Following reports that Netflix has canceled the highly anticipated Western drama series, “The Abandons,” series creator Kurt Sutter has now reacted to the news and criticized Netflix. Suter, who has previously created both “Sons of Anarchy” and “The Shield,” has come out in defense of the show after it ended after a single season.
Kurt Sutter Opens Up About Why He Thinks ‘The Abandons’ Failed
Having seen the success of “Yellowstone,” Netflix began to develop its own Western. Teaming Up with Sutter, the result was “The Abandons,” a series starring Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson.The show is set during the 1850s in the Washington Territory and follows two competing families. Heady portrays devout Irish matriarch Fiona Nolan as she battles against silver mine owner Constance Van Ness, who is played by Anderson.
Reports last week indicated that “The Abandons” has not been picked up for a second season, less than two months after the first season became available on the streamer.
Responding to the news, Sutter took to Instagram to criticise the way Netflix forced changes for what he saw as an attempt to chase what most fit with the company’s algorithm. Sutter ultimately left “The Abandons” weeks before filming concluded, seemingly in opposition to Netflix’s demands.
In a post that has since been edited, but which was preserved by Movie Web, Sutter wrote, “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.”
He continued, “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.”
Sutter has since edited the original post so that it instead uses quotes from several figures, such as George Orwell and Charlie Chaplin. It also includes an image that depicts various headlines about the show’s cancellation.
‘The Abandons’ Was Not A Hit With Viewers or Critics
Although the series had some big names attached and plenty of creative talent behind the scenes, it failed to resonate with audiences. A recently released semi-annual report suggests that “The Abandons” only had just under 20 million views in the first 28 days it was available.
This is significantly lower than many other original series that Netflix launched in 2025 and wasn’t enough to keep it in the Top 10 chart for a lengthy period.
Combined with a less than warm critical reception, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 30%, it appears as if the response wasn’t positive enough to justify the large budget and Netflix seemingly was not willing to finance further seasons..
