Aside from the seemingly unrelated bank robbery that happens at the beginning of Unsolved’s third episode, “The Mack” opens in 1993 with Tupac, BIG and Lil’ Cease (Maestro Harrell) all smoking a blunt and talking game on a secluded Brooklyn rooftop.
Biggie divulges that he’s at odds with Puff’s (Luke James) seemingly soft and soulful musical decisions to which Tupac refutes, claiming that in order to go mainstream Biggie needs to “rap for the bitches and the n—– will follow”. It’s a fascinating moment that not only confirms Tupac’s exceeding knowledge of the music industry but also how much they both wanted to see the other succeed.
Fast forward to 2006 and the reignited task force lead by Greg Kading is desperate to find something, — better yet, someone — concrete to catapult their investigation. Eyes fall on close Crip collaborator Corey Edwards (Page Kennedy) and Death Row die-hard Trevon ‘Tray’ Lane (Dashun Woodard) – both of whom could lead the dysfunctional task force to a smoking gun.
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Meanwhile, detective Poole and the original 1997 investigation starts to heat up with the discovery of an allegedly reliable inmate informant. Not only does informant Michael “Psycho Mike” Robinson confirm Poole’s suspicions of Compton PD and LAPD working for Death Row but that Biggie’s shooter’s name was “something like Keke”. This immediately triggers Poole and Miller’s original uncertainties about known Crip Orlando “Keffe D” Anderson (Mychal Thompson).
This propels right to 2006 as two of Kading’s disgruntled task force member, detective Lee Tucker (Wendell Pierce) visit Keffe D’s house in hopes to develop another lead. When Kading finds out that Tucker went rogue, silencing a potential suspect, he flies off the handle in frustrations that the force is now back at square one; especially since Trevon Lane refused to talk. After a little convincing from Dupree, Tucker redeems himself by finding out that potential suspect Corey Edwards shiftily has multiple identities – opening a major door to finding the gunman.
The most pivotal and insightful scene in episode three happens back in 1994 while Biggie and Puff are on the set for the “Juicy” music video. Again Biggie doubts Puff’s pop-rap direction but Puff so sincerely convinces BIG to believe in him like Puff unwaveringly believes in BIG. It’s a short shot of brotherly comradery that renders the impending tragedy even more somber. Even more distressing is Voletta Wallace urging Biggie to “contribute something meaningful to society” while BIG humbly rebuttals with “I plan to contribute plenty”.
While at the industry party Biggie warns Tupac about hanging around with some of New York’s most unsavory characters like Jacques “Haitian Jack” Agnant (Donald Faison) and most certainly Jimmy Henchman. Tupac assures Biggie that these guys will take them to the top of music supremacy but the divide between the young rap prodigies begins to widen.
The episode mysteriously closes where it began; the bank robbery. LAPD discovers that the robbery was committed by one of their own officers – leading to house raid. In doing so Poole, Miller and the rest of the 1997 police force come to find out that the criminal officer David Mack (Omar Gooding) was close with none other than Suge Knight and Death Row.