Welcome to Night Vale is a popular staple of the podcast fiction medium. Even those not familiar with the medium have at least seen Welcome to Night Vale recommended to them by the Apple Podcasts’ algorithm.

Part of the “Night Vale presents” umbrella that’s gone on to produce both spin-off content and other original stories, including eight books as of 2021 written by creators Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Unlicensed (affiliate link) is a new story taking LA-based film noir tropes and combining them with Night Vale’s deadpan humor.

The recently released audio story titled Unlicensed on November 10 in partnership with Audible.com, is a podcast that is both similar and different to their breakout show Welcome to Night Vale.

Welcome to Night Vale Adjacent

Unlicensed follows two private investigators, both of them with their own problems inside and outside the profession. The two uncover a mystery around a kidnapping, murder, and a conspiracy that could lead all the way to the governor.

A little over halfway through the 12-episode first season and finding a plot point to ground the listener is too few and far between. Instead, the focus is on the quirks and personal lives of the two main narrators — Lou and Molly, played by Lusia Strus and Molly Quinn respectively. Other guest appearances include Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother), Mara Wilson (Matilda), and Welcome to Night Vale veteran—Cecil Baldwin.

Night Vale Presents: An Omniscient Buddy Cop Noir

Rather than going with the typical buddy-cop tropes with a hardened investigator who’s ready to retire and the young newbie who’s looking for glory, Unlicensed inverts it. It’s not an exact reversal, but Molly’s character acts in a similar way to the tired and seasoned detective character type. Lou by contrast is the scatter-brained and older, but not wiser, partner.

Their dynamic is depicted by the completion of a complete thought. The story will head hop from their perspectives in a way that will sometimes make a genre fiction writer squirm from writing in a second-person POV. Other times, it’s just noticeable but doesn’t detract from the story.

By episode 10- of the 12-episode first season, the pieces start falling into place. Throughout the series, two big characters have impacted Lou and Molly’s case into a missing person. Someone who a concerned family member believes is still out there, despite them currently living under the same roof.

A lot of the complaints about a lack of progression in the plot resolve themselves in the last three episodes, but that might be too late for some listeners.