Yosemite Thriller

I'm trying to decide if I want to pull the plug on Netflix, and looking around to see what's worth watching. I also want to watch some new Western productions because I am pretty biased against them these days. Although it was pitched as a one-run mini-series, the outdoor cop thriller Untamed has been renewed for a second season, and with good reason. It's the best crime show I've watched in a long, long time.

The premise: In Yosemite National Park a federal agent still grieving the loss of his young son in the park must solve the inexplicable death of a young woman while coping with a new, inexperienced partner who has her own troubles. This case leads to drug running and murder for hire, and reopens several wounds of the past for almost everyone involved.

Set in Yosemite the series is visually beautiful (most of the time) and very different from the usual cop thriller. Eric Bana, who plays Kyle Turner, the grieving federal agent, is almost unrecognizable -- we're all getting so old! -- but is absolutely stellar in his complex and gruffly sympathetic role. He really delivers a performance worthy of a second season. Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays his ex-wife, was just as wonderful. Man, she had her hands full with that character. I think my favorite member of the cast was Lily Santiago as Naya Vasquez, the rookie cop who steals every scene she's in. She's lovely without being a beauty queen, funny without being over the top, and just one hell of an actor.

There are some graphic scenes of victim injuries, but for me the scariest parts of the series were the understated/non-graphic ones. Most happen to Vasquez, and one terrifying notable scene involves her getting stuck in a narrow mine shaft tunnel with rain water pouring in. I was just as scared as the character, I swear. I saw the ending coming from a mile away, but most won't. Available on Netflix and totally worth the watch.

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