Peacock Review: ‘Based on a True Story’ Continues Off the Deep End for a High-Wire Season 2

True crime podcasts are all the rage right now, and their popularity has led to many citizen detectives who believe that they’re more knowledgeable than the trained professionals about clues, motives, and the identities of uncaught killers. While that’s usually not the case, at least in reality, it does make for great chaotic comedy fodder, as evidenced by the first season of Peacock’s Based on a True Story. Its second eight-episode outing is even more frantic, following its protagonists as the fallout from their ill-advised decision to start a podcast about a serial killer after identifying him continues to spiral out of control.

Matt (Tom Bateman) is working on himself, seeking serenity and true rehabilitation, and he’s still very serious about pursuing his relationship with Tory (Liana Liberato). That doesn’t sit well with her sister Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and her husband Nathan (Chris Messina), who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their baby and much more focused on keeping themselves out of trouble – and anyone in their orbit away from Matt – than on their successful podcast. When people start dying, however, and Matt insists he’s not to blame, they find themselves in even deeper than before as they face the prospect of a very determined and clever copycat killer.

Annie Weisman takes over as showrunner for this show’s second season, and she’s a great fit for this environment given her past experience as creator of Physical, another series big on facial closeups. The deaths are just as jarring and sudden as in season one, and there’s marvelously little moral accountability for this couple casually responsible for the demise of so many semi-innocents. Matt’s newfound bliss makes his response to situations in which someone goes from alive to dead in remarkably little time quite entertaining, especially as a desperate Nathan both relies on him for advice and tries so hard to ensure that he isn’t triggered into killing someone while he’s making such an effort to remain celibate.

In its second season, Based on a True Story continues to benefit from strong casting. Cuoco and Messina are both so committed to the outrageous nature of their characters, who so easily get wrapped up in their antics that they forget the day-to-day tasks and jobs they’re supposed to be fulfilling, in addition to paying little attention to their newborn. Bateman is having a blast as the newly reformed Matt, and it’s fun to see more of Liberato as Tory comes into her own. Their interactions with the leads are also great fun, particularly Bateman and Messina in their shared scenes. The season is full of brief but amusing guest spots, the best of which is Melissa Fumero as a new mommy friend of Ava’s who couldn’t be more different from the actress’ characters on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Blockbuster.

Suspension of disbelief is key to enjoying this show, which pulls out all the stops to ensure an entirely entertaining experience. Its eight episodes go by quickly and can easily be binged in one sitting, but fortunately there’s plenty of content in each one that spreading them out to appreciate on a nightly (or maybe even weekly, presuming tremendous patience) basis can still prove satisfying. This story knows its limits and pushes right up against them in the best way, leaning into and fully embracing its chaotic nature. Given its resolution, a third season would surely be worthwhile, but there’s more than enough to make just this season alone a formidable rollercoaster ride. Audiences should be glad that their lives look nothing like this but still find plenty to enjoy about watching it at a comfortable distance on their TV screens.

Season Rating: 8/10

Awards Buzz: Season one didn’t particularly land with awards bodies, but Cuoco is a two-time Emmy nominee for The Flight Attendant while Messina inexplicably has yet to earn major accolades for his many great performances. There’s little reason to suggest season two will appeal more than season one unless voters just hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet.