Exactly, Mother Abigail being self sufficient was an important aspect of the book. She grew her food, slaughtered her own animals, carried water from a well if needed etc.... Details like that establish how strong and independent a type of person she was. It showed how she was able to survive the destabilization of civilization. I don’t understand what they are doing with Mother Abigail in this version at all. I feel like the writers don’t know who she is at her core at all and Whoopi’s performance is so lifeless that she can’t elevate already weak writing for her character.
Changes can be a good thing and add more to the material. But some of these changes seem pointless. I don’t understand some of these decisions.
I was so excited to see a modernization of this story that wouldn’t be censored like the 1994 series had to be. Yet the poorly edited time shifts, diminishing of characters, rushing through character development, changes that distract rather than enhance the story, etc... take away from something that could have been amazing. Most of the cast choices were so great but their potential is being squandered. I want to like this but feel frustrated.