Men with Trauma Saving the World: The Netflix miniseries that has become a global hit

BarcelonaRiding a horse and with a permanently worried expression, Special Agent Kyle Turner (Eric Bana) travels through Yosemite National Park trying to solve the death of a girl who apparently suffered a climbing accident. He is the protagonist ofIndomitable, the Netflix miniseries that has become a global phenomenon and is a new example of the television tradition of traumatized men trying to save the world. Because Kyle has a trauma that accompanies him – the death of his son – and that he tries to silence by drinking too much.

One of Netflix's strengths is its ability to have series hits without practically promoting them. In other words, on many occasions, the fictions that are most successful on the platform were not expected by anyone. This is what has happened with Indomitable, which wasn't on the season's most anticipated list. Released on July 17, within a week it was already the most-watched series globally with 25 million views. It's Netflix's third-best new release of 2025, surpassed only by Adolescence, another title that took many viewers by surprise, and the documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito. The success ofIndomitable has opened the door to the possibility of a second season, which could be set in another US national park.

Vintage Masculinities

Eric Bana's miniseries, which returns to the forefront after a few years of professional discretion, is classic investigative fiction and, to a certain extent, predictable. One of the attractions is the beauty of the environment where Kyle worked, a supposed Yosemite that isn't such because the series was filmed in Canada, in the area of British Columbia. If the plot and the location exude classicism, so does the main character, who is far from being a deconstructed man. Yosemite's forest rangers consider him a difficult person to work with, and his ex-wife, who unlike him has tried to move on from the family tragedy, must deal with his ups and downs. "He and his ex-wife, Jill (Rosemary DeWitt), share a trauma, the death of their son. It affects him, as it would any human being. As a result, he has a spiritual connection with the park and nature," Bana explained to the USA Today.

Bana's character joins the long list of researchers who are brilliant professionals, but difficult to deal with and have a low or extremely sarcastic tone. It's a community where the protagonist of another recent Netflix series, Dept. QThe main character of this thriller Morck, a Scottish police detective, returns to work reeling from the trauma of a police operation gone wrong: he was injured and his partner and best friend was left paralyzed. This isn't Morck's only problem. His family life is a mess. Divorced, he must take care of his teenage stepson at his ex-wife's express wish.

Morck's personal circumstances are quite similar to those of another famous television detective, Jimmy Perez, from Shetland (Filmin). In this case, the policeman moves to Shetland Island trying to overcome the death of his wife, an experience that has left his heart locked in love. Perez is not alone; he is accompanied by his stepdaughter, whom he cares for as if he were her biological father. In fact, he is a father with a tendency to be overprotective, much to the girl's misfortune, who would like Perez to enjoy life more. Although his wife's death has turned him into a dry man who occasionally needs a whiskey to distract himself, he is a person of great humanity.

Another lonely horseman from television, the protagonist of the action series, also has a prominent place on the list of traumatized men who save the world. Tracker (Disney+). Justin Hartley, known for This is us, is Colter Shaw, who makes a living searching for and finding missing people and collecting rewards offered by the victims' families. He leads a vagabond's life, traveling across the United States with a caravan, waiting for a new mission. Evidently, behind this uprooting lies a family trauma that won't let him live in peace: he grew up with an eccentric father who taught him and his siblings everything necessary to survive in extreme conditions. Throughout the series, it is hinted that the father, whose death still haunts Colter, suffered from some kind of mental illness that forced the family to live isolated in a forest. Despite his extensive collection of traumas, the reclusive detective has elements that make him attractive: not only is he a very good person, but he is also very handsome. Because, beyond the trauma, the men who try to save the world have something else in common: whether or not they have canonical beauty, they are absolutely irresistible to their own. partners and for the audience.