in the 1800s? That sounds like an interesting show.
But as it is, we get snippets of so many stories, most of which we’ve seen many times in different forms before, all in a backdrop which is sumptuous, no doubt, but which is also well explored within the genre, and at this point more an expectation than a bonus.
Maybe Western obsessives will find something to enjoy here – I have to confess that while I am certainly a big fan of a number of Western films and series, I am not a real devotee of the genre.
However, I would imagine that even they may find themselves growing tired of the show’s langorous pace and its stock characters and plots.
The fact that The Abandons is perfectly watchable and seems to be largely unencumbered by its behind-the-scenes shake-ups should be of some comfort for Netflix. However, if they thought this would be their rival to Yellowstone, think again. A franchise-starter this ain’t – it’s just a pale imitation of one.
The Abandons is available to stream now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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