Untamed is now streaming on Netflix.
By Elazar Abrahams
I went into Untamed hoping for something fresh. A national park-set thriller with Eric Bana in the lead role sounds promising on paper. The opening scene, in which a climber falls to their death in Yosemite, is gripping, clicking the mystery into gear. For a moment, it seems like this miniseries is going to deliver.
Unfortunately, Untamed peaks in the pilot, then plateaus in the remaining episodes. Bana plays Special Agent Kyle Turner, a rugged investigator sent to the park to figure out what really happened to the dead hiker. He’s dealing with personal demons, of course. He’s emotionally closed off. He’s hurt people he’s trying to make amends with. If that sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this exact character a hundred times. Bana does what he can, but the role doesn’t give him much to work with, and it’s hard to get excited about watching another gruff guy brood through grief.
The plot unfolds with all the urgency of a leisurely hike. The investigation is methodical in a way that doesn’t build tension, it just drags. The show keeps circling back to the same tired beats and cliché dynamics. Kyle gets paired with a younger, less experienced ranger named Naya Vasquez, and though Lily Santiago brings some energy, the mentor-mentee stuff never feels earned. There’s a stiffness to their scenes that keeps them from feeling like real people.
Visually, the show is pretty. The towering forests and foggy valleys give the story some ambiance, even if it wasn’t actually shot in Yosemite. But that natural beauty doesn’t do much when the rest of the show feels so lifeless. The script is flat, the pacing off, and the character work superficial at best.
Untamed has the bones of a good thriller, but it squanders them. If you’re obsessed with national parks, maybe you’ll find something here. For everyone else, it’s probably not worth the watch.
TV and City 