Kurt Sutter’s western series THE ABANDONS gets green light from Netflix

Kurt Sutter (The shield, children of anarchy) has developed an outlaw western titled The Abandonmentsand just got the green light from Netflix.

Sutter will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the ten-episode Old West series. As a fan of Sutter’s previous work, I was looking forward to it. This is going to be a dark, dirty and gritty western.

The story follows “a group of diverse and quirky families pursuing their manifest destiny in Oregon in 1850, when a corrupt force of wealth and power, craving their land, tries to drive them out.

“These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls who live on the fringes of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight. In this bloody process, “justice” extends beyond the confines of the law. The Forsaken will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family struggles to keep their land. “

Sutter previously claimed that he always wanted to make a western even before Children of anarchy or HBO Deadwood: “I’ve always wanted to do a western, even before that Sons, then Deadwood He came out. There’s that great tradition of Ian Anderson wanting to be a great rock guitarist, and he saw Clapton play, and he said, fuck, I’m going to be the best rock flutist that ever lived, and he did it just for Jethro Tull. This is how I felt when I saw it Deadwood. I said, let me stick to the crime genre, and then I used almost every actor that was on that show. But I love the genre and, after the pandemic, I tried to get a Western IP. “

He went on to talk about what inspired the series, saying, “I’ve always been fascinated by the origins of La Cosa Nostra, how these Sicilian peasant families were more than marginalized by the land barons and aristocrats. These families united to defend themselves from these abusive barons of the land, and from this, taking over those matters, La Cosa Nostra was born which became the authority, law and order of the earth. There are other influences. During the pandemic, I was watching reruns of Bonanza, and first of all, it holds up completely. I remember seeing it as a kid, but I just remember there’s one episode where someone gets killed, and Hoss just wants revenge, and I mean, like, fucking dark revenge. Ultimately, it’s a Sunday TV finale, but I just realized the Cartwrights were one step away from being outlawed, right, and I loved that it all came from that deep sense of loyalty to family, land, city. These were the origins of this, with the working title The Abandonments. “

He goes on to explain: “That was a real term from the time when it was this kind of generic phrase describing outliers, orphans, prostitutes, cripples, bastards, basically the kind of lost souls who lived on the fringes of society. it’s my favorite neighborhood. We’re on the western frontier, somewhere between Dakota and California, a small cattle town, around 1850. So, it’s after the gold rush, before the civil war, and then it’s discovered some natural resource. You have this wealthy family, where the Hearst-like character comes into play, and the aristocrats in Italy, and they try to redeem the ranchers. Most run out, and then those who somehow refuse come somehow forced to retreat or tragically leave. But there is this group of families that do not sell. They unite. They oppose the oppressor. The choices are made. Some of them violent, and then, like the peasants in Sicily, take matters into their own hands and create their own destiny. You have these humble, God-fearing, hardworking people who are forced to become the line in the sand. And, of course, eventually that line is drawn in the blood. Thematically, that’s all the shit I love; family, that fine line between survival and law, the aftermath of violence, my favorite and the thing where it was so prevalent Sons: the corrosive power of secrets. “

Speaking of the first season, he said, “The whole first season is going to be about evolving them as, you know, turning into outlaws, in a time before all the iconic outlaws we know, like Jesse James and Billy the Kid. All of them. those cats didn’t happen until after the civil war, but the Pinkertons were around, so you know there were outlaws. So, it’s kind of like the precursor to James gangs and other types of iconic outlaws we associate to the Wild West. So we might wink at history, say in season 2 or 3 cross paths with an 11-year-old Billy the Kid, yet still being able to play in the fictional world, for me, is fantastic. it helps to avoid street gunfights and to experience the western while moving away from some of the expected tropes.

The series will explore themes and representations that have relevance some 170 years later, he said: “The thing that excited even Netflix is ​​because the west is literally wild … at that time, most were territories and borders typical of society. civil did not apply at the frontier. So you can play with race, gender, morality in a really organic and meaningful way, right, because there are so many fucking stories to draw from. Without preaching, there is an organic way to put those elements in. in stories that are truly parallel to this ongoing tragedy that we are experiencing now. I manage to deal with significant topics in a way that does not point the light on it, and not on the nose, but a snapshot of a different period that reflects definitely what we are experiencing today, so that’s the gist of it all.

Take it. This series is going to be awesome!