The Abandons Recap ‘Triage’: Only the Wolves Know

The Abandons Season 1 Episode 3

Spoiler Warning: This is a detailed recap of the third episode of the first season of The Abandons. If you have not yet seen the show, please head over to Netflix before reading on.

On the third episode of The Abandons, we found that Fiona was involved in a third murder. Did she order Elias to kill Father Duffy? Did Elias do it on his own in an effort to protect his family from the priest’s new mistress, Constance Van Ness? It was not clear. What was increasingly becoming clear, however, was the vein of ruthlessness in Fiona that mirrored Constance’s own. Had Fiona been born in the aristocracy as Constance had, would she have made the same choices? Or was she a product of the harsh environment that raised her and took her to middle age with rough scars, horrors past and present, and a fierce desire to protect what was hers? 

‘Triage’ did highlight a fundamental difference between the two women. Fiona could pause her worries to care for others. Constance was relentless in her pursuit to secure the legacy of the family — not just Garret, as she claimed — but the wealth of silver that gave the Van Ness family the highest place in their small society, in a town whose new structures built with little history whispered their impermanence. 

Rebels attacked what was meant to be a meeting between soldiers and the Cayuse tribe, resulting in multiple horrific injuries that had to be treated at Angel’s Ridge. Fiona and her family happened to be in town, and without hesitation they jumped in to help. I’m not sure that scene with Elias having to amputate the arm of a screaming soldier was entirely necessary, but there, that happened. Fiona found herself caring for a young soldier named Grady Mitchell.

Grady’s injuries were dire and at risk of infection. Sensing the end, Fiona asked him if there were affairs he needed to get in order. There was none, and he wanted no funeral, no place at a graveyard. He wanted only nature, with a view of the stars. His death and final request gave Fiona a solution to the unceasing problem of Constance’s search for Willem. With the help of her children, Fiona took Grady’s body to the hills, re-dressed him, placed what I assumed was Willem’s ring on his finger, and left his body for the wolves. 

What added to the urgency of closing down the chapter of Willem with ‘confirmation’ of his death was Elias’s news to Fiona that Constance hired a bandit group led by Roache to search for her firstborn. Elias did not know that Roache had already stopped actively looking for Willem, that his services for Constance was for something else. Elias did not know, because he and Trisha were chased off by Rouche’s men before they could follow any further. 

Constance had welcomed the soldiers into her town and offered her assistance, but these were young men assembled to fight, there was bound to be trouble. When a soldier grabbed Trisha at the bar, Elias came to her rescue, neither he nor Garret who rushed out when he heard his sister’s scream were a match to the large soldier. A nod from Constance, and Roache casually hit the soldier from the back, bringing him down quickly. It was then that Elias noticed that Roache only had four fingers. 

Elias followed Roache to the Van Ness estate, where Trisha found him snooping. Elias explained that Roache was a bandit, Four Fingers, the leader of the Redmasks. Trisha, who knew Roache as a Schubert-playing charmer, did not believe him. She insisted on riding out with Elias to watch him be proven wrong. 

Roache, who had thrived in these harsh lands, sensed something was wrong, and instructed his men to make sure they were not followed. And so it was that ‘scouts’ hired by Constance ended up chasing her daughter and Elias on horseback, nearly causing Trisha to fall to her death (her poor horse did fall). When we met the Van Ness family in the first episode, Constance’s reminder to her daughter was to not have rash adventures. I suppose this was what she meant. Why would you, a young woman of noble birth, ride out with just one unarmed escort, whilst fully aware that bandit attacks were happening in and around the territories? Did Trisha think her Van Ness name would protect her? Was she not just attacked by a soldier inside the very town that her family owned? Kids.

Once they were safe, Trisha wanted to speak to her mother about Roache, but Elias talked her out of it, until they knew more. There was a declaration of fondness and promises to be there for each other. 

Constance rode out with Roache, Jack, and a large escort, because Roache advised her that for trust to take hold between the Van Ness and the Cayuse, their leader, Red Bird, needed to look into the eyes of a Van Ness, either Constance or Garret. It was notable that Constance did not even consider sending Garret, or indeed telling him of her plans. Remember that Constance had welcomed the soldiers that Cayuse rebels attacked into her town, soldiers who went to Wolf Woods to negotiate a treaty. Unknown to them, she was negotiating in secret with the Cayuse who opposed the treaty.

Even Roache wondered why. This was not explicitly stated in the episode, but the conversation between Roache and Constance at Constance’s office could be based on the Cayuse War that was triggered by the Whitman massacre. Roache pointed out that people still saw the Cayuse as savages. Why would Constance risk associating with them. Constance calmly replied that it was the perception of savagery that she required.

Keep that in mind whilst watching Constance, a bag over her head, calmly ride into Red Bird’s camp. Yes, she had an escort, and whilst Roache and his men were known fighters, they had no way of knowing exactly how many forces Red Bird had. Constance rode on facing the danger of death or torture. Was that solely for the money, of which she already had plenty? Or was that because she built a grand enterprise that had gone beyond her own needs, and wanted to secure it in any way she could? 

Constance offered silver as a gesture of goodwill, but this was not what the Cayuse wanted. Their urgent need was weaponry, which Constance assured them she could provide. So, she allowed soldiers to seek shelter and aid in her town, and now she has promised to provide the weapons that would likely be used against them in the future.

Could Constance have simply walked away, taken her fortune and her children and lived in a place with no war and plenty of comforts? Of course.  But when you build something, at some point it takes ahold of you, like bricks that suddenly become home and shacks that rise as a town where most people depended on the Van Ness largesse. And so Constance continued, even as her mind rejected the loss of her firstborn son. On the hills, the wolves have begun to ravage the body of Corporal Grady Mitchell, dressed as Willem Van Ness.

Rating: B

Strays

👒According to the doctor who examined Father Duffy’s body, he died from a fall. Hmm.

👒Constance was not so subtly encouraging Trisha to marry well. Was she concerned about her daughter’s Schubert partner?

👒The Major who led the soldiers displayed some casual misogyny when he expressed surprise that Constance was running the Van Ness company herself and looked to Garret whom he assumed would take over soon. 

👒Miles followed Fiona and her children, and knew what they did to Corporal Mitchell’s body. 

👒I hope this is addressed in a future episode -- Did Fiona keep Willem's clothing and ring after burying him? If she did not, whose clothes and ring did they place on Grady's body?

Episode Title: The Hunt

Episode Writer: Robert Askins

Episode Director: Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Original Air Date: December 4, 2025

You can access Recap Lab’s coverage of The Abandons via this link.

Home