Nadine Syed Jefri
Copy Editor
By now, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej are undoubtedly two of the biggest faces to ever come out of BuzzFeed alongside The Try Guys because of their infamous series, BuzzFeed Unsolved. The web series first aired on Feb. 4, 2016 as more of a table discussion type of show where Bergara and Brent Bennett (who left the show early on due to commitment issues and was replaced by Madej), had discussed the mysterious death of the Somerton man, Tamám Shud. This would eventually lead to two branches of their shows: Unsolved True Crime, where they would discuss open-ended cases, and Unsolved Supernatural, where the duo would go to haunted locations and investigate. As aforementioned, alongside The Try Guys, BuzzFeed Unsolved has grown to become one of the most popular shows online thanks to the plentiful memes that come from various moments between the two.
The newest and final season kicks off with Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej going to the infamous Conjuring House located in Burrillville, R. I., much to Bergara’s dismay. There is a running trend where, in each season, Bergara claims quite clearly, he would “only do one demonic investigation per season,” and this is the first time a demonic investigation has kicked off a season. It discusses the history of the house, and how and why it ended up with demons and spirits crawling all over it.
Unlike other ghost hunting shows, like Ghost Adventures, for example, BuzzFeed Unsolved is known for the humor that goes into their investigations; it makes things more interesting and fun. It’s often because Bergara, the believer in ghosts, is paired with Madej, the extreme skeptic, which makes for a lot of fun banter between the two. Often, they are interrupted by noises and Bergara goes off to investigate, while Madej comments something witty about how “it’s probably just the wind.” Halfway through the first episode, Madej yells at ghosts to “turn the light off if you want to hurt us,” to which Begara hears, in his audio-enhancing equipment, a quiet repeat to turn the light off. These sorts of interactions between the duo and the spirits or demons surrounding them are very common, especially if it’s in a demonic location like this house. (Spoilers: the spirit or demon does, in fact, turn the light on and off).
Bergara and Madej often try to recreate experiences of stories of the residents and try to talk to the spirits that attacked the person at the time. They often address the spirit or demon as “whatever is in this house,” for they aren’t exactly sure what possesses the residence. In addition, they do discuss the Warrens, two of the most famous paranormal investigators in history. The duo makes a lot of references to their previous seasons for the special season; for example, when they are conducting a seance, Ryan Bergara brings back the water guns filled with holy water from his and Madej’s investigation of the Goatman’s Bridge, or Old Alton Bridge. The investigation continues with individual sessions where they would go to certain locations in the house by themselves. Madej would talk to the ghosts in a funny voice, while Bergara would assure himself he won’t be hurt by the demons; although, this season, he’s definitely getting rather bold with the demons, even though anyone can tell he’s a bit terrified, per usual, considering how he’s clutching the holy water quite tight. The investigation ends with the two sleeping over by themselves in the Conjuring House, while the rest of the cast return to the hotel. Madej slept soundly while Bergara simply, as he claimed, didn’t conjure any sleep.
This was only the first episode, but it kicked off extremely well, as per usual — very up to par with previous seasons. BuzzFeed Unsolved’s final finale was well-anticipated by the Internet because the two took a long break in-between this season and the last True Crime season. This was a result of the two running a separate channel called Watcher with another mutual friend of theirs, Steven Lim. As of right now, the Internet is buzzing with a lot of fan-made content surrounding the series, for this was definitely memorable — partially due to the amount of throwbacks it had. It brings back memories of when we were in high school or middle school, watching the ghoul boys hashing it out with spirits in the most ridiculous ways attainable, or getting intrigued with true crime cases that were never solved (although, rumors are that they did have one episode where they solved a case by accident). BuzzFeed Unsolved, like The Try Guys, will definitely be one of the company’s most memorable channels thanks to the charm and bravery of Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, and we will definitely miss this show by all means. Future episodes will be coming in the span of the next few weeks every Friday (with a Q&A every Wednesday) until the season ends, so look out for that on BuzzFeed Unsolved’s channel! Until next time, Ghoul Boys!
Featured Image Courtesy of BuzzFeed