Abhiroop Das
Netflix’s ‘Untamed‘ explores various interpretations of its title throughout the narrative. While it is indeed the story of Yosemite’s harsh but beautiful terrains, which hold many secrets inside, it also sheds light on how the cover of wilderness can change how people act, or in some cases, provide a stage to their darkest selves. As Federal Agent Kyle Turner investigates the death of a woman on the El Capitan cliff, he finds many pieces of the puzzle, but struggles to fit them together. In the end, the key to the mystery is revealed to be hidden in Lucy Cook’s tragic past. At the center of it all is her dynamic with her parents, with the contrast between her mother, Maggie, and her real fathers, biological or not, marking the crux of her character. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Kyle Figures Out the Identity of Lucy’s Real Father
While investigating Lucy Cook’s death, Kyle makes a startling discovery: Rory Cook is not her biological father. This adds a new spin to an already complicated mystery, one that persists until the final episode of the show. In ‘All Trails Lead Here,’ Kyle continues his search for her real father, and ultimately talks to a person named Faith Gibbs, who knew Lucy as a teen. Here he learns that her real father was in law enforcement, and suddenly all things fall into place. A quick re-run of Lucy’s DNA against the system gives Kyle the answer he seeks: Lucy’s father is none other than Paul Souter, the Chief Ranger of Yosemite National Park. He manages to keep a tight lip about this for almost the entire narrative, even manipulating evidence on the way, but is ultimately caught.
When Kyle confronts the Souter, he doesn’t put up much of a fight and admits to his paternity. He explains that Lucy herself didn’t know of the fact until prior to her mother, Maggie’s, passing. While we are not told Maggie’s reasons for revealing the truth, it is likely that she wanted her daughter to have a companion in the near future. While initially Souter did appear to be a good father in the brief appearances he made in Lucy’s childhood, his true colors were shown soon enough. On one occasion, he snuck Lucy out of her room and took her away from Yosemite, to Yelton, Nevada. There, he put his child in foster care under a man named Pastor Gibbs. In his present conversation with Kyle, Souter remarks that he made the choice as Pastor Gibbs was willing to stay silent in return for money.
Souter’s actions as Lucy’s father are particularly complex in nature, marked by both his hesitation to fully commit to parentage and a concern for the kind of life she led. He argues with Kyle that Lucy’s presence threatened the integrity of his existing family with his wife, Mary. His words reflect a complete avoidance of responsibility, which in large part informs his decision to send her away. While it is true that Maggie’s husband, Rory, was an abusive person who made Lucy feel like a burden, Souter doesn’t perform much better. He continues on with his life, blissfully unaware of the inhumane living conditions his child is subjected to in Gibbs’s care. The chief breaks the trust of both Lucy and Maggie, all in the selfish attempt to live a life without consequences.
Lucy’s Dynamic with Her Father has a Heartbreaking Conclusion
Eventually, Lucy runs away from her foster home and makes her way back to Souter, hoping to find a home in his care. However, when Souter rejects that idea and instead attempts to relocate her, she gets disillusioned with him and decides to flee deep into the forest. Souter claims that he never heard from her after that point and was saddened by her death. While the latter half of his sentence might be true, the former certainly isn’t. As Kyle probes further, asking for Souter’s rifles to be compared with Lucy’s bullet wound, the Chief Ranger’s facade comes off. He reveals that he is indeed the person who shot Lucy. Explaining his actions, he states that she appeared at his doorsteps about a year prior to her death, demanding money. Souter relented, hoping to get her away, but that wasn’t the case.
Souter claims that Lucy’s appearances soon grew in frequency, and she demanded more and more money from him. When she seemingly decided to take his granddaughter out for a walk today, he reached his breaking point and decided to put a stop to this. In an attempt to assert his dominance and get her to talk, he took a shot at her with his rifle. However, the shot went through her foot, prompting her to limp for her life. Paul Souter’s narrative of the happenings cannot be considered fully reliable, as it is likely that he is merely avoiding serious incrimination. Nonetheless, Lucy’s final moments were defined by cruelty, the same as she had endured her entire life. In the end, she reached El Capitan and chose to end her life. Back in the present, Kyle takes charge, determined to bring Souter to justice, but in a final act of desperation, Souter takes his own life as well, marking a tragic end to the story.
Read More: Is Untamed Based on a True Story?
