[There are spoilers for the 'Based on a True Story' season 1 finale coming right up. Click away if you don't want it spoiled!]
Based on a True Story was kind of a whirlwind, right? There was murder. There was mayhem. There was sooo much blackmail. There were even several threads left open for a potential second season, as detailed in this handy dandy Based on a True Story explainer just for you.
There are a lot of ways a show about a married couple trying to maintain their lifestyle—and team up with an actual serial killer to get exclusive content for their true crime podcast—could go. Yet somehow, I didn't expect 99 percent of what happened on Based on a True Story. I also didn't expect both Ava and Nathan to survive the season, so congrats to them! I'm also shocked they didn't become killers themselves... and they didn't! The West Side Ripper remains the only murderer so far, though Max is pretty interested in bringing out Nathan's dark side. (That could play a part in season 2 if the show is renewed.)
Here's what else we saw in the finale that you should keep an eye on for the future.
Ava and Nathan dispose of Ruby's body
In the penultimate episode, Matt kills Ruby once he learns she knows too much and is threatening to turn them in if they don't cut her in on the podcast action. That genuinely surprised me. She was such a good foil! In the finale, Ava and Nathan first demand Matt clean up his mess. Instead, he threatens to kill Tory so they'll drive back to their old house, where Matt, Tory, and all their friends are waiting to throw them a surprise party. Yay? Also, Ruby's body is in the trunk! Simon almost catches them.
Apparently, this is all intentional. Matt claims to have left Ruby's phone in her pocket to "test" them. He wanted to see if they would "take care" of Simon if they had to.
Ava and Nathan ultimately dump Ruby's body in the construction site at the tennis/pickle-ball courts. That was pretty smart, TBH. If she's successfully covered in concrete the next day, they might actually get away with it.
But Simon catches them mopping up blood
Yikes! So not only is Simon a little unhinged (which we knew after he pulled a gun on a party and killed a dog), but he now knows Ava and Nathan have skeletons in the closet. Even if he doesn't know specifically about Matt and/or the podcast, that's bad news. Especially because, like... Ruby is his wife and he hasn't noticed that she's missing yet. Bad bad bad! Maybe they will fulfill Matt's dream and kill Simon. They might have to at this point.
And Ruby did call the cops on them
Or did she? The voicemail on Ruby's phone could have easily been Matt doing an accent. I don't trust it. The timing was a little too convenient. I think it's a red herring and Matt was trying to stress-test them further.
Matt "casts" for the podcast's next killer voice
He wants to use his platform to elevate diverse murderers. Isn't that... sweet? In order to create this spin-off, he communicates with a whole community of murderers. That jeopardizes Ava and Nathan's safety in many ways. Now even more killers could blackmail and/or harm them. Great!
Oh, and Matt and Tory are hooking up
Does this mean Ava's sister is the next victim? Does Matt even *have* real relationships? Who can say! It's definitely not going to end well, that's for sure.
Probably the only good thing for Ava and Nathan that came out of the finale was the scene where Ava more or less told her client she had a crush on him, and he rejected her. She doesn't need that drama, and he needs to get away from her dangerous life ASAP.
