Abandon All Hope

by

Let’s be direct: The Abandons is a frustratingly flawed series. This western, which tries to be feminist, feels incomplete and lacks crucial details – both about what it meant to be a woman in the Old West and how westerns typically work. While it touches on themes like class, sexism, religion, and forbidden romance, the overall story is full of gaps and doesn’t quite come together. It’s strangely compelling to watch simply because it’s so disjointed and unusual, almost like a train wreck. However, most viewers will likely find it too confusing and ultimately give up on it.

Set in 1854 Washington Territory, the seven-part series centers on a bitter rivalry between two powerful women and their families. Constance Van Ness, a shrewd businesswoman, relentlessly tries to take over rancher Fiona Nolan’s land to expand her silver mining operation. The series explores the sacrifices and consequences of both motherhood and pursuing one’s ambitions through the contrasting characters of the refined Constance and the outspoken Fiona. This focus on female leads marks a departure for creator Kurt Sutter, known for his earlier, male-driven shows. Sutter previously made a name for himself with gritty dramas like The Shield and Sons of Anarchy, which blended intense violence with emotional storylines and explored the complexities of masculinity. While those shows often involved crime and punishment, they were fundamentally melodramas about the struggles of men trying to maintain power, and Sutter wasn’t afraid to combine dramatic, larger-than-life moments with intimate, sometimes shocking, personal scenes.

Unlike Sutter’s previous work, the new series, The Abandons, lacks a mix of serious and playful elements. In fact, Sutter left the project in October 2024 due to disagreements with Netflix, raising questions about how much of the final product reflects his original vision – especially since filming completed without him and it’s unlikely he had input on the editing. (The episodes are noticeably shorter, around 30-40 minutes, compared to his show SOA, which often ran for 70 minutes.) Ultimately, the show’s biggest problem is that it applies Sutter’s typical focus on male characters to female characters without giving them the depth – the hidden motivations, needs, and regrets – that would make them feel authentic.

Constance and Fiona are certainly strong, independent women – the type often portrayed as tough and self-sufficient, with a no-nonsense attitude and little interest in romantic relationships. However, the series lacks depth when it comes to exploring their inner lives and building a rich world around them. It feels like much of the detail and character development usually found in a longer season has been cut. The central conflict revolves around the intense, longstanding hatred between Constance and Fiona, a bitterness that has clearly been passed down to their children. Constance’s sons, Willem and Garret, are troubled in different ways – Willem is a bully, while Garret is overly attached to his mother. Her daughter, Trisha, longs to escape their isolated town. Fiona, unable to have children of her own, has adopted a diverse group, including the rebellious Elias, his sarcastic sister Dahlia, the intelligent and free Albert, and Lilla Belle, a Native woman who is appalled by the town’s treatment of the local Cayuse people. Elias, played by Nick Robinson, is a standout, bringing unexpected depth and humor to his character.

The story begins with a violent clash between two families, and everything that follows – including Trisha and Elias falling in love, Fiona questioning her beliefs, and Constance’s risky business dealings with Cornelius Vanderbilt – supposedly stems from this event. However, the series feels unfocused, lacking a central, defining theme. It’s unclear what the show is really about. If the core idea is the challenges faced by women, and how Constance and Fiona adopt masculine traits to succeed, why doesn’t the show emphasize the way they are treated differently because of their gender? And if it aims to explore the conflict between American capitalism and traditional Catholicism, it only scratches the surface with vague conversations about the women’s “uncertainty.” Other potentially interesting storylines, like a group of Cayuse separatists and a band of bandits called the Joaquins, are underdeveloped and quickly abandoned. Even a potentially charged moment between Constance and Fiona during an argument doesn’t lead anywhere!

Rather than developing a compelling story, The Abandons relies heavily on sexism and shock tactics. A western-style chase scene feels pointless because the characters aren’t harmed and don’t report the attack. The show also features strange role reversals, like a man needing comfort after a woman he knows is assaulted. One character, Garret, acts childishly when an escort, played by Katey Sagal, rejects his advances, and these scenes feel disconnected from the rest of the show. They’re so bizarre they make you question whether the series is intentionally absurd, but it plays everything with a straight face, refusing to let its characters enjoy themselves. Beyond some initial sweetness between Trisha and Elias, and a surprisingly abrupt scene of the town mayor being killed by a bear, the series is mostly just grim and threatening. And it’s impossible to ignore the rape scene that occurs early in the first episode.

It’s common for westerns to be dark and violent, reflecting the harsh realities of the 19th century. Shows like Deadwood, American Primeval, and Godless didn’t shy away from brutality, but they also explored the lasting consequences of that violence and how it shaped the country. The Abandons aims to be a different kind of western by focusing on two powerful women, and it occasionally offers interesting details about the sacrifices they make to maintain their status. We see Constance’s pain while being laced into her boots, hinting at a vulnerability beneath her ambition, and Fiona’s cold enjoyment of violence despite her family’s more calculated methods. These moments are well-done, but they don’t quite add up to a larger point about women in this era, or connect the challenges they faced with the pressures women face today. The show’s creator, Sutter, had a strong understanding of men and their motivations, but The Abandons’ portrayal of women feels incomplete and fragmented – like a broken piece of the past, bloody and messy but lacking essential insights.

Read More

2025-12-05 18:57