Unsolved Mysteries Vol. 2 Review
Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix is back with even more new and puzzling cases in Volume 2.
Washington Inside Murder
For starters, I had high expectations for the first episode of this season. Quite frankly, I was disappointed. The episode is about the death of a former White House aide Jack Wheeler and the strange events that led to his death. The episode’s first couple of minutes didn’t get me that hooked.
They took unnecessarily long to get into the details of his death and what the mystery behind it was. It got a little better from there. The strange events leading up to his death that had occurred had finally come to light, and things were starting to get interesting. There were a lot of odd things happening at once, and a lot of questions ran through my mind. Why were his antics so stressed and frantic? Who was he running from? What happened to his briefcase? None of these questions get answered in the end and there isn’t any resolution.
Obviously, these are unsolved mysteries or cold cases, but usually, there’s some sort of lead, conclusion, or closure towards the end. There was none of that in this episode. There were too many unanswered questions that had no way of being solved or connected to anything, which leaves the viewer confused.
A Death in Oslo
Thankfully, the first episode didn’t set the tone for the entire season. The second episode is about an unidentified woman who checks into a luxurious hotel with no form of ID and dies from a gunshot wound inside her hotel room. The bizarreness and mysteriousness of the details from the case are intriguing from the beginning of the episode.
The story is unique and different from most unsolved mystery cases seen before. There are so many elements in this story that are strange and don’t make sense, but they add to the suspense. It leaves the viewers wanting to know more about this mysterious woman and why this happened to her. Who is she? Who was with her the night she checked in and was he responsible for her death? A lot of these questions don’t get answered as well, but there is some sort of potential answer or theory given to us in this episode, which gives the viewer a little closure and more insight into what could have happened.
Death Row Fugitive
In this episode, the convicted killer of a little girl escapes prison after being granted a furlough to go Christmas shopping in 1973, and police have come close to finding him but believe he is still on the loose. The case is very interesting, and as I was watching the episode, I could feel myself hooked on the story. The detectives and other people working on the case had strong feelings about this killer of a little girl, who was roaming free. These emotions rubbed off on me, making me just as upset that this murderer was still at large and the little girl’s family couldn’t get justice for her. The episode was not boring at all, but it’s definitely different than most of the episodes/cases that are shown on the show. This isn’t the typical murder mystery or missing persons’ case. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, but personally, I’m not sure if I like it as much as the other unsolved cases we’ve seen on the show.
Tsunami Spirits
Similar to the structure of the first season’s UFO episode, this episode follows people’s supernatural stories that began after the devastating earthquake and tsunami disaster that struck Japan in 2011. Right off the bat, this episode made me really sad, and it will definitely trigger an emotional reaction. Seeing the enormous number of deaths in the tragedy and how many people were never found is heartbreaking. Additionally, people’s stories of how they never got to say goodbye to their loved ones.
This was the most emotionally telling episode and breaks the traditional rhythm and tone of the show. People’s stories about their supernatural experiences were interesting to hear, but not necessarily scary or unsettling. The switch from the emotional impact the beginning of the episode had on me, to the strange stories that were being told the rest of the episode wasn’t my favorite.
Lady in the Lake
In this episode, a woman supposedly walked into a freezing lake and committed suicide, but her family suspects that there was foul play involved in her death. This was probably my favorite episode of the season. As soon as it started explaining what had happened to her and all of the evidence that was found at the crime scene, I was definitely hooked and into the case. Throughout the episode, I was trying to figure out what could have happened to her, because so many elements of her death did not point to suicide.
There were so many questions. Why would she walk down an icy slope in 4-inch heels and into freezing cold water? Who was following her and calling her constantly in the days leading up to her death? This case was really interesting and the episode gives you everything: family drama (that could have been the reason for her death), suspense, possible suspects, and different theories.
Stolen Kid
In the final and saddest episode of this season, two different kids are stolen in 1989, at the same park in New York City. Their families still have hope that they will find them. As I mentioned earlier, this case is a tear-jerker. The episode did a great job of telling their story and what exactly happened each day when both kids went missing. The timing of both abductions is very strange. They both got taken in the same park, only three months apart, both on a Thursday and around the same time. You get to see two different people’s stories, their perspectives and emotions of going through the same thing, and how this has affected them. There was one theory given to us as to what could be the cause for the abductions, which was that there possibly could have been a baby-selling ring at the time. However, there was no further explanation or information provided on that theory and not much closure on this case.
Overall, the second season was pretty good, but not great. This second volume picks up where the first volume left off and includes many interesting and mysterious stories. There were episodes that could have been better, but there were also episodes that were very well put together. They are all different in their own way, and Unsolved Mysteries still gives us what the title promises – leaving it to the viewers to solve these mysteries.