The Abandons Episode 5 Recap: Who Really Is Miles?

With Netflix’s “The Abandons,” each episode unfolds with a new enemy, a new threat rapidly changing the storyline and then disappearing. So far, only the struggles over the land have remained a constant in the series. All the other events—Willem’s death, Elias and Trisha’s budding romance, and the lives of the men of the Hollow—revolve around the same bone of contention: the rivalry between Fiona and Constance. While the series had ample scope to explore the lives of the Teller children, their emergence, and Fiona’s rise to power, it refrains from doing so, painting quite a two-dynamic picture of their lives with new threats rushing in on every episode. This episode, titled “The Joaquins,” is no exception. While Willem’s memorial is taking place in the town church, a group of outlaws from Mexico, all called Joaquin, break into the church and start firing. While lives are at risk, an unexpected hero turns up to execute the outlaws; however, we are not too sure if this hero was indeed a villain in the past. Let’s explore what happens in the fifth episode of “The Abandons.”

Spoilers Ahead

Who are the Joaquins?

The episode begins with a private memorial at the church where Constance is present with her remaining children. After the brief memorial, the priest asks whether Willem’s ashes should be buried next to his father, but Constance curtly answers that the ashes are to be sent to New York; Willem will be buried next to his grandmother Julia. While this raised many questions about Willem’s lineage in my head at first (whether he is actually Constance’s son or not), at the end of the episode things will become clearer. Following this private memorial, a public memorial is to take place. We see Garret preparing a speech for his dear elder brother, who he considered to be much like his twin. As he reads out his speech in isolation, Samara overhears him and consoles him. The two seem to be forming an unlikely bond here. Nonetheless, Memorial Day arrives. The townspeople gather in the church, and Fiona comes along with her children. However, as Garret reads out the speech, a group of men on horseback rides into the church. They introduce all three of them as Joaquins and say that they are looking for Arkasha. Apparently, these are the men Arkasha sold his rifles to—precisely ten cases of them, which he now had to resell to Constance. While Constance has the rifles stocked up in her barn, the Joaquins are trying to avenge a trade gone bad. The Joaquins had already shot the barkeep at the bar and now proceeded to fire merciless bullets in and around the church. However, the unexpected hero that I was talking about before turns up now.

Who really is Miles?

While the Joaquins were advancing towards the church, Miles spotted them from a distance. He asked his daughter Samara to wait there with a single weapon and went back to fetch his guns. When the Joaquins shoot Arkasha in the church after the townsmen expose him, Miles rushes in to save the rest of their lives. To be honest, it felt a little out of line that the Joaquins would kill Arkasha rather than try to extort the information of their weapons out of him. Miles comes in and guns down the Joaquins, saving the town. While the chaos is unfolding, Elias helps Trisha, Garret, and Constance escape safely, winning some goodwill in their eyes, which will definitely come in handy given how the romance situation is unfolding between the two. However, Miles’ behavior raises a suspicion in Garret. He enters his office to search for hints and finds a bag of guns. Samara walks in, and the two share a conversation where Garret says that he wants to know her more. As Samara blushes and agrees, Miles walks in. While Miles is not very warm to his daughter’s potential suitor, Garret asks him about where he learned his gun skills. Miles does not answer, but Garret gets a man to look into his past. Back at home, Miles tells his daughter that he has a past where he had to deal with bad men. It is Samara’s mother’s love that turned him away from that path and made him leave that life behind. There is clearly some history to this man since even the Joaquins seemed to recognize him. 

Does Constance Buy Off the Hollow?

Constance seems to be warming up to Fiona by the passing day. The series started off as painting Constance as a power-hungry woman running after lands, but in the middle it changed the track for her to become much grayer. The latest version of Constance is more humane; she is concerned about the town being invaded by outlaws and a general disorder due to lack of law and order if Mr. Vanderbilt withdraws from the mining project. Constance and her children arrive at the Hollow to meet Fiona, where she wants to discuss a fair proposal for both the people of Hollow and the betterment of the town. As Fiona makes her sit in the barn on the very spot where she killed her son, Constance tells her that she needs to acquire 45% of the Hollow to keep Vanderbilt onboard. She swears by the memory of her dead husband, saying that if it were up to her, she would have wanted the entire Hollow, but Emmett, her late husband, always wanted the progress of the town. She leaves Fiona to consider her offer, saying that her surveyors would come up with the best plan so that the families in the Hollow have access to the river and have new trails to hunt and travel. 

Fiona gathers the four families of the Hollow and takes a vote. Putting the town forward, everyone agrees with Constance’s offer. Later on, Fiona arrives at Constance’s house. Over whiskey, they close down on the offer. However, Fiona, who is suffering from increasing guilt over Willem’s death so as to visit the grave quite frequently, says that they need to build trust among themselves first. Constance comes clean, taking responsibility for the damages she caused to the Hollow over the years, but when it is Fiona’s turn, Fiona has to lie to protect her children and her land. Constance tells Fiona that she knows that the body was not of Willem’s and asks Fiona if she knows about the whereabouts of her son. It is still unimaginable for Constance that Fiona is the one who actually killed her son. Fiona lies coldbloodedly, saying that she has no idea where Willem is. While Constance thought a romance was brewing between Willem and Dahlia, another tale of love is brewing with a rapid pace.

Does Garret catch Elias with Trisha?

Elias and Trisha are walking a dangerous line. They are lovers on fire with passion, disregarding any obstacle that comes in their way. In the beginning of the episode, Trisha asks Elias about his feelings for her, and he confesses that he likes her. Later on, while Elias is burdened with the secret of Willem’s death, Fiona assures her that the matters of his heart should be best handled by him as he wants to. Trisha arrives at the Hollow home with Constance and inquires to Dahlia if her brother has spoken about being in love with her when Dahlia questions her about their affair. While the two seem to be bonding, Lilla does not take it well. Later, Trisha decides to stay back at the office learning a new piece on the piano, but her intention is to sneak Elias in. Elias tells her that the people of the Hollow have agreed to Constance’s proposal, and following this revelation, the two make love to each other. Meanwhile, Garret, who had already left, comes back and hears noises behind the door. It is obvious to him that it is his sister with Elias; however, surprisingly, he does not ambush them but leaves the place. It looks like things may have changed for the better between the two families, until the secret comes out. Garret visits a brothel and chooses the madame of the brothel to spend an evening with. His intentions towards Samara may not be straight after all. As the episode draws to a close, Angel’s Ridge feels more unstable than ever. Old enemies return, new alliances form in secrecy, and every character is pulled between the tides of their pasts and their presents. If anything, “The Joaquins” makes one thing clear: that the real danger in “The Abandons” isn’t the gunfire at the church or the rivalry over the land, but it is the truths everyone is running from and the lies they are willing to tell to protect their own.

...