TV Show review
July 17, 2025 · TV-MA · Returning Series
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for UNTAMED.
Woke representation / casting
Lily Santiago plays a prominent female park ranger and single mother partnering with the male lead in a male-dominated field; casting follows contemporary norms but receives no marketing emphasis, identity signaling, or story framing around background or quotas.
Woke political dialogue
No reports of activist language, political lectures, or identity-based conversations; dialogue stays on investigation, grief, and practical park challenges.
Identity-driven story themes
Core arcs center on a father's grief over his son's murder, marital fallout, professional duty, and wilderness versus human rules; no identity politics or social justice elements drive the narrative.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Park bureaucracy and tourism pressures create procedural obstacles for investigators; presented as practical conflicts rather than activist critiques of institutions, patriarchy, or Western norms.
Review
Untamed is a six-episode Netflix crime drama created by Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith. It follows National Park Service special agent Kyle Turner (Eric Bana) investigating a suspicious death at Yosemite while dealing with personal grief and teaming with new ranger Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago). The series centers on procedural mystery, trauma, and the wilderness as a powerful setting with no audience-visible identity politics, activist dialogue, or representation-focused messaging in the story or marketing.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; original story with no established characters, canon, or historical figures altered for ideological reasons.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No significant anti-woke or right-leaning complaints found in coverage or online discussion; public focus remains on entertainment, visuals, and park inaccuracies.
Creator track record context
Lead writer Mark L. Smith holds a low activism profile; co-writer Elle Smith shows no political pattern; director Thomas Bezucha has early films with positive LGBTQ portrayals but no recurring modern identity activism; overall team lacks strong DEI or activist signals.
Production
