Entertainment
Netflix’s 6-Part Crime Thriller Earned 127M Hours of Viewership in Just 6 Months
The new shows that Netflix adds to its catalog are coming in so quickly that Untamed, a crime thriller that premiered in July 2025, also seems to have slipped through the cracks and quietly developed a dedicated fan base in the months since its release. Although Untamed didn’t create as much buzz as typical Netflix releases, the numbers speak volumes about the show’s success. Untamed amassed 127 million viewing hours from July through December 2025, according to FlixPatrol.
What helps with the series’ appeal is its setting: rather than being set in traditional urban or police-station settings, Untamed takes place inside Yosemite National Park. It’s a familiar crime-drama setup in some ways, but moving the story into the wilderness gives the series a different kind of tension.
‘Untamed’ Opens With a Death High Above Yosemite
The show doesn’t take long to establish its central mystery. In a shocking incident at the start of the series, two climbers climbing up El Capitan come across a woman who has fallen from above and crashed into their climbing gear, immediately raising the question of how she got there in the first place. Kyle Turner (Eric Bana), a Special Agent with the National Park Service’s Investigative Support Branch, is assigned to investigate the case. Turner has been working in and around Yosemite for many years, and his familiarity with the area is much greater than that of most other visitors.
Initially, the woman appears to have fallen by accident. But as Turner begins to investigate further, the injuries on her body and the possible involvement of other people all suggest that her fall had been premeditated. As time goes on, what appeared to be an accidental fall begins to look like a deliberate act.
Soon after the investigation begins, Turner teams up with Park Ranger Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), a former LAPD police officer who has just recently left Los Angeles to take a position with the National Park Service in Yosemite. She’s still adjusting to the scale of the place — and the fact that solving crimes here looks nothing like it does in the city.
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Eric Bana Gives the Series Its Rugged Center
Much of Untamed‘s success can be attributed to Bana. Kyle Turner is just one in a long lineage of fictional television detectives who have experienced terrible events in their lives. He lost his son to an accident some years prior, which led to him losing his wife, and he is still impacted by these losses today. Still, he rarely discusses any of it, even though it affects many areas of his life. Bana embodies Turner with a subdued energy that makes him appear more tired than anything else. Turner has no need for extravagant displays or for being noticed; he spends most of his time simply observing and listening, piecing together information in a realistic way.
Santiago’s Naya Vasquez adds an important counterbalance. Her joining the park is a very recent event for this character, who now has the ability to respond with sharper sarcasm than before and to gather the courage to challenge Turner whenever he pushes the limits of his capabilities. Their chemistry is among the top in this series, as they both contribute to furthering an investigation that is becoming increasingly complicated over time.
Also helping to complete this story is a large part of the supporting cast. Sam Neill, playing Chief Ranger Paul Souter, has known Turner for a long time and tries to help keep him from losing himself to the job. Meanwhile, Rosemarie DeWitt plays Turner’s ex-wife, Jill. The way Turner and Jill relate to each other has everything to do with the trauma they have both suffered.
The Netflix Thriller Quietly Found a Large Audience
For a show that didn’t dominate headlines, Untamed still managed to pull in a sizable viewership. Over the second half of 2025, the series accumulated 127 million hours watched, a figure that places it comfortably among Netflix’s stronger thriller releases that year. The response was strong enough for the streamer to move forward with another season. Although the first installment was originally pitched as a limited series, the story will continue — just in a new location.
Season 2 is expected to take Kyle Turner out of Yosemite and into another national park, with Hawaii serving as the next setting. This indicates that the show may shift toward a more anthology-style format, in which Kyle follows different cases across different national parks. This current run of the show is a very short six-part mystery that can easily be watched in a single weekend. While not necessarily new to the crime genre, it has a decent mystery, beautiful scenery, and a lead performance that keeps the drama grounded. And judging by those viewing hours, plenty of Netflix subscribers have already stumbled across it.