In an ensemble this solid, it can be challenging for one performance to emerge as a standout.

... making each episode compelling and gorgeous even when the action on-screen is gruesome.

Unsolved does subtly show us how the life and times of Biggie and Tupac have seeped into our public consciousness over the years. Their untimely deaths have turned them into unexpected martyrs whose ghetto gospel many now revere as canon.

Dual investigation of hip-hop homicides has strong content.

With compassion and respect for the victims of these crimes, they explore what may have happened, and the results are intriguing, especially if you've followed the case over the decades.

The ambition required for Unsolved to attempt such structural gymnastics is actually impressive, and one that lends the series some technical respect if not full-throated praise.

Unsolved is regularly tripped up by the sheer complexity of the tale it's trying to tell, but there's a winning energy about it that kept me watching.

At its core, this is a murder mystery, but set in a world that's also still a mystery to many. Check it out -- on the USA network of all places.

Watching these lawmen ply their trade is interesting, but there's a stiffness to all this, perhaps because of the auspices and what we still don't know.

While in a more traditional narrative, the lack of official resolution would seem frustrating, in this first-rate procedural, it somehow only makes the story more gripping.

Marcc Rose and Wavyy Jonez serve as convincing stand-ins for Tupac and Biggie. There isn't much budget for their original hits, but some creativity in scoring the 10-part series.

Unsolved is equal parts appealingly pulpy and workmanlike, sometimes paced like a procedural and sometimes like a prestige drama.

... a compelling success, especially once you get past a clunky first episode that is burdened with expository dialogue and confusing swerves on a narrative timeline that spans two decades.

Irresolution has its own undeniable power and Hemingway has wisely played the strongest hand he holds. If no one can figure these murders out, that's a good yarn by itself.