Based On a True Story is a Peacock series that premiered on June 8, 2023. It stars Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina.
Ava (Cuoco) and Nathan Bartlett (Messina) are a couple trying to handle rising bills. Ava is pregnant, Nathan is about to lose his job as a tennis coach at a local country club, and they're living with Ava's irresponsible sister Tory (Liana Liberato). When Ava becomes convinced plumber Matt (Tom Bateman) is really the Serial Killer known as the Westside Ripper, she hits on a wild idea: Start a podcast on the killings with Matt giving his insight to get rich, then turn him in for more attention.
But the couple learn the hard way that giving a serial killer more fame isn't the best idea...
Tropes
- Alone with the Psycho: The Westside Ripper's MO, given that he surprises lone women in their apartments and stabs them to death. A notable, non-lethal one occurs when Matt comes to visit Ava unexpectedly, claiming that he's there to fix their leak, both of them knowing that he's the Ripper.
- Ambiguous Situation: Is Matt telling the truth that Dahlia jumped off the balcony before he exposed her and he just claimed to kill her to make himself look more impressive? Or did he really kill her and claim it was suicide to Ava and Nathan?
- Asshole Victim: Whether or not she jumped or was pushed, it's hard to feel sorry for Dahlia, given she made up being the target of a serial killer for attention and money.
- Attention Whore:
- Matt himself as for a serial killer, he's obsessed with his fame to the point he wants to start his own podcast of other killers. Nathan on two occasions calls Matt the Stanley Kubrick of serial killers.
- Dahlia, who made up the story of escaping the Westside Ripper to be famous and using "donations" from readers for her lifestyle.
- Bad Influencer:
- The Sisters in Crime are a pair of blonde sisters who lecture on being focused on victims in between bragging that their podcasts sold for $60 million.
- Matt becomes the ultimate exaggeration of this where the fame goes swiftly to his head and he talks obsessively about producing new "content" for his biggest and most beloved fans.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Played for very Black Comedy. All three non-Serial Killer people involved in the podcast - Ava, Nathan, and, by that point, Michelle - are distraught when Simon shoots Nathan's beloved dog, McEnroe despite the fact that they're working with the active serial killer Matt.
- Cassandra Truth: Naturally, Ava doesn't believe Matt's claims he never met Dahlia, let alone she escaped from him, thinking he's ashamed of it. It's when they're on an elevator with Dahlia (who told everyone, "I'll never forget his face") and she has no sign of recognition to Matt that Ava realizes Dahlia made the whole thing up.
- Career-Ending Injury: Nathan blew his knee out while playing tennis and ruined his career.
- Contrived Coincidence: Matt and Ava grew up near each other, in Binghamton.
- Deadly Euphemism: "New content" means that Matt is looking for new women to kill.
- Death by Cameo: Natalia Dyer (playing Chloe) dies in the opening minutes. It turns out to be a flash-forward, but she still dies before the end of the episode.
- Didn't Think This Through: Too late, Ava and Nathan realize giving a sociopathic narcissist a platform for fame can backfire. They also have to grasp how they are now accessories to his crimes and can go down with him if he's exposed.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Overlapping with The Snack Is More Interesting, when Matt meets Nathan at the restaurant for the first time to propose the podcast, Nathan asks him if he can eat (and then eats) his croissant.
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex: When Tory goes out for a Tinder hookup, Ava complains about how much sex (she) Tory has compared to Ava. She then finds out that all three of her married friends are having affairs and treat her as a prude for being surprised.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- From what Matt says, it should have been easy for anyone to figure out that all the donations Dahlia received from readers and fans, supposedly to help victims and hunt the Ripper down, were all going to fund a lavish lifestyle for Dahlia and her family.
- Invoked by Nathan after Ava dropping the burner leads to McEnroe (the dog's) death and Ruby's involvement in the podcast, blaming her for both of those things.
- Foreshadowing: How does Matt know so much about Ava and Nathan, and even grew up near her? Maybe seems like a Contrived Coincidence. But it's because he's working with her sister Tory.
- History with Celebrity: Ruby was apparently Jessica Alba's body double during Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, and there are intimate pictures of her having sex with Kid Rock.
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: Ava is heavily pregnant throughout Season 1, and their plumber is a Serial Killer. Matt even "subtly" threatens her with a knife.
- Kubrick Stare: Matt wears one at the end of episode 8 after the podcast gets "canceled."
- Not the First Victim: Matt reveals that he has killed "seven people the police are aware of...and at least twenty more."
- Oh, Crap!: Happens a lot but especially to Dahlia, when she realizes she's standing in front of the real Westside Ripper, not happy about her lying to everyone on "beating" him.
- Taking You with Me: Early on, Matt figures out that Ava and Nathan's "evidence" is flimsy, and he responds by revealing that he told the LAPD that Nathan was his alibi.
- These Gloves Are Made for Killin': In the opening scene, the West Side Ripper is shown stabbing a jogger to death with a lot of focus on his black leather gloves.
- Threat Backfire: It takes Matt little time to realize what "evidence" Ava and Nathan have on him is circumstantial at best. Thus, their threats to turn him in to the police aren't quite valid. He then flips it around to note that just by keeping this quiet, they've become accessories and in no time flat, have planted evidence that can bring them down if they try to expose him.
- Trashy True Crime: The exploitation of the true crime genre is the Central Theme of the show. Ava and Nathan start the podcast about Matt even though he's a Serial Killer and they are both in serious danger, and Matt takes great pleasure in being involved. The Sisters in Crime are also portrayed as pretending to be "victim-focused" but actually they only care about money.
- Vertigo Effect: A recurring trait. A notable example is the shot of Nathan when he realizes that the police have footage of he and Matt meeting at the bar.
- Visible Victimology: Matt, the Westside Ripper, only kills young white women with dark hair. Ava is incensed when she learns that Matt didn't find her "attractive enough to kill."
- Wham Shot: The final one of the first season as Matt seems to target Ava's sister Tory...only for them to make out, revealing they've been a couple for a while.
