In a vacuum, the logline for Netflix's latest series "The Abandons" is gangbusters: An old-school oater set in the 1850s, created by Kurt "Sons of Anarchy" Sutter, starring Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey as two mama bears pitting their respective clans against each other in a classic Hatfields vs. McCoy scenario. Sutter, after all, loves an outlaw almost as much as he loves the innate melodrama of found families clashing against the values of modernity out in the wilderness.
Angel's Ridge, Washington Territory, 1854. It's dusty, there's a saloon bar, there's horses, an ineffable sense of I don't know, let's call it manifest destiny about the place, and the only colour settlers have brought with them is sepia. But wait! What's this? The owner of the local silver mine riding into town? And it's a woman! In a western? Yessir, it is.
Filming 'American Primeval' required a cast and crew who were outdoorsmen first, leading to a physically demanding and transformative experience that created a visceral portrayal of the American West.
