Review: Mike Tyson Mysteries “Unsolved Situations”

I came into this episode expecting to really like it. I like Snoop Dogg, or Snoop Lion (is that still going on?) as he wanted to be called a few years ago. The main problem with this week’s mystery is that it never went anywhere.

For the second week in a row, the episode started off with Marquess going on a long unnecessary rant, all for nothing, as it turns out. The gag would have been funny, if it wasn’t a repackaged scene straight out of last week’s episode. After the repeat joke, Mike goes out to find more messenger pigeons, because that is what started the fuss in the first place. On his way to kill himself or find pigeons, whichever happens first, a sign from God appears. That sign is pigeon poop. A pigeon drops a small white puddle of hope on Mike’s face. He follows the flying pigeon to the one and only, always fresh, Snoop Doggy Dogg’s mansion. It appears as though Snoop and Mike have some history as they catch up and Snoop reveals his new hobby: solving unsolved situations.

It is revealed to Mike that along with the new gig of solving unsolved situations, a cartoon centering on this concept is being made with Snoop’s Asian prodigal son, his mountain lion, and another gay  caricature. Mike is assured that it’s completely different from what he does, except it isn’t, at all. Tragedy strikes when the prodigal son is eaten by the mountain lion, causing pigeon to put down the ferocious feline. With most of the unsolved situations gang gone, Snoop agrees to send the pigeons Mike’s way for future mysteries.

The review may sound like it covers a pointless episode, because that’s exactly what is being covered. The jokes were stale from the beginning to the end. The entire premise looked promising on the previews but ultimately ended up as “blah.” We could have used more Pigeon besides the beginning of the episode and the end, and it really seems like the writers thought that since Snoop Dogg was featured in the episode, it would automatically be golden without any effort on the script. There was a main conflict present, and an ending, but no substance in between. I looked forward to this episode, as I think Snoop Dogg is a very entertaining and intelligent man, but he wasn’t utilized properly. He showed up so the gang could be parodied from a very similar crew, but Snoop didn’t feel specific at all. The producers of the show could have literally picked any African American male and the point would have been driven just the same. I expected much more from the single largest hip hop pioneer of the 90’s and the heavyweight champion of the 90’s.