Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey’s time in the Old West has come to an end. Deadline has reported that The Abandons has been cancelled by Netflix after just one season.
Why Was The Abandons Cancelled?
The Abandons was an expensive series to produce, and unfortunately, that cost didn’t yield the viewership Netflix had hoped for. Upon its debut, the series spent two weeks in the Top 10, ranking #4 in its first two weeks. However, it quickly dropped off, leaving the series with a grand total of 19.8 million views in its first 28 days. And thus, the axe fell.
The official logline for The Abandons reads: “As a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law. The Abandons will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.“
Kurt Sutter Left Before Production Ended
Kurt Sutter created The Abandons for Netflix, but he exited the series just three weeks before production ended. The reason reportedly stemmed from creative differences. Netflix was said to be concerned when the initial cut of the first episode came in at nearly two hours. Cutting down the episode proved impossible, so it was decided to split it into two parts, which required additional scenes to be shot for a series already going over budget.
What We Thought of the Series
In his review, our own Alex Maidy said, “I enjoyed this series for the same reasons I have enjoyed each of Kurt Sutter’s earlier projects. The Abandons is a thoroughly fun and engaging blend of soapy melodrama wrapped within the action and violence of the story and its setting. The entire cast is game to play cowboy, and the production values elevate this from being a throwaway attempt to cash in on Taylor Sheridan’s wave of modern Westerns. The Abandons has a great cast of young, talented actors. Still, it works thanks to Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey as intriguing leaders on opposite sides who want the best for their families as well as for themselves.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
How do you feel about The Abandons getting cancelled?
