Peacock’s Based On a True Story is an obsessive, hilarious surprise. If you listen to true crime podcasts, you are very familiar with the feeling of not being able to do any of your intended chores as a tantalizing mystery unravels itself. Apologies to your laundry, but this comedy thriller operates in the exact same way. Full disclosure: I blazed through the first eight episodes in a matter of hours, and the pacing and performances will keep you tuned in. Emmy nominee Kaley Cuoco flexes her comedic and dramatic chops once again and taps into Ava’s dissatisfaction and unease in a hilarious, relatable way.
Cuoco’s Ava and Chris Messina’s Nathan are in the biggest rut of their lives. Their first baby is about to be born, Nathan, a former tennis sensation turned coach, is demoted at the club where he works, and Ava is struggling to keep any listings that would bring in the cash they need to set them in a more comfortable direction. As an elusive killer stalks the young women of Los Angeles, Ava thinks she knows to pin him down, and maybe producing their own podcast, thanks to her true crime prowess, can be the answer to their money woes. What we don’t expect, however, is how Based On a True Story is going to fold the Westside Ripper into Ava and Nathan’s lives.
Cuoco is most synonymous with one of the most successful sitcoms in the last twenty years, but her dramatic talents were brought to audiences attentions with Max’s The Flight Attendant. Based On a True Story manages to marry Cuoco’s talents from both shows and lets her fly as a character desperate to be the one responsible for saving her family–even at the expense of her character’s morals.
It takes true, natural talent for Cuoco to make us laugh with the tone of her voice but then ground the character in the pathos of the script. She is a master of melding together a biting wit with likability and the weight of a scene. Who else could make a bloody murder spree into such a bloody good time?
Based On a True Story is streaming now on Peacock.
