Abhiroop Das
In Netflix’s ‘Untamed‘, Federal Agent Kyle Turner has a big case at hand: the enigmatic death of a woman at the El Capitan cliff. While the cold, experienced investigator prefers to work alone, this time he is assigned a partner, Naya Vasquez, a former deputy at the Los Angeles Police Department who brings along with her a whole new set of ideas and assumptions. As the duo proceeds with their work, a dynamic slowly develops, one that soon turns into a bond forged by trust and mutual respect. While the protagonist plays a delicate dance with death throughout the story, his partner is no stranger to close calls herself, and how she deals with them becomes central to her development as a character. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Naya Vasquez Becomes a Key Component to Solving Yosemite’s Mysteries
Officer Naya Vasquez is introduced as the rookie member of the Yosemite National Park Service, and for most of the show, that remains her defining characteristic. Although that may be the case, she wastes no opportunity in making herself valuable, both to the show and its primary investigation into the death of Jane Doe. In fact, she is the reason the victim is identified as Lucy Cook, and later connected to a larger drug ring that runs in the abandoned mines hidden in the National Park. Another point of transformation for Vasquez is her appreciation for the new terrain. Away from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, Yosemite provides her a chance to reconnect with nature and see both its good parts and bad up close.
As such, not only does Naya Vasquez survive the show, but she also thrives by the end of it. Ultimately, she is the one who saves Kyle’s life from Shane and is duly respected for it. Kyle’s story ends with him leaving Yosemite behind, and in doing so, he passes the flame to Vasquez. This succession is depicted in multiple ways, ranging from the protagonist explicitly discussing her progress to the more symbolic elements, such as her growing more comfortable in riding a horse, represented by a switch from a double-handed grip on the reins to a single-handed one. Given this, Kyle ends up giving his horse to her as well, and with this, another narrative beat comes full circle. Vasquez’s final appearance in the show is her fearlessly riding the horse through a herd of deer, showing how she has turned into a true forest Ranger.
Besides a horse and his symbolic position, Kyle also leaves behind his son, Caleb‘s toy box for Vasquez, which brings closure to another major arc for her character: her dynamic with her family. Earlier in the story, we learn that back in LA, she had a partner, Michael, with whom she has a son, named Gael. Michael’s suspension from the Police derails his life, and as a result, he has a violent exchange with Vasquez, triggering her exit. As such, his goal becomes to bring her back in order to reverse her statement, and he shows a readiness to use force to that end. However, Vasquez ultimately survives this ordeal as well, taking him down with the help of Kyle and Jill. Michael’s departure from her life likely means that she can confidently move on to start things afresh, reiterating a happy end for the character.
Naya Vasquez Has Her Share of Life-Threatening Ordeals
While Vasquez’s fate runs in her favor at the end of ‘Untamed,’ that isn’t always the case. In episode 3 of the show, she decides to venture deep into the forest on her own, looking for the hidden squatters’ camp. Her search leads her into a mysterious underground system of caves, which we soon learn are abandoned mines from the nineteenth-century gold rush. Here, misfortune strikes the deuteragonist as she slips through unstable wooden flooring and lands deep inside, with no way of reaching out. While looking for an exit horizontally, she only makes her situation worse, and soon gets stuck in a narrow hollow in the middle of a downpour. While Kyle guides her and she ultimately makes it out alive, this is likely the closest she comes to death.
Following this close encounter, a change occurs in Vasquez. At once, she gets a newfound appreciation for both the indifference of nature and the value of her own human life. This is marked by her actions after leaving the forest, as she goes on to embrace her child. Thus, Vasquez’s quests in the forest ultimately give her a new perspective on life, while amplifying her skills as a detective and empathy for the victims she fights for. It is her relentless efforts that eventually help Kyle solve the mystery. While for him, Lucy Cook’s death holds personal significance, for Vasquez, things are a little different. Being her first major case, it gives a quick snapshot into the intricacies of the woods, and those who investigate them, specifically through the eyes of a newbie who grows throughout the story.
Read More: Untamed Finale Recap and Ending Explained: Who Shot Lucy Cook?
