Crime still calling Australian star Eric Bana, this time he’s caught up in the mystery when the body of a woman is discovered in Yosemite National Park, reports streaming columnist NICK OVERALL. 

Eric Bana continues his run of crime thriller hits with Netflix’s new series Untamed, a show that sets a grizzly murder mystery in the stunning scenery of Yosemite National Park.

But while it’s California where the action takes place, it’s from across the Pacific that the show’s stars hail.

Bana is joined by NZ Sam Neill in this six-episode limited series that’s now streaming.

Together the duo play Kyle Turner and Paul Souter, a national parks service agent and the Yosemite chief park ranger who get caught up in the mystery when the body of a woman is discovered.

Untamed comes from the same writer as The Revenant, the film that won Leonardo DiCaprio his Oscar after he famously went toe-to-toe with a bear.

If the tension from that film is anything to go by it bodes well for Untamed delivering a killer punch.

ON a lighter note, this month Netflix has also launched the newest series from renowned writer Lena Dunham.

Dunham became known around the world for creating the series Girls, a Golden Globe winner that aimed to offer an authentic exploration of the life of young women living in New York.

The series which wrapped in 2017 was a major hit and Dunham’s newest show, called Too Much, is perhaps her biggest project for the small screen since.

It follows Jessica (played by Hacks star Megan Stalter), a workaholic advertising executive, who decides to pack up her life in New York and move to London after a messy break up.

There she expects to carve out a life like a Bronte sister or Bridget Jones, but soon discovers life across the Atlantic isn’t quite as romantic as she imagined.

The culture shock and how she comes to terms with her new existence in the UK forms the basis for this 10-episode series.

As with Girls, Dunham wants to craft a story here that is intimate in its plot but big in the emotional exploration of its characters. It’s a fine tightrope to walk when making a show that is both funny and sad, but if anyone can pull it off with effortless charm, it’s her.

ALSO doing numbers in the streaming world this week is the famous television psychopath Dexter, who’s become awfully good at killing but certainly has a hard time staying dead himself.

This month marks the return (again) of the popular character played by Michael C Hall for what is not the first, not the second, but the third spin-off some 12 years after the original show ended.

Since then fans have got Dexter: Original Sin, a prequel series about a young version of the devious leading man in 1990s Miami.

In 2021 fans also got Dexter: New Blood, a series that brought back the popular character for one last murderous escapade, set years after the original show.

Spoilers ahead for those who didn’t watch it and want to, but at the end of New Blood Dexter himself was finally killed off by his own son. The iconic character was finally dead 15 years after his first appearance.

That is until Paramount Plus recently realised there’s more money to be made out of him yet.

Enter Dexter: Resurrection, which reveals that by some miracle he actually survived the gunshot fired by his son and is now back stalking his prey.

It turns out the concept of a psycho who takes out his murderous machinations on the bad guys is just a little too popular to let go but with each new installment it feels like this legend of TV is getting more watered down.

The problem with letting a show go on this long and reviving its character this many times is that it cheapens any future emotional blows the series tries to deliver.

Audiences can just no longer take character deaths seriously, because clearly the producers don’t.

It is ironic that a show so heavily about murder has rendered that very fascination rather meaningless.

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