In a move surprising to no one, Netflix has yet again cancelled another show before it could have more than one season. And while this one never got its legs, with some critics going so far as to say it deserved its fate, the original creator, who, despite editing his initial flaming of the platform, isn’t going down without standing his ground and saying his piece, accusing the streamer and Hollywood at large of continuing down a “destructive” path.
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The Abandons, a western starring powerhouses Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey, while having a promising plot and a stacked cast, has been called “everything wrong with TV” and sits at an abysmal 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. The story centers around the matriarchs of two families, one with money and power, the other with the loyalty of those she’s brought together, as they battle it out for supremacy in 1850s Washington. Kurt Sutter, the creator, left the show two weeks before production wrapped, citing creative differences—which is nothing new for the showrunner, as he was fired from the series Mayans for, in his own words, being “an abrasive dick.” And now he has plenty to say about Netflix cancelling the show that he himself jumped ship from.
What Went Wrong With The Abandons?
Seemingly everything. From the costuming to the writing to the narrative itself, the show was left wanting in nearly every regard, with characters that seemingly couldn’t figure themselves out despite being played by some of the greats. And Sutter’s departure came with just one episode left to film, leaving what was initially a 10-episode run whittled down to 7 that were rife with reshoots, with an 8th being thrown back in the mix at the 11th hour. And now Sutter is speaking out as news of the show’s cancellation is making the rounds.
In a post on Instagram that has since been edited, he said, “Dear Netflix, Next time fear compels you to choose the algorithm over a creator’s vision, remember how that choice unraveled a potentially beautiful project. FYI: Shareholders hate it when they learn more than $150 million was wasted on a single show trying to fix unnecessary mistakes of leadership failures—a destructive trend for both Hollywood and Wall Street.”
His comments have since been edited, seemingly at the behest of his lawyers, but the message remains the same—disappointment with the state of affairs that directs the trajectory of current film and television productions, both for the art itself, as well as those who take part in creating it. In another recent post of his, where he compares Hollywood to a dried-up oil town, he stated, “I don’t pretend to understand all the economic factors that keep our tax incentives brutally anemic compared to other cities and territories. But as work continues to be shipped off to cheaper lands, Hollywood slips closer to becoming a postcard memory, lost in the ashes. The place where magic ‘used to’ happen. We need a f*cking Phoenix… but we’d settle for an aggressive sparrow with a few eggs in its nest.”
It’s obvious that Netflix was attempting to capture the same sort of lightning in a bottle with Sutter that Paramount did with Taylor Sheridan and his rugged-yet-shallow-enough-to-easily-digest Yellowstone universe. But Sutter had other plans, sticking true to whatever his initial vision for The Abandons was and not going quietly into that good night.
What are your thoughts on the cancellation of The Abandons and Sutter’s reaction? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the ComicBook forum to see what other fans are saying.
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