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Wait, [REDACTED] Is the New Serial Killer in Based on a True Story Season 2?
Is the West Side Ripper really reformed? Based on a True Story season 2 carves out an answer to the killer question.
Based on a True Story returns with the comedic thriller’s distinct wit, peculiar murder mystery, and Kaley Cuoco’s (The Big Bang Theory, 8 Simple Rules) comedic chops to make sense of it all.
In Season 2, which starts streaming on Peacock on Thursday, November 21, the veteran sitcom star’s character Ava is navigating life as a new mom while her husband, Nathan (Chris Messina), is figuring out how to be close friends with a murderer. NBC Insider recently spoke with both Cuoco and Messina, as well as showrunner Annie Weisman, to learn what fans can expect from Season 2 — which includes a new serial killer and a surprising romance.
What to expect from Based on a True Story Season 2
For showrunner Annie Weisman, the show is a no-holds-barred take on true crime.
“I loved the commentary and the reflection of maybe not so flattering reality about what women in particular tend to be obsessed with: a lot of violent true stories in the world,” Weisman told NBC Insider. “I thought the show just had such a fresh approach, also to like a midlife marriage story.”
Season 1 was a take on an "escapist" story becoming a reality for someone, Weisman explained.
"Then in Season 2, we play around a lot with how Ava's obsession with solving crimes and mystery starts to kind of drive a wedge in her marriage and in her life as a new mom,” Weisman said. “We actually end up kind of using a mystery story to really bring the family back together.”
Solving the new mystery this season reestablishes the "heat and love" Ava and Nathan have in their marriage that may have dimmed over the years, Weisman teased.
Cuoco agrees with that assessment.
“These are good people who have made bad choices who are kind of stuck in this very precarious situation,” Cuoco told NBC Insider about where we find the couple now.
Ava and Nathan might not be hosting a podcast anymore, but they still find ways to get wrapped up in new mysteries in real life and on TikTok.
Messina, for his part, always viewed the show as a love story.
“I always thought it was these people making really dumb decisions, but … they’re only doing that 'cause they’re trying to find their way back to each other,” Messina said.
There are also new faces on Season 2 of Based on a True Story.
Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) joins the fray as Ava’s new mom friend Drew.
“Melissa was amazing,” Cuoco said of her new castmate. “When I heard she was coming on, I was thrilled and she lived up to all of it. She was hilarious, comedically gifted, lovely human being. She was a joy.”
Who is the new serial killer in Based on a True Story Season 2?
Another murderer wreaks havoc in L.A. this season, and this time, it doesn’t appear to be Matt Pierce (Tom Bateman). At least … Pierce claims.
The allegedly reformed killer is now on a path to “sobriety” and dating Ava’s sister Tory (Liana Liberato).
“Now they have a possible brother-in-law serial killer who they are responsible for bringing into their lives and it’s a little … bubbling over all season long,” Cuoco said about Nathan and Ava’s latest predicament. “It gets very chaotic, very quickly, even more so than Season 1, which was a blast obviously to shoot.”
For the first few episodes of the season, Bateman felt like he was playing a brand new character, he explained to NBC Insider.
“We find them in a very, very zen and peaceful place, it seems,” Liberato said, chuckling.
Both actors had to have a new costume fitting this season because their roles changed so much, according to Bateman: “They just look different, they sound different.”
Liberato thinks her character Tory buys Matt’s desire to want to become a better person.
“She sees what a really beautiful human being he can be and he wants to be better for her and that’s the mask he wears for most of Season 2,” Liberato said of Matt attempting to quiet his desires to kill so he can be with Tory.
Following Matt’s recovery is a storyline they wanted to take seriously, Weisman said.
“As an addiction kind of story, in recovery, but just from killing,” Weisman explained about Matt’s attempts to redeem himself.
While you’ll just have to tune in to find out exactly who is the copycat killer, there’s no need to wait long as all eight episodes of Based on a True Story Season 2 drop November 21 on Peacock.
