“Posarem llum a la foscor,” Carles Porta often says in Crims programs. After these words, he turns to analyze the most disturbing crimes in the recent history of Catalonia and, case by case, the journalist from Pla d’Urgell has become synonymous with true crime. Of course, this character that she has created in front of the microphones pales next to that of Kaley Cuoco in Based on a true story, the series broadcast on Movistar Plus with which the The big bang theory actress wants to demonstrate that, of course, she is a lot more than Penny.
Ava, her character, is pregnant. She is a real estate agent but she doesn’t get that sale that propels her to the next level of the profession, to show mansions whose commissions allow you to retire. When she’s not working, she spends her time consuming crime shows, to the point that she has a kind of book club focused on murders with her group of friends. Nathan (Chris Messina), her husband, is also professionally frustrated.
Their quiet but frustrating life changes when they hire a plumber (Tom Bateman) to install a toilet and Ava discovers that he is the serial psychopath terrorizing the area. She wants to record a podcast with him. Who wouldn’t want the rights to such a program? How many millions would they pay them? And who could compete with the definitive true crime podcast, the one with the voluntary collaboration of a psychopath not yet arrested?
As the reader can imagine, Based on a True Story is a comedy. Screenwriter Craig Rosenberg, who precisely wrote the series while exploring adult and past humor in The Boys or Gen V, is behind it as the creator of a tone that delves into comedy with touches of thriller. And, of course, to have fun you first have to buy an absurd starting point: that two unintelligent people can blackmail a psychopath who is free to record a podcast, and that they believe that they can market it without ending up in prison, being murdered or that more innocent people die.
Rosenberg’s intention is laudable. She wants to delve into the true crime parody with Kaley Cuoco, who has proven after The Big Bang Theory that she was a better actress than we could imagine. Anyone who saw The Flight Attendant will understand that the role of Ava suits her like a glove. At certain moments, the creator even sets out to convey a certain sense of danger, to show that the character dynamics cannot be endearing when one of them is dedicated to stabbing young girls.
And, while Based on a True Story is enjoyable due to the mix of genres and an effervescent actress, it lacks commitment to the violence that the opening scene hints at, the possibility of building terror, what it means about true crime or the portrait of his particular killer. It is a series created from a good idea, but this good idea remained in a very early phase of its development.
