New Episodes of Unsolved Mysteries Released

I can’t believe it has only been three months since Netflix began releasing new episodes of Unsolved Mysteries. Last July, Netflix released six new episodes of the classic show so many of my friends and I grew up watching. Earlier this week, Netflix released another six episodes, completing the 2020 season.

Everything I said in my review about the first half of the season applies to the second half. Five of the first six episodes dealt with unsolved murders, with only one dedicated to a paranormal event. The second half of the season follows the same pattern, with five new unexplained deaths or disappearances and only one paranormal event (ghost sightings in a Japanese town devastated by a tsunami in 2011). The other five episodes cover a mysterious death (“Washington Insider Murder”), two mysterious suicides (“A Death in Oslo” and “Lady in the Lake”), and two unsolved disappearances (“Death Row Fugitive” and “Stolen Kids”). It’s unfortunate that “Tsunami Spirits” is probably the weakest of the six new episodes, with lots of testimonials and zero evidence.

While most of the episodes were interesting, two in particular gave me those “Unsolved Mysteries” chills. In “Washington Insider Murder,” former White House aide Jack Wheeler’s body is found in a local landfill. What makes this episode particularly creepy is all the (real) surveillance footage of Wheeler wandering streets and parking garages and appearing confused (or scared) days before he was found dead. “Stolen Kids” tells two separate women’s stories, both of whom had young children disappear from the same park in New York City just months apart.

After the first six episodes aired, internet forums came alive with people trying to solve the mysteries, and the Unsolved Mysteries received thousands of tips. Earlier this week, the show updated the status of the first six cases. None of them have been solved, but some have been reopened and are actively being worked.

The new iteration of Unsolved Mysteries is a little different than the original, and that’s okay. (For those wanting the original, twelve seasons are available for viewing on Amazon Prime.) It remains to see if any of the episodes lead to cases being solved, but most of them will have you double-checking the locks on your doors at night this Halloween season.