Netflix’s latest Western-set drama, The Abandons, is now but a mere tumbleweed in the desolate prairie of the streamer’s many abandoned series.
The new Western drama from Sons of Anarchy showrunner Kurt Sutter had its plug mercilessly pulled by Netflix Wednesday (January 21) after just one month since it first premiered on the service.
Set in a mining town in the old Washington Territory in the 1850s, the show follows a devout Irish woman named Fiona Nolan who, along with her orphaned found family, engages in a high-stakes power struggle against a ruthless, corrupt silver mine owner named Constance Van Ness after the latter claims ownership of Fiona’s farm.
The drama stars Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) as Fiona Nolan and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) as Constance Van Ness, alongside a cast also including Nick Robinson, Patton Oswalt, Lucas Till, and more.
the abandons starring lena headey
The Abandons premiered on Netflix on December 4, 2025. The first and only season consists of seven episodes.
Back in December, The Abandons was briefly in the Top 10 of Netflix’s most-watched shows.
Despite its star-studded cast, sprawling story, and high-cost production, the series failed to keep an audience, with viewership rapidly declining after just two weeks following its premiere date. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series currently has a middling audience score of 52 percent. Its critical score is even worse at just 30 percent.
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Netflix ordered The Abandons to production in 2022. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sutter departed the series during production in the fall of 2024, with just a few weeks left of filming. He reportedly left due to creative differences.
The Abandons’ cancellation is an unusual bump in the dirt road for streaming and TV’s current trend of Western-themed and Western-set series, which have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially in the wake of Yellowstone’s successful run between 2018 and 2024.
Netflix’s Western romance series Ransom Canyon, which stars Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly and follows a trio of ranching families, was renewed last year just two months after the show first premiered.
Landman, Paramount+’s West Texas-set oil drama starring Billy Bob Thorton and Ali Larter, was also renewed for a third season back in December.
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