There have been a lot of different murder mystery stories in the past. The setting can be LA, New York, small town America, or overseas, but the fact remains that murder mysteries can be set anywhere someone can be indeed murdered.  The latest murder mystery story that I had the pleasure to watch was Untamed. It’s a 6 part mini-series set in the Yosemite National Wilderness Park.  The story is dense and has a lot of layers as most of these types of stories do. Mark L Smith and Elle Smith are the creators of the series, and they have helped craft some new and original.

The series starts out with two men climbing the famous El Capitan cliff face in Yosemite National Park, when out of nowhere, a body comes flying down at them. They barely get out of the way as the body of a dead woman gets caught in their ropes. They survive the harrowing situation and call the authorities.  Marshall Kyle Turner (Eric Bana) is called in to investigate the scene and try to figure out what happened. His superior officer  in the Park Rangers Paul Souter (Sam Neill) assigns him a new young Park Ranger, Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), to help him solve the case. Along the way, the murder  investigation leads in strange directions, as  they find more than they bargained for in the community that they work and live in.

The Yosemite National Wilderness Park is over one hundred acres. It’s a huge tourist attraction for many families. It’s not always the easiest place to get around. Bana’s character uses an unconventional way of travel these days; he rides a horse around to try and figure out some of the details of the case. This gets him Gary Cooper references from his co-workers. This was surprising to his new partner, but she went along for the ride anyway. This manner of investigative work proves fruitful for Bana’s character as he starts to find clues to the identity of the dead woman. As a longtime investigator, he has to use what’s at his disposal to try and get the job done, and that means the young officer played by Santiago is one of his tools. 

The writers/creators of the series infuse the show with multiple plotlines that all come together in the end but have great heft regarding the character development of the two leads. A subplot involving Santiago’s character son and his father is delved on a lot in the six episodes.  Another subplot involving the loss of Bana’s character’s son and his grieving process was also a key to his story.  This is why he’s so standoffish towards other Park Rangers. The density of the story by the Smiths is one of the best aspects of the series. I would definitely like to see them do another show similarly to this one because they have a knack for telling densely layered fascinating tales.

Besides the three characters I mentioned in the second paragraph,  there are a few more key players in this show. Bruce Michl (William Smillie) is a smart ass grizzled Park Ranger. He always has a negative thing to say about what’s going on and gives the younger Santiago character a  hard time. Rosemary DeWitt (Jill Bodin) is the ex-wife of Bana’s character and the mother of his child. She has her own life married to a local dentist, but she keeps getting wrapped up in the work of her ex whether she wants to be or not. She still cares for him on some level. Shane Maguire (Wilson Bethel) from Daredevil/Daredevil Born Again fame, is a local hunter who lives in a tent in the park. He has a lot of skills with a rifle and is very dangerous. He and Bana and DeWitts characters have a hidden past. They want to keep that way. This cast isn’t a big one, but it’s a very good one. They all play crucial parts on how this story eventually unfolds.

When you have a show like this one that takes place in such a beautiful place like the Yosemite National Park, you have to have great camera work by the director of photography, aka the cinematographer. This series has that in spades. It’s one of the most gorgeous shot shows I’ve seen all year. Various high shots looking over the forests from above show mountains and rivers and streams below. The character of the park is on full display. Multiple scenes of Bana’s character horseback riding through the forest show the lush greenery and beautiful streams and cliffs in the background.  The two showrunners/writers, directors, and especially the cinematographer should be proud of how good this show looks from beginning to end. I was in awe of how it looked.

The directors in the series used a particular trick that is used a lot in series such as this. And that is flashbacks. The flashbacks show scenes of the murdered girl and her history in and out of the park. As the mystery unfolds, the viewers get to learn more and more about this girl and her life. She had a long history with the park, and it’s incredible beauty. The back and forth of the story, mainly  involving uncovering some part of the story, was very effective in learning about this person and why she mattered in the overall context of the story. That’s why I said it was dense and layered because it is. There were so many details to keep track of with the murder victim and the rest of the cast. And how they were all connected. 

Untamed was a fantastic series with a great story from the Smiths. They didn’t oversaturate the plot with unnecessary things. Everything that was in the story meant something in the end. Every plot detail advanced the story or character development quite a bit. I truly loved this story and how it unfolded episode by episode on screen. Six episodes were the perfect amount to use to tell this story. The cast from top to bottom were all good, but Bana, the lead of the series, was by far the standout. He was a bit brooding at times, but there was a reason for that. He owned every scene he was in. It’s just a matter of time since he starts to get big screen roles again. The setting of the show was like a character.  It played an integral part in the overall story. I love it when a place is such a big part of the narrative. From beginning to end, this series had me. I was invested from the word go. That’s a testimony to the showrunners/writers and everyone else involved who put their hearts into this.  This show is a fantastic achievement on all levels.

Untamed is now streaming on Netflix

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen