The Abandons Review: A Revenge-Filled, Feminist Take On The Western

These days, audiences are spoiled for choice when it comes to the TV Western — Taylor Sheridan alone has made an entire cottage industry out of the genre. "The Abandons" offers up a tantalizingly engaging new entry, fraught with tension between the heads of two families in 19th century rural Oregon. Ably led by Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey (each practicing their very best Western growl), "The Abandons" will bring to mind "Deadwood" for audiences, in that it's filled with interesting supporting characters that bring an immense amount of intrigue and heart to the production. With any luck, Netflix will appreciate what they have with this compulsively watchable new show, and it'll stick around long enough for us to become even more attached to them all.

Society in "The Abandons'" burgeoning Oregon town is dominated by the Van Ness family, and more specifically by Constance Van Ness (Anderson), the clan's matriarch. She rules over her children — and the town, for that matter — with an iron fist, but she's also beholden to her investors like Cornelius Vanderbilt, who have poured money into her mining concerns. When the strong-willed Fiona (Headey) and her band of orphans refuse to sell their increasingly profitable plot of land to her, their already tense relationship grows ever more hostile — especially when their children become embroiled in the drama. As they find themselves crossing more and more lines from which there is no return, their conflict becomes about something more dangerous than land: a matter of principle.

The moment "The Abandons" begins, it becomes clear that Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey are going to dominate the proceedings, and both prove themselves more than up to the task. Their characters take on a tremendous amount of responsibility for those around them, and while they love fiercely, this love comes through in ways that makes their own unique flaws obvious. Throughout the story, they operate as two sides of the same coin, one impulsive and one methodical, but both desperate to maintain control in a chaotic world. That we can understand and to a certain extent sympathize with them even when they're behaving abominably is a testament to both the writing and their performances.

But while they're the cage match of "The Abandons," there's an impressive deep roster of other characters in the show that keep things engaging; we imagine a relentless battle between just Constance and Fiona would get dull rather fast. There are complex dynamics between the Van Ness siblings, each brother (Lucas Till and Toby Hemingway) desperately seeking their mother's approval while their sister Trish (Aisling Franciosi) is none too impressed by their behavior. Fiona's found family is more interesting still, between the pair of siblings (Nick Robinson and Diana Silvers) she nannied for before their father's death and the Black and Indigenous children (Lamar Johnson and Natalia del Riego) they took in on their journey westward. Fiona raised all four of them, but now that they're mostly grown up, they're each in their own way beginning to chafe against her frequently controlling attitude. In addition to the two families, there's a crop of neighbors and business relations, some of which get delightful moments of glory that we would not dare spoil here.

Although there are a lot of different characters in the mix — many of whom we would love to see have their storylines expanded, should Netflix give "The Abandons" a second season — the show never makes the mistake of overcomplicating its central narrative. For the most part, we stay zeroed in on the conflict between the two families, how each decision they make draws them deeper into a potentially dangerous situation, and the various ways that Constance and Fiona attempt to rig the game. Constance has money and power on her side, but Fiona is scrappy and unafraid to do anything to protect what's hers, whether it's her land or her adopted children. We're constantly reassessing who has the upper hand in the relationship, although at times both seem wantonly destructive.

"The Abandons" stands up against the best that the Western TV genre has to offer, and for our money, it can go toe-to-toe with the expanded "Yellowstone" universe. Although the first season is relatively short, we would happily watch the series evolve over the course of several years. In many ways, it feels like we're only beginning to scratch the surface of what "The Abandons" has to offer. But as long as Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey are involved, audiences can expect fireworks.

"The Abandons" premieres on Netflix on December 4.