Netflix is starting 2026 by dropping the hatchet on several of its original series – including one that was being positioned to replace Taylor Sheridan’s hit series Yellowstone. That show is The Abandons, the Western drama series from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter. It’s somewhat surprising that Netflix is canceling the series this early, considering that it was a Sutter project, with stars like Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) in the lead roles.
Why Did Netflix Cancel The Abandons?
Netflix
The show was a period piece western set in the 1850s, Fiona Nolan (Headey), “a devout Irish woman, and her found family of four adult orphans, find themselves struggling against the ruthless silver mine owner Constance Van Ness (Anderson), who claims possession of their farm in the mining town of Angel’s Ridge, located in the Washington Territory.”
From that synopsis, it’s clear that The Abandons was more than just a shoot-em-up western or even Shakespearean family drama dressed up as a Western (like Yellowstone): It was a grand clash of female lioness characters, and judging from the low scores crom fans and critics alike, it sounds like Sutter was nearly as adept in realizing the characters and world of that story as he was violent bikers of Northen California. Many reviews point out that instead of a straightforward clash of for female dominance, The Abandons tried to pile on with too many supporting characters and Western tropes, while also getting lost in a lot of the side-quest storytelling Sutter got criticized for during the latter seasons of Sons of Anarchy.
“Ultimately, the biggest thing working against ‘The Abandons’ is a frustrating need to complicate its own vision,” says Hunter Ingram of The Wrap. “Constance takes a barn-burner approach to ensure the future of her family, and Fiona’s commitment to her family and farm is nothing less than a holy war. The totality of this moment for both families is enough to sustain this series, yet the show succumbs to numerous distractions within the western genre… and is otherwise saddled in the middle with filler that undermines the “mother-off” that could dominate this whole story — and give the people what they want! Letting Headey and Anderson indulge in the pitfalls that have bedeviled men in the western genre for a century is intriguing, and that excitement is sorely missed when the series overcomplicates things. By the end of seven episodes, it has diminished the blunt force of their blows when they finally get to literally and figuratively throw hands.”
The Abandons reportedly earned just 19.8 million views across the first 28 days of release, starting on December 4, 2025. It hovered on the Top 10 charts for 2 weeks, peaking around the no. 4 position, before it dropped off and pretty much died on the vine (so to speak), with a reported viewership of just 4.8M across the next two-and-a-half weeks. Given the Western period setting, production costs on The Abandons were understandably high, making it an obvious target for cancellation. Behind the scenes, Sutter had a conflict over the production, and left the show before it was even completed; actors on the show reportedly sought other work before the cancellation announcement was even official.
It must have been a minor skirmish, because Sutter is still at work writing and directing his first feature film for Netflix, the horror-drama This Beast, which is based on a real historical account. The synopsis reads: “An 18th-century English village is besieged by a mysterious and elusive beast. Dozens of innocents are slaughtered and the mayhem is driven to puritanical heights by religious fanaticism. The impossible task of killing the beast falls to a lowly trapper who promises he can stop the carnage. But for him this hunt is not a professional mission; it’s a deeply personal one.”
Sutter is also going back to the biker-crime world with his upcoming Apple TV+ show Nomad, starring Jason Momoa.
You can stream The Abandons on Netflix. Discuss Kurt Sutter’s work with us on the ComicBook Forum!