Sam Neill’s 6-Part Murder Mystery Series Is Quietly One of the Best Shows on Netflix

The death of Sam Neill at 78 marks the end of one of the most remarkable acting careers of the past five decades. Best known to generations of audiences as Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg‘s Jurassic Park, Neill built a filmography that stretched far beyond blockbuster cinema, moving effortlessly between prestige dramas, thrillers, horror, and television. One of his final standout performances came in Netflix’s Untamed, the six-part limited series that spent several weeks atop the streamer’s television charts.

In the series, Neill’s Chief Park Ranger Paul Souter may not be leading the charge, but he plays a vital role. With his white hair and beard, he has an avuncular, peaceful nature about him. However, beneath his quiet and calm exterior, Paul is harboring some seriously dark and unsettling secrets of his own. Directors Nick Murphy and Thomas Bezucha keep Paul just on the outskirts of the investigation, almost like a concerned parent.

And Neill’s performance enhances that, as it is imbued with just the right amount of reservation and reticence, so that you believe he is nothing more than a well-meaning close friend of the family and interested observer in the progress of solving the murder of the young girl. Yet when the hammer finally falls, Neill delivers a tour de force monologue that ends with quite a bang. All four lead performances in the Netflix hit are on point, but the veteran actor shines as a supporting player in Untamed.

What Is Netflix’s ‘Untamed’ About?

Murder investigations are a common subject on TV, but Untamed adds its own take. When the dead body of a young woman comes cascading down the side of a Yosemite Park cliff while two hikers are making their way up the face of the mountain, a mystery swirls around who she is, why she was killed, and who could have perpetrated such a heinous act. The haunted ISB Park Ranger Kyle Turner (Eric Bana), his boss and close friend, Chief Park Ranger Paul Souter, and former Los Angeles cop turned new assistant Park Ranger Naya Vazquez (Lily Santiago) have the case and begin to piece together all the information about the girl.

It leads them down a dark path filled with unforeseen twists and turns, as Kyle is forced to face his trauma from his son’s death while trying to solve the case. Their investigation culminates in a shocking moment involving Neill at the end. The series quickly became a success for Netflix with more than 127M hours viewed on the streamer, per FlixPatrol, and has already been renewed for a second season, but as many great qualities as Untamed has, Neill’s performance stands out.

Sam Neill Is Hiding Some Long-Buried Secrets in Netflix’s ‘Untamed’

Image via Netflix

In Untamed, Sam Neill’s Chief Park Ranger Paul Souter is the much-needed mentor to the main character, ISB Agent Kyle Turner. In his 70s, Paul is semi-retired, tasked with overseeing the day-to-day operations of the park policing squad, but to Kyle, he is more than a boss. Paul and Kyle have a close connection. He is the godfather to Kyle’s daughter and a good friend to the entire family, including Kyle’s ex-wife Jill Bonner (Rosemarie DeWitt). Neill does a convincing job portraying Paul as a father figure to both Kyle and Jill. For much of his screen time, Paul is seen to always have Kyle’s back, and Neill plays the character with an ease and calm that balances out the uneven and sometimes ill-tempered Kyle, who is grieving the loss of his son years earlier.

Whenever Kyle’s attitude needs to be checked, or he needs to be reminded to lay off the booze, Paul is there to be a steadying force and get his protégé back on the straight and narrow. As far as the audience is concerned, Paul is the only thing keeping Kyle employed, and Neill is a natural as a soft-spoken boss who delegates authority throughout. The result is a character who is so easy to trust that it is almost unbelievable when Untamed reaches the final twist with Paul’s admission and involvement with the girl’s murder. The truth comes out in a delicious shock that serves as a perfect ending to the taut mystery thriller.

Sam Neill’s Character Made a Horrible Mistake Years Earlier in ‘Untamed’

Image via Netflix

As the case takes shape, the evidence starts to point the finger toward the last person you would expect. Over the course of the investigation, the viewer finds out that the girl who was murdered had visited the park many years ago when she was a young girl. As Kyle and Naya begin to piece together the girl’s history, they uncover a connection between Paul and the victim, making the case even messier. In one of the final scenes in Untamed, there is a jaw-dropping eureka moment where both Kyle and the audience discover that the girl was actually Paul’s daughter, whom he had abandoned over a decade prior.

The truth looks even worse for Paul once it’s revealed that he was aware she was alive and living like a vagabond nomad on the Yosemite grounds the entire time. Because of his familiarity with Kyle’s skill, Paul knew that eventually, he would figure everything out, which is why he tried to stay on the sidelines during the investigation, but that didn’t help him for long.

The abrupt shift allows Neill to really shine as his cover of being an innocent, well-meaning, avuncular onlooker is completely blown. Neill shows his enormous range and portrays an openness and vulnerability as he realizes the jig is up. Paul desperately tries to explain himself and save face in front of Kyle, a man whom he has been a respected authority figure to for so long. But the audience can feel that Paul’s sense of self and identity falls away as he tries to justify his actions.

In the end, just moments after everything comes out, he makes the fateful decision that he can’t live with the shame. He pulls out his park-issued sidearm and ends his own life, falling into the fast-moving creek below. It is an edge-of-your-seat sequence, and Neill, as he has done throughout his entire career, lifts Bana up and meets the moment with the aplomb and savvy of a top-notch performer. Untamed would not be the shocking series that it is without Neill’s skillful portrayal of Paul, which carries the mystery until the final moments.

Untamed is currently available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

Release Date

2025 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Directors

Nick Murphy

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