A new series has recently launched on Netflix, quickly attracting many viewers. This is somewhat surprising since the reviews tell a completely different story.
What series is it about? The Abandons is a new series that was released on December 4, 2025, on Netflix. It comes from Kurt Sutter, who was responsible for Sons of Anarchy in the past. The first season of his new series contains seven episodes, each between 35 and 52 minutes long.
In terms of genre, The Abandons can clearly be categorized as a Western. The series tells the story of rancher Fiona Nolan, who founds a new family with orphans in the Wild West of 1850 and must defend her own land. It somewhat resembles series like Yellowstone and its spin-offs, which also revolves around protecting one’s property against various adversities – mostly in the form of other people.
Two real stars are featured in the main roles. On one hand, Lena Headey plays the protagonist Fiona Nolan. You probably know her from Game of Thrones, where she portrayed Cersei Lannister.
Opposite her, Gillian Anderson embodies matriarch Constance Van Ness. The actress is best known to most for her role in the mystery series The X-Files. The two women face off against each other in The Abandons and are clear adversaries.
A huge success for Netflix – despite poor reviews
How did the series perform upon launch? From Netflix’s perspective, very well. In week 2 since launch, the series achieved 7.6 million views according to the official website and ranks 4th in its own ranking. Week 1 looked quite similar – here the production gathered 7.3 million views worldwide.
This is indeed a strong performance, especially considering that the successful series Stranger Things with its recently launched 5th season sits just one place higher. Although there’s a significant gap of about 3.6 million views, it’s still remarkable that a new series without a franchise behind it starts off this well.
Moreover, the Western genre has been living a niche existence. While it was very prominent in the 1940s and 1950s, its popularity dropped significantly by the 70s and 80s, and today only a few films and series from the genre are released.
The success of The Abandons shows that there are still many viewers who enjoy it. This stands in stark contrast to the ratings the series has received from critics so far.
What do the reviews say? If you look at the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, a bleak picture emerges. There, 40 reviews have given a score of 30%. Over 100 users have additionally voted and arrive at a slightly better 51%.
While critics praise the strong performances of the two lead actresses, they find their characters to be poorly written. The series also lacks originality and is described as not very engaging. Overall, this leads to a weak overall impression.
There are series that, despite poor reviews, still attract many viewers and often serve as a basis for exciting discussions. Therefore, we would be interested in your opinion. Have you seen The Abandons and formed your own opinion? Please feel free to let us know in the comments. The famous biker series of the showrunner was closely examined: Former Hells Angel reviews films and series about bikers, but the only top score is not for Sons of Anarchy
