BuzzFeed Unsolved

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About

BuzzFeed Unsolved is a web series created by Ryan Bergara in which he and cohost Shane Madej review and discuss unsolved mysteries and supernatural stories. The series airs on a dedicated subchannel for BuzzFeed titled "BuzzFeed Unsolved Network."

History

BuzzFeed Unsolved aired its first episode on February 4th, 2016, "The Mysterious Death Of The Somerton Man." The video gained over 8.2 million views as of May 28th, 2019 (shown below). Of note, the show is currently listed under the BuzzFeed Multiplayer channel, was originally listed under the "BuzzFeed IRL" series, and features the series' original cohost, Brent Bennett.

Bennett left the show in late 2016 and was replaced by Madej.^[1] Madej is much more skeptical than Bergara of both wild theories in the True Crime series and of the supernatural in the Supernatural series. Writer Lauren Entwistle has called Madej the "Scully" to Bergara's "Mulder," referencing the lead characters on The X-Files. ^[1] As of March of 2019, the show has run for ten seasons: five True Crime seasons and five Supernatural seasons.

Online Presence

The popularity of the series led to the creation of the "BuzzFeed Unsolved Network," a YouTube channel that has gained over 2.5 million subscribers as of May 28th, 2019.^[2] The most popular episodes of the series to date are the March 18th, 2016 episode about Elisa Lam, which gained over 20 million views (shown below, left) and the October 26th, 2016 episode "3 Horrifying Cases Of Ghosts And Demons," which gained over 17 million views (shown below, right).

The show has been praised for striking a good balance between humor and the seriousness of the cases it covers.^[3] Bergara has stated “These are tragic and very sad occurrences, but we’re able to find the humor in some of the lighter places in the cases. A lot of these cases have very gross negligence of the authorities, or the criminal themselves are just a very stupid person.” Some have made jokes and arguments that the series is one of the few redeeming things about BuzzFeed. For example, a meme posted to /r/buzzfeedunsolved by Raina_The_Rogue making the point gained over 750 points (shown below).

The show has over 617,000 followers on Facebook.^[4] There is also a strong fan presence for the series on Tumblr^[5] and the series subreddit has over 14,000 subscribers.^[6] The series also has a page on TV Tropes.^[7]

Hey There Demons, It's Me, Ya Boy

Hey There Demons refers to a screenshot of an episode of BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural in which Madej addresses ghosts that may be in a room with "Hey there demons, it's me, ya boy." The shot became a reaction image in jokes where a person casually addresses their mental problems. On April 7th, 2017, BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural uploaded an episode in which the cast investigates Bobby Mackey's Music World, a rumored "portal to hell." Late in the episode, Madej goes into a dark room and attempts to address any supposed demons in the room with "Hey there demons, it's me, ya boy." The episode has gained over 4.5 million views (shown below).

I've Connected the Two Dots

I've Connected the Two Dots is a quote from Shane Madej in a BuzzFeed Unsolved episode concerning the murder of JonBenét Ramsey in which he facetiously says "I've connected the two dots." Ryan Bergara replies, "You didn't connect shit," to which Madej reiterates "I've connected them." An image of the moment has been used as an exploitable template and reaction image to posts where a person claims to make a point. On August 18th, 2017, BuzzFeed Unsolved released an episode on the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. When discussing the ransom amount asked for Ramsey, Madej says "I've connected the two dots" (shown below).