On paper, Netflix’s new series The Abandons has it all. It’s a Western action drama, starring recognizable faces, created by a successful showrunner, Kurt Sutter, who made the FX hit Sons of Anarchy . The premise is promising: In 1850s Oregon, we follow a group of orphans, now in their 20s, who were adopted by Irish immigrant Fiona “Mam” Nolan ( Game of Thrones ’ Lena Headey). They are a multicultural bunch—brother Elias (Nick Robinson) and sister Dahlia (Diana Silvers) are white; Albert (Lamar Johnson) is Black; and Lilla (Natalia del Riego) is Lakota Sioux. By contrast, their rivals, the Van Nesses—led by Constance ( The X-Files ’ Gillian Anderson) after the death of her husband—are, as Constance never fails to remind Fiona when they’re scrapping, a family that came about in the

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