Unsolved Mysteries has been around since 1987, making it an early pioneer in true crime television—a genre that has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to streaming. Netflix has been renewed Unsolved Mysteries in 2020, with the fifth entry in that format arriving this week. Although volume five is the shortest season yet, it might as well be pound for pound weird, which is saying a lot because Unsolved Mysteries it is no stranger to unusual things.
This time, just one episode, “Park Bench Murders,” follows a true-crime formula, tracking a mysterious double murder. It’s the kind of case that old-school broadcaster Robert Stack would have made by talking to the audience and asking for their help in solving a crime, a task now handled by on-screen text at the end of an episode.
In some areas, however, things depend more on the “mystery” part of Unsolved Mysteries; while it would have been nice to see some really weird true crime cases included—frankly, those are usually the scariest stories—it feels like this group was carefully selected for some pre-Halloween fun.
“My Paranormal Partner” follows a paranormal researcher named “Becky” who helps her investigate paranormal phenomena, and the other researchers who accompany her to confirm her findings. “Mysterious Mutilation” focuses on recent cattle killings on Oregon ranches, and “The Roswell UFO Incident” examines popular claims that an alien craft crashed in 1947 in New Mexico.
In each case, questions are raised and the evidence is confused, but – as is always true Unsolved Mysteries-it is left to the viewer to ponder what they believe to be true. Most everyone from “My Paranormal Partner” seems convinced that Don Philips is indeed communicating with spirits, but the viewer doesn’t get much in the way of proof. We hear another researcher talk about Don’s ability to verify the image inside a sealed envelope (with Becky’s help), but we don’t actually see the test being performed. The big buzz, though, is that when someone examines what Don says is Becky’s ghostly account of her death, they come up with nothing, and decide that Becky lied to Don and is probably a demon, while the audience is left wondering if maybe Don did her.
Other episodes bring more satisfaction, with “The Roswell UFO Incident” recreating images from 1989. Unsolved Mysteries episode on the same topic (complete with a vintage Robert Stack cameo!), but updated—well, unfortunately not exactly new evidence, but proof that people are just as fascinated with Roswell as they were decades ago. The episode shares archival interviews with Roswell eyewitnesses and stories passed down through generations of their descendants; and lays out the government’s response over the years, from presumed cover-ups to recent reports of “declassification” of UFOs, or as they are now called, “UAPs.” A certain amount of the episode has been given to UFO believers to discredit debunkers, and while—again—no definitive answers come out, it lives up to its claim that Roswell is “the granddaddy of them all” when it comes to cold cases.
But the most compelling episode is “Mysterious Mutilation,” which opens with a warning about horrific animal cruelty—thanks to photos and videos chronicling disturbing cow mutilations from the past few years. The entire episode is shot with an uncomfortable mix of nationalism, in its interviews with ranchers who describe exactly what it was like to find one of their cows badly broken, and it’s true. what the fuck-as the most reliable experts explain that in all cases, the animals were found bled (but without blood in their bodies), and there were no traces or evidence that a predator had caused them to die. UFOs? Evil cults? Top secret government testing? Unsolved Mysteries it doesn’t even pretend to know, but in this episode in particular, it’s scary fun not knowing becomes the main reason to watch.
Unsolved Mysteries is streaming now on Netflix.
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