‘Untamed’ Ending Explained By Eric Bana

This story contains major spoilers for Netflix series “Untamed.”

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A woman falls to her death at Yosemite National Park. Who is she and what happened to her? “Untamed” follows the search for those answers.

Kyle Turner (Eric Bana), a National Parks Service special agent, leads the investigation into the death of a Jane Doe, an unidentified woman who fell from the top of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot-tall granite rock in the park.

As Kyle and his partner, Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), work to solve the case, the story also veers into the characters’ traumatic backstories that could impact the investigation.

Speaking to TODAY.com, Bana called the show a “character-driven murder mystery,” appearing to be exhausted recalling all that Kyle endures throughout the course of the six episodes.

“In the end, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, how much more can this character take?’” Bana says.

Who Is Jane Doe in ‘Untamed’?

Naya uncovers Jane Doe’s identity through a detailed photo search paired with DNA testing. The former Los Angeles Police Department officer-turned-park ranger identifies Jane Doe as Lucy Cook, a girl who went missing in the park in 2012.

Based on Lucy’s wounds discovered post mortem, Kyle and Naya reason that she was likely running from someone when she arrived at the top of the mountain. Meanwhile, the mystery of her disappearance as a child remains.

Initially, Kyle believes Lucy’s father, Rory, was responsible for her death, until it’s revealed he had been killed three years prior. Then, DNA evidence shows Rory wasn’t even Lucy’s biological father.

Kyle learns Lucy was once in the foster care system and went on the run from a problematic home.

What Happened to Caleb in ‘Untamed’?

The story of the young girl’s death hit close to home for Kyle. Just five years earlier, he and now-ex wife Jill Bodwin (Rosemarie DeWitt) lost their son, Caleb, who was murdered in the park.

Caleb appears to Kyle as apparitions throughout the show, seemingly guiding him through the investigation. But it’s not until the final episode of the show that viewers know who killed Caleb and why his death tore apart Kyle and Jill’s marriage.

Seemingly in the background of the Jane Doe case, Kyle is occasionally questioned about a wrongful death lawsuit for a man named Sean Sanderson. Though he acts naïve to Sean’s identity and the reason for his death, the finale reveals that Kyle and Jill both know how he died.

As told in the final episode, Sean killed Caleb, and Jill hired the park’s wildlife management officer, Shane Maguire (Wilson Bethel), to kill Sean.

Jill initially kept her plan from Kyle until Sean was killed, which they suggest caused them to separate.

Who Killed Lucy Cook in ‘Untamed’?

As Kyle comes closer to cracking the case of Lucy’s death, chief park ranger Paul Souter (Sam Neill) begins urging him to drop the investigation.

Determined to see this case to the end, Kyle finds Lucy’s final foster home, where she was dropped off by a man claiming to be her dad and whom she described as a police officer.

Putting the pieces together, Kyle returns to Yosemite and confronts Paul with what he’s heard. In a dramatic confession, Paul, who was married, reveals that he had an affair with Lucy’s mother, which he hid for decades. Paul tells Kyle that he brought Lucy to the Nevada foster home to remove her from a violent situation with her mom’s husband, Rory.

Paul says he hadn’t seen Lucy since he dropped her off, until about a year ago when she began blackmailing and extorting money from him, threatening to tell his family he had a secret daughter.

At one point, Paul says Lucy attempted to run away with his other daughter, Sadie, while threatening to reveal his covert life. Paul says he brought Sadie home, but then went after Lucy, chasing her up the mountain.

Paul tells Kyle he fired a shot at Lucy — not to kill her, but to get her attention for them to talk. After being shot in the leg, Lucy made her way to the edge of the mountain and jumped.

When asked what was likely going through Kyle’s head during Paul’s confession, Bana tells TODAY.com: “Shock.”

“I think he’s pieced together a lot of it, but then to hear Paul confess to all that is biggest gut punch for him imaginable,” Bana says.

“It’s like, what else can this character experience? It’s just so hard,” he adds.

How Does ‘Untamed’ End?

After the confession, Kyle tells Paul that he must to report who’s responsible for Lucy’s death, and that this could be Paul’s chance to make things right.

Paul then pulls a gun on Kyle, who looks but continues to walk away. As Kyle leaves, Paul shoots himself in the head and falls into the river below them.

From Kyle’s perspective, Bana describes Paul as “the only character that Kyle really respects and listens to.” So when it came to choosing between keeping his friend’s secret and doing his job, Bana says Kyle’s trauma could have played a role.

“I think when someone’s damaged or been through so much trauma in their own life, maybe there’s a kind of level of them having such a thick skin,” he says. “The only thing that keeps him going is to do his job well and properly, and to ensure that the law is upheld, and things are done morally correct.”

“That’s part of what’s keeping him alive himself,” Bana continues of Kyle. “So, it’s almost like a survival mechanism to just continue with the task. And the fact that it means that one of his closest friends is going to have to face up to what he’s done, that’s just the way it is.”

At the end of the series, Kyle leaves Yosemite, seemingly moving on from his role as a special agent. He leaves a horse behind for Naya and a box of Caleb’s toy cars for her son.

Seen driving through the mountains and pine trees out of Yosemite, the show never reveals Kyle’s next destination, though he appears to be at peace with his decision.

“I like it because we get a sense of the character having some closure, but not complete closure at all,” Bana says of Kyle’s decision to leave the park.

“It’s just that he’s been convinced that spiritually, he can carry whatever he’s carrying with him to another location that it doesn’t have to be physically rooted in this particular location and park, and his connection to his son will always be there.”