''Unsolved'' (also titled ''Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.'') is an American

true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

, based on the 1996 murder of

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

and the 1997 murder of

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

(aka Biggie Smalls). It premiered February 27, 2018 on

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

. The 10-episode miniseries chronicles the dual police investigations of Detective Greg Kading (

Josh Duhamel Joshua David Duhamel ( ; born November 14, 1972) is an American actor. After various modeling work, he made his acting debut as Leo du Pres on the ABC daytime soap opera ''All My Children'' for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award and later starr ...

) and Detective

Russell Poole Russell Wayne Poole (November 29, 1956 – August 19, 2015) was a Los Angeles Police Department detective who investigated the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace), a rapper also known as Biggie Smalls. Poole also investigated th ...

(

Jimmi Simpson Jimmi Simpson (born November 21, 1975) is an American actor. Known for his work across film, television, and theatre, he is the recipient of BAFTA, Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Simpson made his feature film debut ...

) into the controversial murders of two of the rap industry's most legendary players, Tupac (Marcc Rose) and Biggie (Wavyy Jonez).

Cast

* Wavyy Jonez as Christopher Wallace / Biggie Smalls / The Notorious B.I.G. * Marcc Rose as

as Det. Greg Kading *

as Det.

Bokeem Woodbine Bokeem Woodbine (born April 13, 1973) is an American actor. In 1994, he portrayed Joshua, the main character's troubled brother, in ''Jason's Lyric''. He won a Black Reel Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice T ...

as Daryn Dupree *

Jamie McShane Jamie McShane is an American actor best known for his roles on ''Sons of Anarchy'', '' Southland'', and ''Bloodline'', and as Agent Jackson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films ''Thor'' (2011) and '' The Avengers'' (2012). In 2021, he ap ...

as Det. Fred Miller *

Brent Sexton Brent Sexton (born August 12, 1967) is an American actor best known for his roles in the television series '' Bosch'', '' The Killing'', ''Life'', and '' Deadwood''. He has guest starred in several other television series, such as ''The Expanse ...

as Det. Brian Tyndall *

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1962) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor of stage and screen. He first Breakthrough role, gained recognition portraying ...

as Det. Lee Tucker * Luke James as

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

Aisha Hinds Aisha Hinds is an American television, stage and film actress and director. She had supporting roles in a number of television series, including '' The Shield'', ''Invasion'', ''True Blood'', '' Detroit 1-8-7'' and '' Under the Dome''. In 2016, s ...

as Voletta Wallace *

LeToya Luckett LeToya Luckett-Coles (born March 11, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a mem ...

as Sharitha Golden *

Donald Faison Donald Adeosun Faison (; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/ NBC comedy-drama '' Scrubs'' (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film '' Cluel ...

as Jacques Agnant * Woody McClain as Jimmy Henchman *

Maestro Harrell Maestro Harrell, also known as M A E S T R O (born July 29, 1991), is an American DJ, singer, rapper, actor, and record producer. He appeared on the HBO original series ''The Wire'' as Randy Wagstaff (2006–08), and on the ABC comedy ''Suburgat ...

Lil' Cease James Lloyd, better known by his stage name Lil' Cease, (; born August 20, 1977) is an American rapper and former member of hip hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A. Early life, family and education James Lloyd was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New Y ...

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1967), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Ho ...

as himself * Lahmard Tate as Duane "Keefe D" Davis * Mychal Thompson as

Orlando Anderson Orlando Tive "Baby Lane" Anderson (August 13, 1974 – May 29, 1998) was an American gang member suspected in the murder of Tupac Shakur. Anderson belonged to the California-based gang known as the South Side Compton Crips. Detective Tim Brenn ...

Rhys Coiro Rhys Coiro (born March 12, 1979) is an American actor. He began acting on Broadway but is best known for on-screen roles such as Billy Walsh on the television series '' Entourage''. Early life Coiro studied theater at Carnegie Mellon University, ...

as Jim Black *

Nakia Burrise Nakia Burrise is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Tanya Sloan, the Yellow Zeo Ranger and later, the first Yellow Turbo Ranger on the television series ''Power Rangers Zeo'' and ''Power Rangers Turbo'' from 1996 to 1997. She ...

as Sharon Gower * Dominic L. Santana as

Suge Knight Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. ( ; born April 19, 1965) is an American former record executive, former National Football League, NFL player, and convicted felon, who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central f ...

* Sola Bamis as

Afeni Shakur Afeni Shakur Davis (born Alice Faye Williams; January 10, 1947 – May 2, 2016) was an American political activist and member of the Black Panther Party. Shakur was the mother of rapper Tupac Shakur and the executor of his estate. She founded th ...

* Amirah Vann as Justine Simon * Jamie Hector as Keefe D's lawyer * Harry Fowler as Wardell "Poochie" Fouse

Episodes

Development

The series was ordered on May 12, 2017. Emmy winner Anthony Hemingway directed the pilot and will executive produce the series, along with Mark Taylor through their Hemingway-Taylor production company. Kyle Long wrote the pilot and will also executive produce. Greg Kading, who will also serve as co-executive producer, led multiple law-enforcement task forces investigating the murders and authored the book ''Murder Rap: The Untold Story of Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations''.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 73% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5.93/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Unsolved's'' prestige aspirations don't always work in its procedural structure, but strong performances and an ambitious spirit to find truth in this real-world mystery create an engaging exploration of two of pop culture's most notorious influences."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 67 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Ratings

References

External links

Official website at USA Network
* {{USANetwork Shows 2010s American drama television series 2018 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings Bloods Crips American English-language television shows USA Network original programming Serial drama television series Television series by Universal Cable Productions 2010s American anthology television series Cultural depictions of Tupac Shakur Works about Tupac Shakur