How do you say goodbye to a story that isn’t finished? After 36 episodes of Sound, Light & Frequency, Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman reach the end of their first season—and neither is ready to leave. They set out to explore Hollywood, UFOs and secrecy through a mystery that had followed them since Dark Skies. What emerged was more than either could have scripted: an active investigation that brought forward new witnesses, challenged old assumptions and turned their audience into collaborators. They thought they were taking listeners on a journey. They didn’t realize how profoundly it would change them, too.

In “Case NOT Closed,” two longtime storytellers take stock of what happens when Hollywood experience meets journalistic persistence. Recovered production records, corroborating witnesses and other filmmakers’ firsthand accounts gave the investigation substance beyond their own recollections. The public release of the Formula and the unfolding John Herrington dispute brought intensely personal stories into public scrutiny. Now Bryce and Brent examine what they’ve established, what remains unresolved and how seemingly separate threads might connect. They also reveal the films that come closest to expressing where each has landed: the unsettling warning of They Live and the transcendent possibilities of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Remembering the painful day the Dark Skies sets were torn down, Bryce and Brent confront another uncertain ending—but also imagine what could come next: deeper investigations, new territory in music and gaming, and more insiders willing to tell their stories. There’s even a direct invitation to J.C., the mysterious party crasher, to finally explain himself. Above all, this finale is a thank-you to everyone who listened, questioned and helped make the connections. A second season isn’t assured. The friendship, the curiosity and the determination to keep going are. The season ends. The case does not.