Netflix’s Untamed has just been renewed for a second season, which is terrific news for those of us who obsess over the beauty of the American West. When it came out, I was surprised to read some critiques of it that focused on the show as being too “masculine” (to be fair, the overall critical response has been largely positive) – especially as star Eric Bana is surrounded by the likes of Lily Santiago (who plays tough city cop Lily Vasquez, looking for a fresh start) and Rosemarie DeWitt (a bereaved mother with a secret).
There’s always been the sense that the rugged wilderness is man-coded, I guess, but women have lived there for millennia too. And Untamed is one of those series that doesn’t write them out of the narrative.
One of the great things about a show like this is how it balances the undeniable attraction of America’s National Park System with said system’s need for good PR. This is just one of the major hurdles that Bana’s Kyle Turner, a federal agent investigating a suspicious death at Yosemite, faces as he rides his horse across the beautiful and desolate landscape.
The NPS is a treasure, and all treasures cost money. In order for money to keep flowing, visitor flow must remain steady. When a Jane Doe takes a nosedive off the iconic El Capitan summit, the visitor flow is threatened, and Turner and Santiago are in a race against time.
Another plot point that’s obvious by now, but explored in Untamed with some grace, is the intersection of NPS history with Native American history. The Native Americans were here first, but it’s too easy to treat a conquered people who were nearly genocided out of all existence as an afterthought or a gimmick in our modern day society. Untamed doesn’t hammer you over the head with historical metaphors, but it will leave you thinking.
I’ve meanwhile seen Untamed compared to True Detective and Yellowstone, and I’m not sure I can agree. It’s far too straightforward a series to be in the True Detective ballpark, for one thing. And Yellowstone is concerned with family sagas and brutal land battles – not thoughtful-yet-wounded investigators who are simultaneously trying to do their jobs and protect what they love.
In that sense, Untamed is a very conventional narrative, and it’s Bana’s and Santiago’s terrific performances that really lift it out of the procedural genre into something more surprising.
At its core, this is a series about how love and family must always battle against the arbitrary nature of the wilderness that exists in all of us, not just beyond the front door.
And sometimes, that battle is lost.
My favorite supporting character this season, however, has to be Wilson Bethel’s Shane Maguire, the avatar for the lasting effects of the GWOT on the psyche of the American veteran. A former Army ranger turned wildlife management officer, Shane is both an elegantly ruthless killer and a tool of revenge.
Without giving too much of the plot away, I found Shane to be an antihero who is perfectly in tune with the unforgiving landscape he inhabits. He’s a cold-hearted opportunist and abuser, but you also feel for him in his isolation a little (or a lot, if you’re me, and happen to know far too many elegantly ruthless killers in real life).
I wish Untamed had used him more. Being alone for too long can really screw with your head, and Bethel gives a pitch-perfect, nervy performance that has stayed with me.
I really hope that Netflix does more interesting things with Untamed in its second iteration. Beyond guessing what gorgeous national park it will inhabit next, I want to see where the themes of grief and heritage will take its characters, and whether or not the writers can take more risks when it comes to plot. The infinitely watchable Eric Bana will definitely be back, but I am also hoping that Jill and Santiago’s characters aren’t written out entirely.
Also, Kyle Turner will look especially good brooding against the landscape of Arches. Someone, please pass this idea on immediately.