Untamed isn’t terrible, but it isn’t very good either. It’s one of those shows that starts out with the promise of something layered and intriguing, then gradually deflates into a story that’s so pedestrian it’s hard to believe anyone thought it was enough.
It looks amazing—Yosemite National Park is the real star here—but that’s kind of the point. This feels like a show that exists because someone got permission to film in Yosemite, not because anyone had a great story to tell.
The Illusion of Depth
From the start, Untamed teases complexity. We’re introduced to characters with interesting setups and allusions to dark, complicated backstories. There’s trauma, loss, corruption, grief—plenty of raw material. But the show never capitalizes on that potential. It throws out ideas and then lets them sit there, undeveloped.
The emotional core is meant to center on the lead’s dead son, but it never resonates. Maybe I’ve just had it with father/son flashbacks (between this and Stick on Apple TV+), but it felt flat and uninspired. You could see what the show wanted me to feel—it just didn’t do the work to get me there.
Tired Tropes & Easy Escapes
Plot-wise, it leans heavily on cliché. You've seen this structure before: the brooding lead, the rookie sidekick, the mysterious death, the conveniently timed clue. It pulls in familiar elements from the wilderness thriller playbook and just rearranges them slightly.
Worse, the show relies on a few too many deus ex machina moments—those out-of-nowhere twists that exist purely to move the story forward. It undermines the sense of real investigation or consequence. The resolution felt especially unearned, as if the writers backed into it because they ran out of episodes.
Final Take
While I enjoyed parts of the journey, I wasn’t happy with the ending—and I wouldn’t recommend the show unless you’re mostly in it for the scenery.
Untamed looks great. Yosemite’s landscapes are incredible, and the cinematography makes the most of them. But that isn’t enough to make a show worthwhile. A setting can elevate a story, but it can’t replace one.
Verdict: Beautiful to look at. Easy to watch. Easy to forget.
Filed Under: Drama, Netflix, Television