The fifth episode of The Abandons, titled The Joaquins, changes the frontier town of Angel’s Ridge forever. A memorial service for the missing Willem Van Ness turns into a bloodbath when a notorious gang attacks, forcing the community to face an impossible choice. In the aftermath, the two most powerful women in Oregon, Fiona Nolan and Constance Van Ness, sit down to broker a deal that could save the town or lead to its ultimate destruction .
The False Memorial and a Town in Mourning
The episode begins in the shadow of loss. Constance Van Ness, played by Gillian Anderson, publicly accepts the mangled body returned by U.S. Marshals as her son, Willem . She holds a town-wide memorial, presenting a picture of a grieving mother moving forward. In private, however, her children, Garret and Trisha, question her motives and her secrets . The audience, and Fiona Nolan, know the painful truth: Willem’s real body is buried in a shallow grave in the woods, a secret that binds the Abandons together .
The public funeral is a tense affair. Garret delivers a moving eulogy for a brother the town believes was lost to wolves, while Dahlia Teller, the young woman Willem attacked, must sit silently and listen to him being praised . The lies and hidden pain in the room are almost as dangerous as the threat riding into town.
The Joaquins’ Attack and a Church in Flames
The solemn service is shattered by violence. Miles Alderton is the first to see the armed riders enter Angel’s Ridge. Recognizing them, he arms himself and his daughter, Samara, warning that these are dangerous men from his past . The gang, all five outlaws sharing the name Joaquin, storms into the local saloon and kills the bartender before heading to the chapel .
They interrupt Garret’s speech, demanding to see the Russian trader, Arkasha. He sold them rifles that have gone missing—the very same guns Constance secretly purchased and hid . Before Arkasha can speak, gunfire erupts, turning the church into a battlefield.
“Miles methodically picked off the rest of the outlaws… Garret saw Miles kill one of the outlaws who seemed to recognise him and called him Winston.”
The chaos is devastating. Miles fights with a skill that surprises everyone, while Elias Teller grabs a fallen weapon to help the trapped Van Ness family escape . By the time the smoke clears, many townspeople are dead, including children. Only one Joaquin escapes. The attack leaves the community shattered, building coffins the next morning under a heavy cloud of grief and suspicion .
Constance’s Desperate New Proposal
In the aftermath, Constance knows her actions attracted the gang. The town’s sheriff confronts her, warning that if her choices bring such danger again, he will quit . Facing this pressure and a greater crisis—the potential collapse of her mining empire—Constance makes a bold move. She rides to Jasper Hollow to meet Fiona Nolan, played by Lena Headey.
Their meeting takes place in the same barn where Willem attacked Dahlia, a location heavy with unspoken history . Constance reveals that her main investor is about to pull out. If the silver mines close, the entire town’s economy will fail. She presents a new offer: instead of demanding all their land, she proposes buying only 45% of Jasper Hollow at a premium price . The families would keep the majority of their land, gain new trails, and have guaranteed river access. Constance frames this not as greed, but as a necessary compromise for everyone’s survival.
“My pursuit of your land is not greed. It is survival.”
Fiona, skeptical but pragmatic, agrees to take the offer to a vote among the four families of the Hollow.
A Fractured Family and a Secret Investigation
While the land deal is debated, personal relationships become more tangled. Trisha Van Ness and Elias Teller grow closer, drawn together by shared grief even as Elias harbors the terrible secret of his role in Willem’s death . Their connection deepens, and they share an intimate moment in the Van Ness office. Unbeknownst to them, Trisha’s brother, Garret, overhears them and reacts with disgust, storming out to the local brothel .
Garret is unraveling. He is disturbed by what he witnessed during the shootout, particularly Miles Alderton’s lethal efficiency and the fact that one outlaw called him “Winston” . He begins snooping in Miles’s shop and later hires someone to investigate Miles’s past under the name A. Winston, digging into a mystery that could upend the fragile peace in Angel’s Ridge .
The Vote and a Tense Exchange of Truths
Back at the Hollow, Fiona gathers the families. After much discussion about trust and survival, they hold a vote. Understanding that the town’s future is at stake, the majority, including Elias and Dahlia, vote yes to Constance’s new deal .
Fiona and Miles then ride to the Van Ness ranch to finalize the agreement. Before signing anything, Fiona insists on honesty to build a foundation of trust. She demands the truth about the recent misfortunes that have plagued the Abandons .
Constance admits to everything. She confesses that her men killed Fiona’s cattle, injured a prized horse, and poisoned Miles’s fields . She explains that the poison spreading further than intended was an accident. After this confession, Constance turns the tables. She reveals her own painful truth: she knows the body returned by the marshals was not her son, Willem. She is still a mother searching for her missing child.
“She told Fiona that the body the Marshals returned was not her Willem. She was still a mother missing a son.”
She pleads with Fiona, mentioning Willem’s known affection for Dahlia, and asks for any information. Fiona looks Constance in the eye and lies, saying she knows nothing about Willem’s disappearance . Constance calmly accepts this answer, but her eyes show she does not believe it. Despite the towering lie now standing between them, Constance presents the contracts. Both women move forward with a deal built on mutual deception, setting the stage for an inevitable and explosive confrontation.
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