Happy Thursday Lovelies! Can you believe Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime and Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural are coming to an end this year? We knew it had to end sometime, especially with Shane and Ryan moving their creative talents to their own company, Watcher, but still. This duo has certainly created a new wave of true crime fans, and it’s sad to see this iconic internet series come to an end. So because I love this show so much (do not ask me how many times I’ve watched the episodes...), I wanted to share my top ten episodes that you should watch or rewatch, whether you’re new to the show or a dedicated fan mourning the end of an era. With 66 True Crime episodes across 8 seasons, all of which cover intriguing cases, it’s hard to narrow it down to just 10, but I think I’ve done it, so grab some popcorn and put your detective hat on. As I said, there are 66 True Crime episodes in total, meaning there are a LOT of interesting episodes and cases that just didn’t make the top 10 cut. So before I dive into the list, here are my honourable mentions:
“Well, immediately, there are some red flags here because we gotta do the math, and the math involves me hearing you say the words ‘five days later’ and then saying, ‘five?!’” ~ Shane
The Strange Disappearance of D.B. Cooper (S1, E12)This case is seriously interesting, and as someone who hadn’t heard about D.B. Cooper prior to watching this episode, I found it to be a pretty good overview of the case. However, what truly makes this episode such a joy to watch are Ryan and Shane’s impressions of D.B. Cooper – you can’t not laugh at they’re take on how Dan Cooper went about hijacking the plane and inevitably plunging to his death. This is definitely a case I’d love to see a breakthrough on, simply because I need to know why this bloke hijacked a plane, demanded a whole lot of cash, and then just parachuted out into the night at a random point along the journey. QUOTE: “He seems like a cool dude.” ~ Shane The Bizarre Disturbing Murders at Keddie Cabin (S2, E9) This case gets Shane and Ryan out from behind the desk and checking out the location of the murders, making it feel very much like a Supernatural episode. There’s something about murders in the 70s and 80s that is just so interesting, and this quadruple homicide is no different. From the three boys left unharmed in the next room, to one of the victims’ skull being found three years later, to the dreary atmosphere that Shane and Ryan were met with, it’s such an intriguing case and makes for an episode I enjoy revisiting. This episode also kind of makes me wish that more of the True Crime episodes had been on location, just to get a better feel of the events that took place. QUOTE: “There’s an elk though. There’s a deer over there.” ~ Shane The Grisly Murder of Jack The Ripper (S3, E1) Like for the Keddie Cabin murders, this is another episode that took Shane and Ryan on location around the murder sites in London. Jack the Ripper is one of my all-time favourite areas of history, and as one of the most iconic true crime cases, it’s not surprising that it was covered on the show. Again, like the assassination of JFK, the information presented was nothing new to me personally, but it does give a pretty great overview of Jack the Ripper, the canonical five victims, and who some of the key suspects were. There is, however so much more to this case, including non-canonical victims and more suspects that you can poke a stick out, so it definitely gives you a great jumping point to delve into the history even more. QUOTE: “We’re gonna bag us a Ripper today.” ~ Ryan The Historic Disappearance of Louis Le Prince (S3, E7) As a true crime case, the disappearance of Louis Le Prince is a really interesting one – he just disappeared off the face of the earth with his patents and was never seen again. But, what really makes this episode a good one, is that most of us got to learn about such an important historical figure – the inventor of an early motion picture camera and first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera. Let’s be real, we’ve all come to credit Thomas Edison for this feat, so it was great to learn a little something with this episode and reintroduce Louis to the world. QUOTE: "It's got pretty much everything you'd want. It's got mystery. It's got history. And it's got a train." ~ Ryan The Treacherous Treasure Hunt of Forrest Fenn (S4, E8) This episode is a weird in-between of True Crime and Supernatural- there’s nothing about it that really makes it a true crime story, and it’s not anything supernatural, but the boys are out and about trying to solve a mystery. It was so fun watching them trying to solve Fenn’s clues to hunt down the treasure, and the Postmortem episode that followed this is certainly an iconic one. And, with the treasure having been found since the episode was produced, it’s kind of funny to look back at them completely wiping out the state that the treasure was eventually found in. Although, it would have been interesting to see the turn of events had Shane and Ryan actually been the ones to find the treasure... QUOTE: "Though, full disclosure, if we did happen to find the treasure here, or earlier along this trail, we wouldn't have told you..." ~ Shane The Chilling Black Dahlia Murder Revisited (S4, E9) The Black Dahlia case is one of two cases that Shane and Ryan revisted over the course of the series, and I’m so glad they did. The case was first covered in episode 4 of season one, and while the original episode gave a relatively good overview of the case, and even visited a couple of the key locations, like where the body was found, it was definitely missing the level of detail that later seasons embodied. Not only does this episode introduce the case to Shane, who wasn’t a host for the original episode, but also looks more deeply into key suspect George Hodel, whose own son, Steve, believes to be responsible for the murder. QUOTE: "The mob was all over town. You got dirty cops. The whole town is filthy... greedy... corrupt." ~ Shane The Eerie Cast of the Watcher (S5, E1) This case is seriously creepy, and the fact that it’s one of the most recent cases to ever be covered on the series, only makes it creepier – can you imagine the Watcher actually watching this episode? So weird! An unknown person sending letters to the new owners of a house that he claims to be watching honestly sounds like a Creepypasta, and one that definitely makes you lock the doors and shut your curtains. This episode totally feels like it was meant to be used for an episode of Are You Scared?, but Ryan accidentally used it for the wrong show. QUOTE: "Actually, the first place I moved to in LA, somebody took a poop on the doorstep." ~ Shane The Tinseltown Murder of Thelma Todd (S6, E3) As I said with Natalie Woods’ death, Hollywood drama and crimes are super interesting – there is such a dark underbelly to the glitz and glam of Tinseltown, and Thelma’s death is definitely a shining example of that. Thelma’s untimely death is sad, even if it was just the declared “accidental death with possible suicide tendencies”, but there are definitely some suss elements to the case that lean towards this being way more than a young starlet accidentally killing herself. And, it’s not the first, nor will it be the last, of suspicious Hollywood deaths... QUOTE: "Hey, love you body every day. Wake up. Smile. Wink at yourself in the mirror. Grow a moustache if you gotta." ~ Shane The Mysterious Death of the Somerton Man Revisited (S6, E6) To celebrate the 100th episode of Unsolved, Shane and Ryan revisited the case covered in the very first episode. Not only does this episode pay homage to the episode that kickstarted this whole journey, but it also delves deeper into the case of the Somerton Man. This is a case that, still to this day, intrigues Aussies, which was recently evidenced by the exhumation of the remains in May for DNA testing. It's actually a shame True Crime has come to an end, because it would be amazing to see the guys revisit the case again if there are any leads from the exhumation. In the wake of the Black Dahlia and Somerton Man cases, it would have been really cool to see some of those early cases revisited, even just to delve a little deeper into those cases. QUOTE: "This 'Taman Shud' thing should shed some light on the situation." ` Ryan The Eerie Vanishing of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers (S7, E1) There’s something a little creepy about lighthouses, so it’s not surprising that lighthouse keepers vanished into thin air at one point. This case was so intriguing and there are so many interesting theories for this one, to the point that I definitely need to do my own research to learn more. I think one of the things that makes this episode embody a bit of that eeriness is that Shane and Ryan were not behind the safety of their desk for this episode, with this whole season having been filmed during the pandemic and therefore set outside at night (with similar vibes to Watcher’s Too Many Spirits, just without the alcohol). QUOTE: "That can't be real. Sheep magic? What are you talking about? Huh?" ~ Shane Of course, as interesting as all the cases are, it is really Shane and Ryan who make the show as enjoyable and engaging as it is. And that’s definitely all down to their dynamic, from Ryan being the research brains to Shane predominately hearing about the case for the first time during the episode. It’s a shame to be saying goodbye to this iconic duo in this format, although we still have Supernatural to enjoy later in the year.
But, this isn’t the end of the Shane and Ryan content! If, for some wild reason, you only know about them in Unsolved, you’ll be pleased to know that they’ve been creating amazing content on their own channel, Watcher, which they run with fellow Buzzfeed alumni Steven Lim. While they aren’t doing Unsovled-type content, the series they have produced so far, which includes Puppet History, Too Many Spirits, Weird Wonderful World, and Are You Scared?, are perfect for Unsolved fans. I’d love to know which True Crime episodes are some of your favourites, and which cases you wish they had been able to cover before ending the series. And to Shane and Ryan, if you’re reading this, thanks for sparking an interest in true crime for a whole new generation – it’s been a crazy, horrifying, intriguing and fun journey, and I can’t wait to see you go out with a bang with Supernatural. I’ll be back again at the conclusion of Supernatural to share my must-watch episodes featuring the ghoul boys! Happy Unsolving! Victoria :) |
Categories
All
Affiliates
See DISCLAIMER.
|