“Truth is truth, and truth will come out everytime.”

Netflix just came out with the reboot of the 1987 mystery documentary TV programme Unsolved Mysteries. It’s 6 episodes long, and if 2020 isn’t scary enough, these stories are surely gonna change that notion for you. Technically, the reboot is being taken as the show’s fifteenth season, and John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer from the original show are running the series.

Unsolved Mysteries is supposed to be a 12-part series, and so this is the first volume.

Unsolved Mysteries is purely a documentary-style show, and thus there are no narrators. The show is divided into 6 episodes, as stated above. Each of the episodes focus on a single story, which has never been solved.

Now, I have never seen the original show, and the reboot is my only exposure to it. So, to my fresh, new eyes, it’s quite enjoyable. I inherently gravitate towards shows which are mysterious and thrilling. However, Unsolved Mysteries truly opens your eyes to what people around the world are going through everyday, and how reality is scarier than fiction.

The scariest part, however, is probably how things can change from good to bad to terrible in a matter of minutes. And that it can absolutely happen to anyone. You never really know what’s around the corner, but by the time you reach the corner, it’s already too late.

I also really enjoyed the recreations. I have been exposed to plenty of documentary-style shows since childhood, and they’ve always been the entire show just recreated with actors. However, Unsolved Mysteries has these scenes, intercut with interviews, police report and news coverage footage as well as crime scene images. Sometimes, people close to the case would go back to the place where it all happened and run us through the whole incident. It provides some form of realism that only recreations don’t. And probably makes it scarier and sadder.

Another thing that really that really bothered me was the fact that, every time I started watching a story and got engrossed it in, I would hope that something came out of the investigation. That someone, somehow, got to know the truth. And then it hit me hard that the show literally focuses on cases that never got resolved. Which is very sad. No one deserves to wonder what happened to their loved ones.

Mystery on the Rooftop

Episode 1 of Unsolved Mysteries focuses on the case of Rey Rivera. He rushes out of his home one day and disappears without a trace, until his car is found. Which, instead of solving the case, baffles detectives even more. A strange sight at a historic hotel creates a mystery that is truly quite baffling. This case really was head-scratching. Especially the circumstances in which the Rey was found.

13 Minutes

Patrice disappears from her salon and 600 days later, a shocking discovery is made. This episode was a bit sad, as well as shocking. There were several arrests made, everyone thought the husband did it, but whatever was the case, no one really got to know what happened. Additionally, what the husband did to his then 15-year-old step-son in is appalling.

House of Terror

A story all the way from France, this story is shocking, honestly. An aristocrat and his entire family disappear, and then after a few days a gruesome discovery is unearthed from their home. But if this wasn’t enough, the alleged perpetrator’s activities are more baffling, and police are still actively searching for him.

No Ride Home

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries shines light on why we need the Black Lives Matter movement. Alonzo Brooks vanishes from a party and his body is found a week later. With speculation that the murder could be a hate crime rife, the police close the case without resolving it. All I could think of was, how inhuman can you be to not give the family closure?

Berkshires UFO

The only episode which focuses on the supernatural, this one is from an incident on September 1, 1969. Several residents of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, report being abducted by aliens and then live to tell the tale. I am terrified of aliens, although I don’t believe in their existence. But the notion that there might just be others out there is enough to give me nightmares. However, this one probably was the weakest story of the lot, and even at around 36 minutes, I felt that it dragged a bit.

Missing Witness

This was by-far my favourite episode. Lena Chapin claims on tape that her mother killed her step-father. Several years later, when she’s called to court to testify, she disappears. This one’s baffling not just for how Lena’s mother Sandy treated her six daughters, but how she mentally abused 6 kids into lying for her. And what followed after Lena’s disappearance is heart-breaking, and frankly disgusting.

Summing up: Unsolved Mysteries Vol 1

If you’re a fan of the unknown and Unsolved, watch Unsolved Mysteries. These are real stories of real people, and how bizarre things can happen at the drop of a hat. It’s honestly sad and it made me angry that there are people out there who have lost people close to them, and don’t have the answer to why it happened. I think people deserve to know the whys. And it’s heart-breaking when it’s not found.

Unsolved Mysteries Vol 1 is streaming on Netflix right now.