'The Abandons' And 7 Shows With Powerful Matriarchs You Love To Hate
The Abandons' rise on the Netflix streaming charts owes a good portion of its appeal to its leads, Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey, two accomplished actresses with filmographies stacked with strong female characters. Here, they play feuding adversaries against an 1850s backdrop. While middle-aged women in starring roles are rare in the Western genre, they're relatively rare in the TV landscape as a whole. However, if you're asking me, no character archetype is quite as compelling as the cool, cunning, and borderline villainous matriarch.
While Anderson and Headey's characters make excellent additions to this list, they aren't the only morally questionable women to leave you intrigued, scared, and a little excited. This list is for anyone seeking more middle-aged baddies to root for and against. Here are the best shows with matriarchs you love to hate (and hate to love). Ready for your new favorite anti-heroine? Streamers like Hulu, HBO Max, and more hold your answer.
Lucille Bluth - Arrested Development (2003-2019)
Out of all the entries on this list, Arrested Development is the only sitcom. However, don't let its comedy fool you. Lucille Bluth, the matriarch of the once-wealthy Bluth family, is downright awful… in the best way. Manipulative, narcissistic, and selfish, Lucille tosses around scathing one-liners like it's her full-time job. Her oedipal relationship with her son, Buster (Tony Hale), also makes for wonderfully dark comedy that feels ripped straight from Psycho (1960).
While it all sounds bad on paper, Lucille is likable for that very reason. She's a caricature of an elitist who does wonders for Arrested Development's satirical humor. Really, all credit goes to the late Jessica Walter, who excels at comedic timing and, apparently, playing manipulative matriarchs in general, as her performance in Archer (2009) also proves. If you like Schitt's Creek (2015) and want to see a darker, more cunning version of Moira Rose, Arrested Development is your answer.
Gemma Teller - Sons of Anarchy (2008-2014)
As anyone who grew up watching Married… with Children (1987) knows, Katey Sagal has undeniable charisma. While her character on Sons of Anarchy is wildly different from Peggy Bundy, that same charisma is there. Gemma, like all of the show's characters, is morally complex. Everything she does is to protect her family. However, there is an element of selfishness in these actions that complicates things.
Like many of the women on this list, Gemma is a master manipulator who uses her cunning to pull the strings in the all-male motorcycle club her husband leads. She doesn't necessarily have power; she creates it. In some ways, it's admirable. In other ways, it's horrific. With no shortage of one-liners and badass moments, Gemma is the biker gang queen. You'll love her. You'll hate her, and she'll also scare the heck out of you. Watch Sons of Anarchy if you like anti-hero dramas about criminal enterprises like Peaky Blinders (2013) or The Shield (2002).
Cersei Lannister - Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
With Lena Headey also starring in The Abandons, she has the esteemed honor of appearing twice on this list. While Fiona Nolan is a complicated matriarch in her own right, she doesn't hold a candle to Cersei Lannister, one of Game of Thrones' most complex characters. Similar to Gemma in Sons of Anarchy, Cersei might be wealthy, but she doesn't hold as much power as her male family members, including her own children. Thus, every ounce of power she amasses stems from her ruthlessness, manipulation, and quiet intelligence. Throw in a little incest with her twin brother, Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), and you've got one of the most despicable villains in TV history.
Still, there's something tragic about Cersei that makes her likable… or, at least, sympathetic. Controlled by men and emotionally destroyed by a doomed prophecy, it's easy to see how and why she became so power hungry. Maybe you're like me, and those types of tormented, ruthless women excite you—or maybe you're normal. Either way, Cersei is one of Game of Thrones' most important characters. Without her, you'd have no story, and anyone who appreciates a good villain will understand why right from Season 1, Episode 1.
Fiona Goode - American Horror Story Season 3 (2013-2014)
Poll 100 American Horror Story fans, and I guarantee that the vast majority of them will say the same thing: Jessica Lange made the series. While she played four distinctive characters during her tenure on the show, Fiona Goode undoubtedly deserves a spot on this list. She is selfish, manipulative, and borderline sociopathic, the type of woman who would sacrifice her own daughter to achieve her goals without batting an eye.
Still, American Horror Story Season 3 sprinkles in just enough moments of humanity to keep her from being completely reprehensible. Likewise, Jessica Lange embodies the character so perfectly that she drips with charisma and class. You'll want to wear her outfits just as badly as you'll want to see her get her comeuppance. If you like supernatural stories that are heavy on drama and horror, American Horror Story Season 3 is practically mandatory viewing, especially if witches pique your interest.
Norma Bates - Bates Motel (2013-2017)
Listen, as a big fan of Psycho, I put off watching Bates Motel for a long time. Psycho presents Norman's mother as an overbearing, cruel woman, and four prequel seasons of that seemed tedious. Color me surprised when Bates Motel didn't just prove me wrong about its story, but also about its take on Norman's mom. Before there was Mother, there was Norma Bates. While she's utterly dysfunctional, manipulative, and weirdly devoted to her son, she's also very likable (and so isn't Norman, to a point).
A big reason Bates Motel works for me is that it takes time to explain its characters' psychology. Norma is anything but one-dimensional. She is a deeply complicated person, consumed by past traumas, current traumas, and a fierce but twisted love for her son. It's hard to talk about Norma without talking about Norman. She fears the monster he is, without ever fully realizing how she helped create it. Vera Farmiga delivers what I consider her career-best performance, managing to portray Norma as hopeful but damaged. There is nothing quite like Bates Motel out there, but fans of dark, psychologically heavy horror series like Hannibal (2013) will find a similar vibe.
Cookie Lyon - Empire (2015-2020)
When it comes to this list, perhaps no one walks the line between villain and heroin quite like Cookie Lyon. Empire's fierce matriarch is just as likely to steal your heart as she is to make your jaw drop (Political correctness? Nope, this is Cookie we are talking about). Like many of the women on this list, her ruthlessness comes from a place of twisted protection. Her sons are everything, but her relationships with them are also complicated and, at times, very dark—just like her past.
Taraji P. Henson plays Cookie as proudly loud and brazen, but that doesn't stop her from showing vulnerability, which is one of the reasons she's so easy to love. You'll also hate her at times, but hey, that's half the fun of Empire. Some, including me, might even say that Cookie is Empire. If you like complicated family dramas like Succession (2018), Empire will give you similar dynamics, just with hip-hop music as its focus.
Jeanin 'Smurf' Cody - Animal Kingdom (2016-2022)
If you dig crime dramas and haven't watched Animal Kingdom yet, please rectify that mistake immediately. Relatively underrated in the genre, Animal Kingdom is a little like Sons of Anarchy ditched the motorcycles, got a sunny California makeover, and gave its matriarch all the power. If you thought Gemma was scary in SOA, Smurf will terrify you. Employing an oedipal hold over her kids and grandson, Smurf aims to create a loyal gang of henchmen to grow her criminal empire.
Truthfully, Smurf doesn't have many redeeming qualities, yet Ellen Barkin delivers a captivating performance nonetheless. It's so good, in fact, you just might find yourself manipulated into liking her alongside the characters, even when you see her cracks. If you want a series that balances heist-level action with psychological depth and unpredictable twists, look no further than Animal Kingdom. Smurf is one of my favorite villains ever written for a TV series. Nothing she does is without purpose, so pay attention.
Fiona Nolan & Constance Van Ness - The Abandons (2025)
The Abandons is a landmark series for its representation of women. It's not very often that the Western genre gives women the spotlight, and it's even less often that those women are middle-aged. Those familiar with Lena Headey's aforementioned role as Cersei in Game of Thrones probably won't be shocked by her competent performance as a vulgar Irish Catholic with questionable moral values. However, it's not often—if ever—that we get to see Gillian Anderson of The X-Files (1993) fame step into a more villainous role.
To call either of them villains might be too much of a stretch. Instead, they're morally gray characters, each pushed further and further by their own agendas. Constance might be a bit more challenging to like than Fiona, but both women take turns dipping into antagonistic territory. What's unique here is that we also watch them feud with each other. So, if you're here because you love stories about complex, powerful matriarchs who embrace morally questionable choices, what's better than watching two of them on-screen at once?
