US EditionNetflix’s New Western Drama Series Could Be Perfect for ‘Yellowstone’ Fans — and You Can Binge-Watch It Now
The Abandons features two female leads navigating land disputes, sabotage, and Indigenous treaty tensions in a classic Western setting, reflecting a resurgence of the genre this year.
- On Thursday, Netflix premiered The Abandons, set in 1854 Washington Territory and starring Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey as opposing matriarchs.
- After a multi-year development, The Abandons reached Netflix following reported creative fixes amid this year’s renewed interest in high-profile Westerns.
- Constance Van Ness pressures Jasper Hollow for silver with cash offers and sabotage, while Fiona Nolan defends the Abandons' ranch and subplots include the Cayuse treaty and a forbidden romance between Elias and Trisha.
- Critics noted mixed results, with reviewers receiving seven episodes and praising visual production, though they flagged slow pacing despite lead performances by Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey.
- Meanwhile, the series could join Netflix's slate of Westerns or hold viewers until Taylor Sheridan's next project next year, reflecting streaming platforms doubling down on Westerns.
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The Advocate
Gay Pride - LGBT & Queer Voices'The Abandons' stars Gillian Anderson & Lena Headey want to make lesbian fans proud
When Netflix announced that its new Western series, The Abandons, from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, would star Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey as rival matriarchs of warring families, it was as if a supernova went off for lesbians across the internet.The reaction was understandable. After all, both of these women have long been adored and admired by sapphics across generations, and to see them come together and face off—decked out in we…
The Abandons needs a better idea than “girlboss Western”
The television Western has been having a moment these past few years, in a way it hasn’t done since the Seventies (with the odd, Deadwood-shaped exception). In the intervening years, TV was drawn to a new frontier: outer space. Now it has returned to Earth with a shotgun bang: American Primeval, The English, Lawmen, various Yellowstone prequels, Billy the Kid – I could continue. The cinematic potential of the mid-19th-century American West is ob…
The Abandons isn't the mess it could have been – but there's a bigger problem with this Western misfire
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 Western…
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