Eric Bana stars as Kyle Turner in Netflix’s limited series Untamed, a special agent with the National Parks Service stationed in Yosemite. He and his ex-wife Jill (Rosemarie DeWitt) are still reeling from the loss of their son, who died under mysterious circumstances several years earlier. Haunted by grief and unable to move on, Turner remains tethered to Yosemite and the memories it holds. He’s also frequently visited by hallucinations of his late son, adding another layer of trauma to his already frayed psyche.
Turner’s newest case involves a Jane Doe who fell to her death and became entangled in the ropes of two climbers mid-ascent (the series’ opening sequence is a real heartpounder). While it’s initially ruled a suicide, anyone who’s watched one of these before knows that’s never the whole story. Partnered with Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago) — a sharp-but-naive recently transferred ranger fleeing her own past, Turner begins to dig. What they uncover isn’t just one tragedy, but a string of bodies and a web of secrets. I dig long-buried secrets.
Created by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, American Primeval, Twisters) and his daughter Elle Smith, the show isn’t based on a novel, but it moves like it could be. It’s moody, deliberate, and steeped in the Yosemite mystique for the first four episodes, before shifting into a sprint in the final two. The last hour delivers more than one twist, arguably too many, but the build-up makes them land. Mostly.
None of that would work without Bana, who grounds the series in a performance that’s brooding without being overly harsh. Turner is prickly, angry, and not particularly welcoming to Vasquez, who’s clearly capable but still adjusting to life far from Los Angeles. He’s the kind of no-nonsense mentor who tests her from day one, but it’s clear that beneath the resentment and trauma, something softer survives and often reveals itself around Vasquez’s son.
DeWitt’s Jill, now remarried to a small-town dentist (played by Ed alum Josh Randall), is also trying to move forward. But the investigation dredges up old pain, reminding her that closure is often a myth. Sam Neill rounds out the cast as Turner’s longtime boss, a man who has spent years shielding him from consequences he probably deserved.
I watch a lot of these Netflix mysteries. Untamed doesn’t do anything new, but it holds its own. It’s not this year’s best (that’s still Dept. Q and Patience), but it’s nowhere near the bottom of the pile, either (I’m looking at you, Sara: Woman in the Shadows). It’s compelling once it gets going, quietly captivating, and emotionally satisfying in the end. A solid B- series, and sometimes, that’s enough.
For Fans of: Longmire, Tana French, Harlan Coben series, Big Sky, and Eric Bana’s forearms.
