Untamed: Is Paul Souter Dead? What Happened To His Daughter?

Untamed on Netflix is a masterclass in shocking turns of events that come out of nowhere. The TV show tells the story of Kyle, a special agent at a national park. While Kyle is the protagonist, he shares a close bond with his senior and boss, Paul Souter. Paul and Kyle’s bond is a big part of the series, because it shows us how long these people have been at the park, what their relationship with the people of the park is, and also, of course, how much they care about each other. Before we get into the rest of my thoughts on the show, here’s your major spoiler warning for all things Untamed. I will be discussing the major plotline, i.e., Jane Doe’s death and how she died. With that out of the way, let’s jump into Paul and his daughter’s story. 

For the longest time, we didn’t know who Lucy was, but as the story unfolds, we learn that she’s the daughter of Maggie and Rory, a couple who lived near the cliff Lucy fell off of. However, both the mystery of who shot Lucy and who her biological father is are left unanswered until the final episode of the show. The big reveal is that Rory isn’t Lucy’s dad, Paul is. It takes Kyle some extra work to figure it out with the help of Faith Gibbs. Faith is the daughter of the Gibbs family, a couple who used to “look after” kids and run a church, but they were, of course, mistreating the kids. Initially, Faith isn’t able to give Kyle much information, but just as he’s leaving, she tells him that Lucy’s dad is some sort of cop and she was certain he’d come to arrest Faith’s dad.

I suppose Lucy’s resentment came from many different places. She was sent away from home by Paul after her mom died. But she ended up in an inappropriate relationship with Shane, who was much older than her. She then ended up at the Gibbs house thanks to Paul, but that was a bust, too. In a flashback, Lucy tells her friend that everybody is bad. This feels especially poignant when you realize that Paul didn’t even bother trying to actually help her. He could’ve saved her from Shane, from the Gibbs, but instead, he’s the reason she was so far gone that she had to blackmail him for money. Had Paul accepted his mistake and taken Lucy in, things would’ve turned out entirely different. But say he didn’t want his family to know; all he had to do was keep their relationship secret while still being there for her. 

The problem really is that Paul never accepted Lucy as his own. She was a mistake he didn’t want to be held accountable for. She then became a liability because she started to threaten to tell his family. This all could’ve been avoided had he actually cared. It’s interesting to parallel the relationship Paul and Kyle have with Lucy and Paul. Kyle and Paul are not related by blood, but throughout a lot of the show, we see Paul giving Kyle advice; he treats him like his own son, and he’s genuinely looking out for him. It’s possible he’s doing all this because he knows that Kyle’s the only person who could figure out that he was the one who shot Lucy and led her to her death. But it could also be that he actually likes Kyle; we can’t be entirely sure. Meanwhile, his relationship with Lucy is immediately strained because he wants her out of the picture. So he never tries to be a dad to her; he keeps her at a distance and sends her away. This is what makes Lucy believe everyone’s kind of evil. Her own dad didn’t bother being there for her. 

Somehow, we never catch that Paul’s involved in the case, because we always believed we knew who Lucy’s parents were. This is why it’s a total shocker, but it’s also why Kyle was never able to solve the case. Sure, the initial disappearance had nothing to do with Paul, but he made sure Lucy stayed away, so nobody would bat an eye. Plus, everybody assumed Rory killed the girl, and Kyle was so sure about it, making Paul’s life much easier. 

But when Lucy started blackmailing Paul, he had no choice but to acknowledge her. Then he ended up chasing her and shooting her in the thigh to “talk to her.” Paul claims he never meant to hurt Lucy, but he never saw her as family, so he failed at the one thing he was desperate to do: “protecting” his family. This is why he’s guilty of sending her off the cliff. It’s terribly sad that Paul pushed Lucy off the cliff, both metaphorically and physically. While he didn’t actually push her physically, he made her run, he made her scared, and he left her lonely. Of course, the only thing she thought she could do was join her mum, where she’d be sure to be happy. 

Ultimately, Paul isn’t guilty of killing Lucy; he’s guilty of ruining his family name, though he’s the one who did wrong. So he ends up taking his own life. This is a cowardly act on his part because it’s the only way he doesn’t have to be held accountable by both sides—his family or the death of Lucy. Lucy gets a proper ritualistic send-off from her Native friends, because she belongs in the El’O’Win, with her mom, whereas Paul kills himself and falls into the river, possibly lost forever. It’s definitely a disappointing ending, but I guess Paul saw no other way out. But at least we know that Lucy will finally be remembered for the happy girl that she was, rather than as the runaway who killed herself. Whereas Paul will get the reputation he deserves, the man who let his family down.