If you’ve seen the first volume of ‘Unsolved Mysteries’, then you’ll know that making the choice to watch the second is a no-brainer. Each episode is filled to the brim with tension, emotion, and what-the-heck-did-I-just-watch-ness. Following on from the highly applauded first series of ‘Unsolved Mysteries’, which managed to convince sceptics everywhere that UFO sightings are real, expectations were sky high for Volume II. However, it’s undoubtable that this morbid, yet touching, six-episode series will have you hooked.
*Spoilers are kind of hard to avoid when it’s real-life stories but I won’t give out any hidden details!*
*Also CW: brief mentions of suicide*
Episode one opens to a shot of a landfill in Delaware. The dark, unsettling tone of the series is immediately set, and you already know that you’re going to be in for a wild ride. In 2010, the body of an ex White House aide was discovered amongst piles and piles of rubbish, and nobody seems to have any idea how he ended up there. The story gets more and more bizarre as the episode progresses, and what initially seems like a mugging gone wrong evolves into something a lot more sinister.
The second episode is set in a luxury hotel in Oslo. Sounds gorgeous right? Yeah, it’s really not. A woman was found shot dead in her hotel room under mysterious circumstances. She has no ID, no personal possessions, and all the labels have been cut out of her clothes. Who on earth is this woman? That’s exactly what investigators are trying to find out. It’s suspected to be a suicide, but experts that have looked into the case are eager to prove that the mystery woman was not alone in her room that night.
Now episode three would easily scare the bejesus out of anyone. A death row inmate escapes whilst being allowed to go on a Christmas shopping trip. Oh by the way, he’s a nunchuck-wielding child murderer and serial sex offender. And the people watching him thought it’d be a good idea to leave him unattended in a shopping mall. Yeah, I know. To this day, he is still on the loose. And it’s absolutely terrifying. But what’s most upsetting is the interview of one of the sisters of the murdered 14-year-old child. The injustice in this story is scarier than anything.
This is where things start to get REALLY emotional. Episode four focuses on the survivors of the horrific earthquake and tsunami that hit the north-eastern coast of Japan in 2011. Almost 20,000 lives were lost. The real-life footage of the tsunami’s destruction is unbelievable. Also unbelievably, survivors tell of bizarre paranormal encounters with those that died in the wake of the disaster. However, these stories are incredibly touching, as the survivors explain that these spirits are not something to be frightened of.
Episode five opens to a snowy shot of a Catholic church in Michigan. Police found an abandoned car outside said church, and the owner of the car was nowhere to be found. Later that night, police assumed that the mother who owned the abandoned car had gone to church, left her car, and drowned herself. However, there was no evidence whatsoever that she had ended her own life. And, eventually, her body was found miles and miles away. Her family suspect foul play.
The last episode is set in Harlem and tells the story of two mothers desperate to be reunited with their sons. In 1989, a two-year-old boy was abducted from a park. Three months later, another young boy was stolen from the very same park. It’s incredibly hard to watch. The mothers are clearly tortured by guilt and regret, and it’s impossible not to feel tearful. No one to this day knows what happened to those boys. But the mothers are still hopeful that one day they will all be reunited.
And there we have it. The ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ volumes are unbeaten in their ability to awaken your inner detective, and each episode will leave you thinking, ‘what is wrong with the world?!’. So go forth and BINGE, my friends!
Words By: Hannah Martin
Edited By: Charlotte Almey