Untamed episode 1 recap: a woman's death sparks an investigation (Spoilers)

Kyle talks on the phone in Untamed
Murder mystery, Untamed, is now available to stream on Netflix. (Image credit: Netflix)

Untamed is a murder mystery on Netflix set in Yosemite National Park, where a woman's death sets special agent Kyle Turner (Eric Bana) on a harrowing investigation filled with dark secrets, brutal crimes and heartbreaking twists.

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While Kyle is partnered up with new park ranger Naya Vasquez, they're both forced to confront their own upsetting truths while on the hunt for a killer. One who knows the park as well as Kyle. And Vasquez quickly realizes she needs to learn how to navigate the wilderness quickly if she's going to help in the investigation. Spoilers to follow.

Here's a recap of everything that happened in Untamed episode 1.

Kyle walks through the park in Untamed

Kyle looks for clues around the incident site. (Image credit: Netflix)

The episode opens in Yosemite National Park. Two men are climbing up the side of a cliff. Suddenly, a woman’s body hurtles from the top and down between them, crashing into the rope holding them together. The force pulls the first man off the cliff and the second man follows, but the rope is pulled tight, suspending the two men and the woman’s body against the cliff. Her body is tangled between them, putting a strain on the rope.

It cuts to Kyle Turner with his son. They’re inspecting bloody tracks on the floor of the forest and talk about how people ride horses and use arrows to kill animals to remain undetected. He tells his son they can't catch them now. Someone calls his radio and he tells his son he has to head to work.

At the cliff, the two climbers have been saved by a rescue team. The officers are talking about how the weather can change quickly up there. Kyle arrives on the scene and one of the rangers, Milch, describes him as the ISB, the Investigative Services Branch, Special Agent Turner.

Kyle walks past the rangers and they describe the woman as a female, guessed to be early 20s, accident or a jumper. The other ranger introduces herself as Naya Vasquez. Kyle asks how the climbers knew the victim and Vasquez explains that she just fell down. Kyle then asks the climbers if they heard anything above them, like voices. They say no and that they didn’t see anyone either.

Kyle and Vasquez walk through tall grass in Untamed

Dr. Irving meets with Carl for the first time. (Image credit: Netflix)

Kyle looks over the side of the cliff and sees the woman’s body hanging there. Vasquez explains that there was lightning, so the rescue teams didn’t want to risk it. Kyle starts kitting himself up and says that there could be damage from birds or rain or the rope could give way if they wait until morning. Milch says they should let her fall rather than risk going down there since that was her plan anyway. Kyle asks Milch if the woman told him her plan.

Then, Kyle hooks himself up to the ropes and abseils down to the woman's body. He takes photos on his phone. Then, he puts on gloves and inspects her heavily injured leg and hand, but her bracelet falls down to the ground below. He gets a radio call warning him that the lighting is approaching, so he gets pulled up with the woman's body.

Milch, Vasquez and Kyle continue to inspect the body. Milch suggests maybe coyotes are responsible for the damage to her leg and Kyle points out she has black cottonwood in her hand and there’s nothing like that up on the summit. He determines she’d been running for a while. Vasquez notes she doesn’t have any shoes on either. Milch suggests she was on drugs. Kyle asks them if she looks familiar from the park, but Milch says he doesn’t recognise her face.

Kyle walks around the area and finds a bloody handprint on one of the rocks. He walks further down and finds two bloody footprints. The storm is approaching and Turner’s horse gets nervous, so they leave. It cuts to the county coroner’s office. The body is labelled as Jane Doe. The doctor is explaining to Kyle and Captain Souter that the injuries are mixed, making it hard to determine whether they happened before or after the fall. But, he says the injury on her leg definitely happened before and he guesses from a canine. They also note she has a gold glittery cross tattooed on her wrist.

Souter looks at Kyle in Untamed

Souter instructs Kyle to find out what happened. (Image credit: Netflix)

Kyle tells Souter that he thinks he’s seen the woman around. He also notes that the damage to her feet suggests she walked in shoes that weren’t her size. And he says there were no animal tracks near the top of the trail, so the canine injuries must have happened way before she fell. They head back to the ranch station. Souter asks Kyle to be nice to his rangers and notes he smells like bourbon. To this, Souter asks Kyle if he’s stumbling again, and if he is, to talk to him.

Park Superintendent Lawrence asks them what the verdict is on the jumper. Souter tells him they’re waiting for test results. Lawrence holds up his phone and shows them that people are already talking about it online, including mentioning it was an animal attack. But, Souter says they’re not sure that’s exactly what happened. Lawrence is worried it’ll stop people visiting the park.

Kyle tells him he’s not employed by the park, but then Lawrence says that he’s getting bothered about the Sanderson investigation because Kyle isn’t getting back to the investigator, a woman named Avalos. Souter asks what the point is of reopening the Sanderson investigation since the man went missing six years ago. Lawrence says it’s about money and that the lawyer has new information to discuss, but he needs Kyle to talk to her.

That night, Kyle heads to the site below where the woman fell. He finds a bead with the letter A on it. He finds more beads and eventually the bracelet that fell off her wrist with the letters TKE and A on it. It cuts to a woman is sleeping and her phone rings. It’s Kyle and he asks if the kids are asleep and tells her there’s a meteor shower on Thursday. He says it's the biggest one of the year, meaning a lot of wishes.

She asks him if he’s drinking and he says he was just thinking how they all used to snuggle under a blanket together to watch it. He says he’s just telling her in case they want to watch where they are. She tells him to go to sleep. Once she hangs up, a man rolls over in the bed next to her and says since Kyle works in the national park, he should be better with boundaries. Kyle sits on the dock, drinking.

Vasquez looks at her son in Untamed

Vasquez teams up with Kyle to look for clues. (Image credit: Netflix)

The next day, Vasquez knocks on Kyle's door. She says she called, but since he didn’t answer she had to come because Captain Souter is getting pressure about the Jane Doe. Kyle's annoyed. Vasquez follows him inside and says there’s no match for her prints or as a missing person. He asks after park employee records, but she says they’ve not heard back yet, so he tells her to push again.

Vasquez tells Kyle they’re also checking gate video to the park. She picks up a framed photo of his son and asks him about him. Vasquez explains she has a son, too. She also notices the boxes everywhere and asks if he’s just moving in. He asks her about her son’s father and she says it’s not her husband, just his father. He saddles up his horse and offers Vasquez one. She refuses.

She then asks if they’re going to check the campsites and entrances and Kyle explains over 100,000 people come through a week. He saddles up a horse for her, despite her reluctance, and they head out into the park. He takes her down the path Jane Doe would've taken to the summit. They approach an old hunting shack. He notices a bloody footprint outside. Inside, some bloody rope. Vasquez suggests Jane Doe was hiding in there and Kyle asks why she didn’t stay.

Vasquez thinks maybe she was scared or hurt. There are carvings on the wood that Kyle says are fresh. He takes a photo of them. Vasquez notices some more and Kyle says they should check for missing Indigenous girls. Vasquez opens another door and there’s a bear outside. Kyle shoots his gun and scares it away.

As they continue on the path, there’s a bird pecking at a bloodied spot on the floor with discarded shoes. Kyle says it was coyotes. Vasquez bags up the trainers. They continue and find a puddle of blood and then Kyle notices a ricochet scar on a nearby rock. Then, he notices a bullet lodged into a nearby tree. He calls the doctor inspecting the body who then realises there is a bullet wound in her leg, but it was missed because of all her injuries. Kyle and Vasquez speculate that someone was chasing her, or that she shot herself.

Jill stands by the door in Untamed

Kyle's ex-wife, Jill, pays a visit. (Image credit: Netflix)

Kyle tells Vasquez to alert wildlife control about the coyote attack, but to miss out the details to anyone, including Captain Souter. There’s a realtor’s car outside Kyle's home when they get back. It’s his ex-wife, Jill. She notices that he still has his belongings boxed up. He asks if her husband sent her because of the late night call he made. She says Scott is understanding. Kyle tells her about the girl that died in the park. He mentions the gold tattoo. Then, he asks her how happy she is and she says she’s as happy as she can be.

At home, Vasquez is coloring with her son, Gael. They laugh and play together, talking about their days. It cuts to Jill on the phone, she’s telling Souter that Kyle is acting like he wants to tell her something but he can't. She asks Souter how his wife, Mary, is doing and he says their daughter Kate has had another relapse and is in trouble and so his granddaughter Sadie is back with them. Jill says she’ll see him at their wedding anniversary party. She hangs up and asks her daughter to help make dad's birthday cake and she says he doesn't like cake.

Meanwhile, Kyle is looking at the photo of the carvings he found in the shack. His son asks why she drew them. His son has drawn him, his mum and Kyle on horseback and tells his dad it’s how it used to be. Kyle notices the beads he collected from the young woman’s bracelet have been rearranged to spell ‘Take Hike’ and his son thinks his mum did it. Kyle starts going through a photo album and finds a picture of Jill standing with a group of kids at a camp called Wildwood Nature Adventures.

Kyle explains to Vasquez about the photo and the bracelet saying all employees and attendees got them from the camp that ran between 2008-2011. He asks her what her next move would’ve been as a cop in LA. She says she’d pull up official park files to look for a list of names from the camp. Then, cross check for connections to current employees. He tells her to let him know if she finds anything and drives off.

Vasquez and Kyle ride horses in Untamed

Kyle and Vasquez search desperately for a lead in the case. (Image credit: Netflix)

Kyle drives up next to park ranger Stewart pushing his bike up a road and they talk like old friends. He says he’s going fishing and asks if Kyle wants to join him. Kyle says he’s busy looking into the girl’s death. Stewart says he heard she was a tourist that fell. That night, Vasquez is looking at the old Wildwood website photos. Her son comes to sit with her and while they’re at the laptop, a message pops up saying she can’t pretend he doesn't exist as he’s his son, too. She shuts her laptop and locks her door.

Kyle is looking at the bullet casing and photos of the girl when his son shouts and says it’s time to go outside and look at the stars. At Jill’s, she’s having dinner with her husband and two daughters. She goes to sit outside to watch, too. Turner and his son sit out on a blanket to count them.

Meanwhile, Souter watches with his wife and granddaughter. Sadie asks Souter about a photo of him, Kyle and a boy. He tells her it’s his godson, Caleb, but she never met him because he passed away several years ago. It cuts to Kyle lying on the picnic blanket alone, Caleb no longer there, and his friend Stewart brings him a fish he caught. They share a drink and talk about the stars.

All episodes of Untamed are available to stream on Netflix.

CATEGORIES
Grace Dean
Freelance Writer

Grace has been writing about TV and film for most of her journalism career. After graduating, she's been a YouTube presenter, tech showrunner, and head of short-form content, including podcasts for Audible, comedy shorts for the BBC, and entertainment shorts on ITV2 and Ch5. When she's not writing about entertainment, she's most certainly watching it. Her favorites shows include Succession, Bridgerton, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and movies include Forrest Gump, Love in the Time of Cholera, and the OG Total Recall. In her spare time (of which she has little with two small kids), you'll also find her reading books or playing video games. 

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