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Peacock’s Based on a True Story unmasks a new serial killer — and exposes a killer inside someone close to Ava and Nathan Bartlett — in the true-crime sendup’s deliciously twisted sophomore run.
The Season 2 finale reveals that the copycat killer is none other than Sara Paxton’s Paige, the sister of Westside Ripper victim Chloe Lake (Natalia Dyer), whose brutal murder played out in the series’ very first episode. Paige traps Ava and Nathan in the Lipinski Sisters’ podcast studio, and she’s prepared to kill them for profiting off of Chloe’s death, before Matt shows up in the knick of time, and Nathan knocks her out cold.
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Alas, just when it seems like this vicious cycle is about to end, and Matt is going to turn himself over to the authorities, he manages to escape (with Paige in tow!), and Nathan is taken into custody, believed to be the Westside Ripper.
Below, new showrunner Annie Weisman breaks down every twist and turn in Season 2 — R.I.P., Jared Leto! — and sets the stage for a potential Season 3.
TVLINE | Based on a True Story began as a response to the rabid popularity of true-crime podcasts. Can you talk to me about the decision to jettison the podcast as a framing device in Season 2?
Technology is changing the pace at which everything is consumed now, and we got excited about the idea of upping the stakes, upping the pace, and exploring, beyond the podcast, the idea of murder influencers on TikTok — you know, something a little more rapid and immediate in response to murder. So, rather than jettisoning [the podcast], we felt like we were escalating the commentary on the consumption of, and sharing of, true crime — especially among women. We started to explore it in this new form, and we were excited about that, visually and cinematically.
TVLINE | I want to touch on a few twists — and a few new characters — that were introduced in Season 2. Let’s start with the most high-profile death this season: The death of Jared Leto, star of Aaron Sorkin’s Anthony Fauci biopic, who is slayed by the Copycat Killer in Episode 4. How, exactly, did you land on Leto as a murder victim?
Again, we just loved the idea that it’s a new season, and we’re expanding the world of the show beyond just the podcast…. Crime is represented in film and television, and we liked the idea of playing the fact that this is located in Los Angeles. Even if you’re not immediately connected to the industry, there’s really only a degree or two of separation that anyone has from it who is inhabiting the world of L.A., and we were just tickled by the idea of a movie that lives in this world that we felt was plausible. You know, who knows? Maybe someone will take the idea of Jared Leto playing Anthony Fauci and run with it. Why wouldn’t Aaron Sorkin be writing and directing that? Doesn’t that seem perfectly plausible?
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TVLINE | It does! But I’m curious if you had a board of other potential famous victims….
We had some categories that we had to fill [in terms of who the celebrity was], and he was our favorite brunette who has done a lot of work in that [true-crime] space.
TVLINE | Was that someone wearing a Jared Leto wig? Or did you cast someone who had the hair and looked just like him?
I’m pretty sure we just found somebody with that hair. We found a really good double.
TVLINE | You manage to pull off a double bait-and-switch with Melissa Fumero. The first “reveal” is that “Drew” is a homicide detective — which, by the way, I totally bought, having spent eight seasons watching her play Det. Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
That was exactly the idea — like, “Wouldn’t it be fun to cast a person well known to the public as a cop, or as a detective, to help sell this idea?” And then “Wouldn’t it be a fun double rug pull?” It felt like a fun way to live in this meta world that we all live in, right? We have these relationships [with actors we see on screen]. Let’s not pretend like we don’t have baggage with certain actors — we do, so let’s have some fun with it. Melissa was totally game, and she liked the idea of playing off her persona as well. It gave her a lot of layers to play, and I think she really rose to the challenge.
TVLINE | Now, I will say, I had a hunch that “Drew” was Matt’s ex-wife from the moment she first mentioned that she had an older kid with a former partner. But that didn’t stop me from believing that she was also, possibly, the Copycat Killer. Did you have any discussions with Melissa about how to play up the ambiguity, especially in Episodes 5 and 6, before the actual reveal that she’s Olivia?
You know, we had all our cards on the table with her. We didn’t hide anything from the actors [in terms of story]. I don’t really believe in that. We planned it all out. We shared all of it with them, and we welcomed them into the process. We just had to thread the needle of knowing that she had something to play, which was that [Olivia] was a liar. She did have secrets, and [Melissa] leaned into that, and played that it was possible that she was capable of doing harm.
TVLINE | Olivia, we learn, is not a killer. But she is a scam artist, and she had a stolen credit card scheme going when she and Matt were married. That said, do you think this was someone who deserved to die the way she did?
No, it’s really tragic. I think there’s something to avenge there. We definitely didn’t want her to be lily white and innocent. We’re obviously playing with a lot of moral ambiguity, but ultimately the show comes down on the side of, you know, killing is bad, and there are real-life consequences. She leaves a kid behind, and that kid deserves to be loved and cared for. At the end of the day, we’re living in a world where people are consuming murder for entertainment, and we’re reflecting that and showing some consequences of that, too.
TVLINE | At this point, I want to ask you about Tory, and her role in Olivia’s death. Tory was not a character I suspected was necessarily wired to kill. Obviously, it takes a certain kind of person to attach themselves to a serial killer the way that Tory attaches herself to Matt, but if you had asked me before I started this season who else I think might stab somebody to death, my answer would have been Nathan. So, how did you land on Tory being the one to stab Olivia?
This season, we really wanted to explore the idea of, “Can a serial killer be redeemed?” And she was really our guide in that story because she’s the believer [that he can be redeemed] through love. But also, she’s kind of being manipulated and brainwashed by him, and by the cult [in Episode 1]. She’s all in on this idea that he can be redeemed and that the world is wrong about him, but we have the whole season to build that she’s being seduced by him, and he’s a very compelling, deductive force in her life. She’s parentless and adrift, and vulnerable to that kind of influence. Also, we just knew that Liana [Liberato] is such a layered and capable actress that didn’t get quite enough to do in Season 1.
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TVLINE | Tory is clearly burdened by her actions, and there are two distinct shots — first in Episode 7, then in Episode 8 ¬— where she stares at Olivia’s gun, of which she is now in possession. You can tell me if I’m misinterpreting those moments, but they both read to me like she’s maybe considering suicide as a way out of this mess. Perhaps she just can’t live herself after what she has done. Is that an accurate read of what’s happening there?
We talked about this a lot, and what did it signify. To me, it was just a way of seeing what she might be capable of. It was transferring that danger from Matt’s ex-wife, who had that gun, and a transfer of trauma.
TVLINE | I mentioned that Nathan is someone I’ve always suspected was capable of doing real harm. From the very first episode, he had this glimmer in his eye that led me to believe that maybe there was an anger deep down inside him that would someday have fatal consequences. Was that your read on Nathan all along, going back to Season 1?
I felt that way, and connected to that, too. There’s something that the killer sees in him, something that Matt sees in him, that he can influence. It’s part of the game that he’s playing… he’s poking that particular soft spot, and trying to coax it out. I do think that Nathan is struggling with his own sense of masculinity, and an inferiority complex based on his failures as an athlete, as a competitor, as a man… so there’s definitely danger and possibility there… I mean, you do see moments of anger. And outbursts.
TVLINE | Let’s talk about that Episode 5 outburst for a moment — if only because I laughed out loud when I saw that you cast Josh Stamberg as Nathan’s tennis opponent. Ever since I first saw him 18 years ago, on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, he has continued to show up in things I watch and play a gigantic a–hole — to perfection, I should add. Was that part of the reason you cast him as Danny Merrick?
[Laughs] Well, I know and love Josh. I have worked with him in theater in the past. I know his comedic gifts, and I know he’s a really serious tennis player and athlete, so I thought the combination would be great. I will say, he’s a lovely guy, and you have to be a smart, empathetic person to play a real a–hole, just like you have to be really, really smart to play dumb, right? You have to kind of know what you’re doing, so I think it’s an indication that he’s a good guy.
TVLINE | Matt ultimately frames Nathan, who is arrested and believed to be the Westside Ripper. But are we to believe that Matt has been playing Nathan like a fiddle this entire time? Or was there an actual friendship there, in Matt’s mind?
I think he will never stop making you guess, you know? I just don’t think you can pin him down. The game is always on with him, and he’s really, really good at the game. He makes you question whether or not it’s a game.
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TVLINE | But do you think he has any remorse in terms of where he leaves things with Nathan and Ava?
I think he could convince you that he does… and you would believe it.
TVLINE | You can trace so much of what has transpired, and where Nathan and Ava’s lives have gone wrong, to Ava’s true-crime obsession. Coming out of Season 2, and entering a possible Season 3, how much guilt do you think she carries in terms of how this obsession of hers has impacted not only Nathan, but Tory, too?
That is such an interesting question. I think it’s the original sin — her obsession, and an attempt to get close to it. But I would say that it’s less of a character flaw on her than a circumstance that she’s in. I think we’re interested in pointing the finger a little more outwards than just directly at her. It’s more interesting that it’s a reflection of what the culture around her values and celebrates, and then she got caught up in it. But the circumstance they find themselves in at the end, there is quite a lot of guilt and responsibility on her shoulders going into a potential Season 3.
TVLINE | Sara Paxton is introduced as Paige, sister of Natalia Dyer’s slain Chloe Lake — aka the Westside Ripper’s victim in Season 1, Episode 1. Can you talk to me about the decision to make Chloe’s sister the Copycat Killer?
From the beginning, the writers’ room and I… we decided that we wanted the killer this season to be connected to a victim. That was something that really helped us stick the landing. Coming down morally on the side of, “profiting off of death is bad and has consequences,” and having that generate its own kind of monster, and its own killer, was a way to do that. And then, yeah, collaborating with casting to find somebody who could really deliver — somebody who could fly under the radar, and then also credibly play the killer. That is such a high bar, and I think she really just nails it. She’s really moving, and scary, and incredible… she’s just great. Alex Buono, who directed that finale, did a great job of taking it to a pretty horrific place with what she does, and why she does it. We wanted the motive to really matter, and it brings things full circle.
TVLINE | In the end, Matt escapes with Paige, and there’s post-credit scene where he says they need to talk. What should we make of that moment and what it means for Season 3? Will they both still be out for revenge? Are we looking at a potential serial-killing duo in the making…?
You know, it feels like there is more story — potential of either teaming up, or a fight to the death between them. We’ll have to wait and see, but they’re definitely not done yet.
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TVLINE | Should Based on a True Story be renewed, do you think you would use Season 3 to tie things up, and have it serve as a final chapter in this saga? Or do you think there are multiple seasons worth of story still left to tell?
I’d love to tell more story. There continues to be more fascination, and transformation, in the world of crime, and the consumption of crime. So, I feel like there’s more to reflect, more to tell… I don’t see an endpoint yet.
What did you think of the Based on a True Story finale — and of Season 2 overall? Do you think it improved upon Season 1? And would you like to see it renewed? Weigh in via the following polls, then sound off in Comments.
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