UNTAMED
Netflix mini-series review
UNTAMED is a TV-mini series murder mystery directed by Thomas Bezucha, Nick Murphy, and Neasa Hardiman, produced by Warner Brothers Television, John Wells Productions. One season, six episodes; NETFLIX, 2025.
Netflix is well know for its products being laden with an underlying viewpoint. This series will not disappoint anyone accustomed to this style of info entertainment. Fans will relish in not only the visual aspects of protected natural parks but the moral qualities that appear like a Grimm's fairy-tale.
This murder/drama psychological thriller is set within the magnificent scenery of Yosemite National Park in California. With a backdrop of mountains, forests, and wildlife it is difficult to see how this series could miss. Many of the scenes are breathtakingly beautiful due to the cinematography of Michael McDonough and crew likely augmented here and there with a little AI video manipulation.
Although the plot is the product of tested formula with a secret running through the action which is slowly revealed as the sometimes labyrinthine story line wanders from one thread to another. This is not unusual for this sort of series that seems to follow the soap-opera formulation quickly cutting from one action to another in an attempt to keep a short attention span audience interested.
I am not a spoiler so I will leave the dramatic end and pointless post-ending for the audience to enjoy. However your humble author will concentrate on the main character's role and persona starting with Eric Bana who plays the male lead Kyle Turner.
Turner is a National Parks Services, Investigative Services Branch (ISB) officer drawn into this Park drama due to unusual activities (murders, kidnapping, drug dealing) at Yosemite Park. Turner, a carefully constructed character that suits the California entertainment industry's stereotype of a deeply flawed authoritarian male who under the influence of personal crisis becomes an obsessed half-crazed drunk unable to control his emotions while working a difficult criminal investigation. Kyle is the perfect formula to prove that males are fragile and weak and should be replaced by either female or other gendered personnel. This is a steady undertow throughout the series.
The female lead is nicely played by Lily Santiago as Naya Vasquez, a rookie National Park Service Ranger who with her toddler son moved to Yosemite from Los Angeles to escape her ex-boyfriend, another screwed-up former cop who was caught stealing money from a drug dealer in Los Angeles subsequently kicked off the force. Santiago is a street tough police officer who quickly adapts to the ways of the woods leaving her urban upbringing behind her. As Naya the new Ranger she is inexplicably partnered to the veteran but stumbling Turner into the maelstrom of a complex drug-lab, murder, suicidal, batch of wickedness while mastering equestrian skills and babysitting the sociopathic investigator Kyle Turner.
Naya is a miraculously adaptable cop who is not only tough and can handle herself in a man's world but she is a tender and caring protector of her toddler son who is being hunted by his crazed father obsessed with kidnapping him for some unknown reason. Ranger Naya, is a plucky Hispanic modern woman thrust into a terrible situation by the script writers who are painfully obvious about making a point regarding the merits of minority hiring practices.
The other male characters, Paul Souter played by Sam Neill, Shane McGuire played by Wilson Bethel, and others are all morally weak or psychologically flawed men in positions of power and authority demonstrating what Warner Bros and Netflix knows about what is wrong with our society. Their characterizations could not be better for this purpose. Shane, ex-Army Special Forces is a cold blooded killer that delights in shooting horses while Souter is the creepy Chief Ranger who dumps his runaway illegitimate daughter on a crooked "Christian" foster family in Nevada. These are all perfect casting for a Netflix educational drama.
This is a perfect example of Netflix in partnership with social influencers, big money investors, and media giants to bring to the screen a representation of American society that fits the uniquely tainted worldview pioneered by apparatchiks like Donna Brazile. Produced by John Wells of The West Wing fame this team has created a visual product that is easily consumable for a segment of the market that has yet to gain a sense of values.
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