“Based on a True Story” Season 1 (Peacock) taps into the zeitgeist with intelligent commentary about the moral ickiness of serial-killer podcasts being popular. But it also taps into the modern trend of dragged-out narratives, which isn’t such a smart move (in terms of viewer appeal).
In the first episode, for instance, a serial killer is seemingly targeting a character we’ve been cued to care about. Then she disappears for most of the season, then returns in the final episode, and is amid a scene with said killer the last time we see her.
Meanwhile, our main couple (Chris Messina’s Nate and Kaley Cuoco’s Ava) encounter one last cliffhanger as the credits roll. “True Story” is jam-packed with mini-cliffhangers, as well as “fake out” dream sequences wherein Nate or Ava imagines the worst possible scenario.
“Based on a True Story” Season 1 (2023)
Eight episodes, Peacock
Creator: Craig Rosenberg
Stars: Kaley Cuoco, Chris Messina, Tom Bateman
It leads to a schizophrenic mishmash where it’s hard to care, and even hard to know if creator and sole writer Craig Rosenberg intends for us to care. (I think he doesn’t. I think this is his idea of dark-comedy fun.) Although Messina and Cuoco have a natural likeability – which is why they were cast, even with Cuoco pregnant IRL (!) – the eight episodes as a whole come off as unlikeable.
A killer piece of knowledge
Rosenberg (who has skewered modern societal craziness more effectively as a writer on “The Boys”) has come up with a smart premise, certainly. A financially struggling couple – Nate is an ex-tennis player who beat Federer once (LOL) but didn’t make serious money, Ava is a real-estate agent in brutally competitive L.A. – hits on a morally borderline sure-thing scheme. They find out who the West Side Ripper is, and go in on a podcast with him. Long story short: Clicks will lead to cash.
SPOILER WARNING IF YOU’RE ONLY PARTWAY INTO THE SERIES.
At first, “True Story” seems like it will be a mystery about who the serial killer is. But I might’ve read the room wrong. Gradually, any notion that the Ripper is anyone other than the couple’s plumber Matt (Tom Bateman, alternately a friendly and scary presence) fades away.
Then, it’s a dark comedy featuring a series of bizarre situations the flustered couple has to get out of. Each temporary fix leads to a new problem, with podcast partner Matt taking everything in stride and correctly pointing out that they’re all in this together.
Having its cake and killing it too
“True Story’s” broad point is correct: It’s gross to be entertained by serial-killer podcasts. And of course it hangs a meta lampshade on the fact that it is a show about serial-killer podcasts with the goal of making money. (Granted, despite the title, the Ripper is fictional.) Long story short: Views will lead to cash for Peacock.
So maybe it’s bizarre to ask that “True Story” have more heart. But still, it’s off-putting that when Nate’s and Ava’s best friend is murdered in the closing episode, they don’t care about the loss of her life; they only care about what it means for them.
If the whole thing had wrapped up after eight episodes (as I naively thought it would), I was prepared to say that “True Story” was OK, but could’ve been outstanding as a 90-minute dark-comedy film. All of its points and parodies (including the cultural “canceling” of the podcast when opinion leaders like an off-screen Jessica Alba say it’s in bad taste) are well-taken. But these observations could’ve been made briskly; no need to dwell.
When it gets to the end of the eighth episode and we aren’t much farther along than seven episodes prior, it’s hard to maintain my patience. “Cruel Summer” Season 2 ultimately was pretty dumb, but it had an ending. And “Only Murders in the Building” Season 3 starts next week.
“Based on a True Story’s” podcast-within-the-show finds a way around “cancellation” and I assume the show itself will return for Season 2. This consumer won’t be back, though; there’s more killer content to click on.