A Gillian Anderson/Lena Headey Western Could Heal All Our Wounds

The gays continue to claim territory in the Wild West. Netflix has announced that Gillian Anderson will join Lena Headey in the upcoming Western series, The Abandons, and we’ve got our saddles ready.

Headey terrified (and excited) us as the ruthless matriarch Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones. And Anderson’s role as the no-nonsense and tenacious FBI agent Dana Scully on X-Files led to a whole generation of queer awakenings, a legacy she is proud of. Until now, we’d thought the two actresses would surely melt any screen they shared, but it looks like Netflix is ready to play with fire.

Related:

Leaked Photos Show Us How Great Amy Seimetz’s “The Idol” Could Have Been

“The Idol” could have been everything.

To be fair, the production is in its early stages, so it is unclear whether Headey and Anderson will be involved in any kind of queer storyline. But that hasn’t stopped the Internet from reaching for a bucket and a mop.

The Abandons, helmed by Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy), follows “the story of a group of diverse families in 1850s Oregon,” according to the announcement. “When a corrupt and powerful force conspires to push these abandoned souls off of their land, they find themselves in a deadly clash for the right to Manifest Destiny. As blood is spilled, the line between survival and the law becomes increasingly blurry.”

Diverse families? Our ears are burning.

Related:

Remembering Jeffrey, a Wild, Wacky AIDS Comedy

Jeffrey isn’t just campy. It comes from a real place of pain and fear, a specific moment in the history of ways to feel about sex

Headey plays Fiona, a single mother who will go to any lengths to protect her four adopted orphans. Anderson plays Constance, widow of the wealthy Van Ness family, having inherited and doubled her late husband’s mining fortune. With Constance looking to expand her power in Oregon, it sounds like she and Fiona are in a position to become enemies. But you know what they say about love and hate.

A release window for The Abandons has not yet been announced. And even if no sapphic storyline comes out of this pairing, we’ll let our imaginations do their thing for now.