Based on a True Story, a new Peacock series that tries to send up the public fascination with the genre, will surely create a mixed reaction among fans and enemies of true crime cottage industry in the internet. It seems to take itself lightly but it manages not to amuse so much as bring together some really irritating characters who will possibly make many viewers wish for their deaths.
Struggling L.A couple Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan (Chris Messina), faces financial uncertainty due to an impending baby and dwindling revenue streams. They reside in a beautiful house near the sea which may be beyond their means considering Ava’s job as a realtor and Nate’s as tennis coach. The Westside Ripper, a serial killer on loose in the area murders another bartender right when Nate drops by her eatery. At first, police suspect Nate; however he and Ava eventually identify the true murderer – Matt (Tom Bateman), Nate’s pal from way back who has recently become their handyman.
Instead of handing over Matt—who has killed no less than seven women—to the authorities, Ava and Nate hatch out a plan. They will launch a podcast about Westside Ripper featuring Matt through exclusive interviews. Once they are able to generate profit from this podcast then their financial issues will have been resolved while at the same time this would present them with insight into what goes on inside the head of someone capable of murder… unless he kills them first.
Some time ago when there were only limited cable channels or streaming services television networks used to mimic one another’s success thereby producing copies that were not so good. Hence every The X-Files was followed by Baywatch Nights. Consequently, it has also produced Based on A True Story along these lines, which is no different from its peers since Peacock is more of ‘churn-em-out’ TV than any other streaming service. Based on A True Story seems like a mix between Only Murders in the Building on Hulu and dexter’s dark humor. Like many TV knockoffs, though, it falls significantly short of its intended aim.
The show Only Murders in the Building found gold by making two losers its main protagonists, played by two comedy legends: Steve Martin and Martin Short. The wild Short could play off of Martin’s deadpan demeanor and vice versa to make their characters irresistible regardless of how selfish they seemed to be. However. Cuoco, Messina, and Bateman have strong chemistry, but their LA douchebag stereotypes give them clunky dialogue that drags everything down. Another thing that is missing from Based On a True Story is the mystery element which was present in Only Murders. This makes it lack an interesting opening for the storyline.
True Story also fails at producing macabre humor as effectively as Dexter did In this sense—Dexter had an anti-hero who was a multifaceted character: he was also a tender son, boyfriend and father; while being a mass murderer too. He only killed other murderers who had fallen through the cracks of justice (source).
In other words, he was a good man in so far as his nature allowed for it. True Story tries too hard to show Bateman’s Matt as a good father but forgets to give him antihero motives. He kills women because it is pleasurable to do so. Being the character makes him bad, which also makes Nate and Ava appear even more terrible for hatching their podcast plan. True Story core characters are not just awful but they are also unwatchable.
Ava and Nate choose innocent victims; however The Westside Ripper has missed out on the possibility of this. And through doing this, Ava and Nate have surrounded themselves with moneyed elites in a vision of Los Angeles that feels scrubbed of any sign of smog or urban inequities. In such mansions, characters sit around sipping wine discussing how each one is sleeping with personal trainers or bikini waxers or some other ‘low-class’ employee.
We would have preferred if Matt took the liberty of chopping some of these annoying yuppies into pieces instead of poor innocent bartenders. A better show might have used Angelino snobbery as an opportunity for comment or satire. We don’t know whether True Story itself thinks its characters are completely absurd and irritating.
However, by the third episode, Series creator Craig Rosenberg does manage to squeeze out a few valid laughs when Matt asks for more creative control over his podcast effort with Ava and Nate. Maybe continuing beyond the initial episodes will cause audiences to feel that Based on a True Story really comes together and improves after all. For instance Rings of Power (a hit series), took two or three episodes before it got going properly.
Nonetheless, this being Rosenberg’s debut as series creator, fans of his most recent credits like The Boys and Preacher probably won’t stick around for something so mundane given what they expect from him now.. That may be less about Rosenberg’s skills as a writer than how Peacock is attempting to do traditional television and also no-holds-barred streaming content within the same show. Like Bel-Air and Queer as Folk reboots by the streamer, or a tired old retread like Joe vs. Carole, Based on a True Story is surprisingly vague about its aims, what it wants to say, or who it’s for.
We can’t help but see a hint of irony in how tame Based on a True Story is. Dr. Death, Who Killed Robert Wone?, and Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies all rank among Peacock’s top three scripted dramas so far – they are true-crime narratives which have sharp insights about certain people and why the public obsesses over them. It seems incredible that this service which has thrived on true crime could have so little to say about it or our obsession with it.
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