Abhiroop Das
In episodes 3 and 4 of Netflix’s ‘Untamed,’ titled ‘El-o’-win’ and ‘Gold Rush,’ National Park Service Agent Kyle Turner, along with Park Ranger Naya Vasquez, delve deeper, quite literally, into the mystery of Lucy Cook’s mysterious death. With a name attached to the body, the search is expected to get easier. However, this doesn’t turn out to be the case here, as the name brings with it a past even more complicated, and with nothing to fill the gap. But the duo has to rely on their combined detective prowess to blow the lids off the mysterious life Lucy Cook was leading right until her death. In the previous episodes, besides learning of her identity, we learn of the main characters’ personal lives, in particular, Kyle’s lingering trauma. These episodes take the exploration a step further, tying them back to the present. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Lucy Cook is a Peek into Kyle’s Past
The episode begins with Jane Doe, identified to be Lucy Cook, as a child. She sits atop a cliff while talking to her mother about death, who claims that is how human beings attain a higher state of being. She further adds that one must not think of it as a bad thing. In the present, Lucy Cook is dead, and her case takes a particularly personal turn for Kyle. It turns out that many years ago, he was the investigating agent on Lucy Cook’s disappearance at seven years old. Back then, Kyle believed that she was murdered by her father, Rory Cook, but a lack of evidence meant that the case eventually went cold. However, Rory was forced to shift elsewhere, and even then, was soon killed out by locals eager to dole out their personal justice. The fact that the investigation went in the wrong direction is a source of guilt for Kyle, giving him more reason to solve Lucy Cook’s death.
Upon returning home, Kyle meets with his ex-wife, Jill. She finally reveals to him that she lied about being happy in the present, and Caleb‘s death continues to eat at her as well. She recalls one of her final moments with him: a drive through an ice cream parlor. That day, Caleb was having trouble picking an ice cream flavor, so Jill hurriedly picked one for him. She laments not giving him enough time and affection, and is soothed by the protagonist. Despite his mental state, he forces his attention back on the case, planning to dig deeper into Lucy Cook’s investigation. He points out that her mother, Maggie Cook, worked in the Park Service and had died shortly before Lucy’s disappearance. This made Lucy’s half-brother, John Cook, the only surviving family member.
However, Kyle’s visit to John Cook’s apartment doesn’t go as planned. The agent asks Vasquez to stay back as he enters the building, only to find John making a run for it. Kyle gives chase, and the two end up at a storehouse, where Cook attacks him from behind. He nearly takes the protagonist out, but is stopped by Vasquez. It turns out that Lucy’s half-brother confused the protagonist with a loan shark, and in actuality, is completely unrelated to the case. With the case at a seeming dead end, Kyle and Vasquez make their way back. Here, we learn that the latter’s partner was also a police officer, and he got caught stealing drug money, which led to his suspension.
Kyle Struggles to Find Balance in Life
When Kyle makes his way back to the Ranger Station, he finds that news about Lucy Cook has been made public, and the Superintendent is under pressure for answers. He demands that Kyle quickly solve the case, threatening suspension upon failure. Frustrated, the protagonist makes his way back to the hotel and has sex with Lana. Following this, the two have a conversation, wherein Kyle reveals that right before he was called in for Lucy Cook’s case, he was planning on ending his life. In response, Lana asks him to come to her the next time he has such thoughts. This reveal marks the true extent of the protagonist’s psychological torment, and the case gains yet another new dimension, becoming his second chance at life.
The following morning, Kyle continues his work, checking out Lucy Cook’s previous residence. He goes there with Jay Stewart, a native who is popular in the community. The house is presently owned by a man named Begay, who mentions that he once saw a girl outside his house, but couldn’t catch her face. Kyle is confident that the girl is Lucy, and she returns to the place because it reminds her of home. He asks Jay about the markings on the shack and learns that those are used to ward off evil. Elsewhere, the lawyer, Esther Avalos, reaches out to Jill and asks her about Sean Sanderson’s case, probing into Kyle’s conduct and approach. While Jill tells Avalos that Kyle never involves her in the details of any case, we know that’s untrue. Her lie, as such, implies that the two share a deep secret, and this is substantiated by her shaking after Avalos leaves.
Meanwhile, Vasquez, desperate to find the girl at the Squatter’s camp, sneaks out with one of Kyle’s horses and makes her way on her own. She almost gets lost, but catches a glimpse of one of the squatter children and follows their trail. From a distance, we see that someone, likely Shane, is keeping an eye on her with the scope of their rifle. Back in the town, Kyle locates the tattoo artist who last messaged Teddy, urging him not to probe into the gold crossed drugs. The protagonist realizes that the tattoo artist was likely a friend and was trying to help. However, his line of questioning bears no fruit, as the man refuses to reveal any information, except for reiterating how dangerous these people are.
Vasquez Has a Close Encounter With Death
Vasquez’s end of things take a scary turn when her search leads her into a narrow wooden construct underground, which collapses under her feet, hurtling her deep into a tunnel. From here, Vasquez sees no way out, and her fear multiplies when she notices the incoming rain. As she digs deeper, the Ranger finds an extremely narrow way out through a cave. She tries to exit, but that turns out to be a huge mistake, as she gets stuck. As rain pools in and the narrow tunnel begins to fill with water, she desperately cries for help, and is ultimately found by Kyle, who came here looking for his horse. The agent calms her down and instructs her to crawl her way back, helping her successfully exit the narrow opening.
Following this, she makes her way back to Gael, both spooked after the incident, and emboldened, as she has just unlocked another clue to the mystery: the cave has gas masks lying around with a cross mark inscribed on them, which suggests that it is a part of Lucy’s travel network in Yosemite Park. With this, the scene changes to the past, where a young Lucy is being verbally abused by her father. She locks herself in her room, which has the same inscriptions as the cabin. Here, a mysterious man climbs into her window and is greeted by her beaming smile.
An Underground Passageway Births Many New Questions
In another flashback, this time closer to the present, Lucy visits her former house, wearing her mother’s yellow dress, but is discovered by Begay. She makes a run for it, quickly making her way to her hideout, before changing into a regular pair of clothes and heading out with her bag. Here, we discover that she is hanging out with the same girl seen at the Squatter’s camp, who advises her not to deal with bad people. In response, Lucy remarks that everyone is bad in some way before continuing on with her journey. It takes her to the same tunnel as the one Vasquez stepped into. However, Lucy seems familiar with the path, quickly takes off her face mask, and makes her way in.
Back in the present, Kyle and Vasquez make their way back to the underground paths, this time in a controlled fashion. Kyle remarks that it’s likely an abandoned gold mine from the 1800s, and how its scope and secrecy make it the perfect grounds for, say, trafficking drugs. Their journey deeper into the caves is interrupted by a flurry of bats, following which they find the other end. At the exit sits yet another surprise: a jaw that Kyle identifies as Abuelo’s, given its two metal teeth. Seeing that the bones have been cleaned of flesh by vultures, Kyle calls in a specialist and tasks Vasquez with helping him. After a brief search, the two locate the rest of Abuelo’s remains, which are half buried, making it clear that he was murdered.
The Squatters Present Their Perspectives
Meanwhile, Kyle calls in his team and has them arrest all the squatters for illegal habitation. However, his real aim is to interrogate all of them about Abuelo and the drug gangs, starting with their leader, Glory. The duo has a rich conversation, centered around her seeming apathy at the deaths of Abuelo, who was her former partner, and Lucy. In response, Glory reveals her past, stating that she devoted twenty years to a job and excelled at it, but was nonetheless kicked out of it unceremoniously. Shortly after, the doctors told her she had cancer. This led to her total disillusionment with civilization, and as a result, she desired to lead a life far free from people, hospitals, and anything related, and above all, freedom from faking sympathy. Her perspective stuns Kyle while also confirming that she knows nothing of the case.
Meanwhile, Vasquez manages to locate the girl, who managed to escape the Squatters’ arrest. With both of them finally alone, the girl, named Summer, reveals her side of the story. She met Lucy when she was 16, though the latter had already been living here by then, in a secret hideout. The two became good friends, but Lucy soon got embroiled with dangerous people. Summer identified the cause to be her lover, whom she called Terces, the inverse of secret. Finally, she mentions that Lucy often worked as a mule to transfer drugs between stations and that she had last seen her make a delivery on the completely different end of the forest. When Vasquez asks about Abuelo, Summer says that she knows nothing of the business herself, but points to Pekuna, the man who worked as Abuelo’s right-hand man.
Vasquez’s Past Catches Up to Her
Another major clue comes up in the form of a kid from Yelton, Nevada, who mentions that he knew Lucy Cook as Grace McCray. He further reveals that she was living with a pastor’s family, and had left years ago, supposedly to reunite with her real family. Souter joins in on the conversation, asking if he knows who the real parents are, but the child replies that he doesn’t. This adds another key piece to the puzzle, but only results in more questions than answers. Later that night, Vasquez returns home, only to find that her ex-partner, Michael, is inside. He gifts her son a police toy car and threatens the ranger to join his side. He tells her that only two officers know of his crime, and one of them is her. With Vasquez speaking in his favor, he will be cleared of charges, and his life will come back on track.
In light of this, Michael asks Vasquez to pack up her bags and leave with him the following day. Desperate for a way out, she tells him that she has to give Gael a bath, and using that as a pretense, she escapes with her son and drives away from the house. Meanwhile, Kyle has a conversation with Shane over drinks, with the former enquiring if the latter was involved in Abuela’s killing. The animal specialist laughs the idea away, expressing that he merely knew Abuela as a supplier of drugs, and with him dead, Shane was simply inconvenienced. Kyle then moves the topic to Lucy Cook, asking Shane if he knew her. In response, the man suddenly turns defensive and tries to push back by bringing up Esther Avalos, the lawyer whose line of questioning had led her all the way to the hunter.
Kyle Leads the Investigation to a New Discovery
The conversation then takes a dark turn, with Shane suggesting that he might talk to Avalos the next time they meet. He then hints at his shared connection with Kyle regarding Sean Sanderson’s disappearance. The conversation takes on the role of a threat, and the tension is only diffused by Souter’s appearance. The Ranger Chief pulls Kyle away from the conversation and urges him to get his life back on track, as his path only has darkness ahead. The protagonist only appears to be sinking deeper into his troubles. Relief comes when he returns home to find Vasquez waiting at his door with Gael. He lets them stay in the house and bonds with the child. However, when Gael tries to open a box of toys that originally belonged to Caleb, Kyle shuts him down, showing how the emotional scars still haven’t left him.
The following day, Jill comes to Kyle’s house and agrees to watch over Gael, as Kyle and Vasquez head out, continuing their investigation. They ask for a chopper to fly them to the other end of the forest, hoping to get to the source of the drug business. At the same time, Kyle asks for Pekuna, another drug peddler, to be released into the wilderness. With nowhere to go, Pekuna makes his way through the deep forests and cave systems, finally reaching the underground drug manufacturing facility. A mounted face mask suggests that these were the people who killed Teddy. Pekuna swears his loyalty and makes an exit, but is surprised to find the protagonist duo waiting for him. Just as they planned, Pekuna has led them directly into the heart of the criminal operations.
Read More: Untamed Finale Recap and Ending Explained: Who Shot Lucy Cook?
