Since leaving The Big Bang Theory, actress Kaley Cuoco—known as Penny on the show—hasn’t stopped working on top-notch productions. She voices Harley Quinn in the eponymous HBO Max series, which has already been renewed for its fifth season. Additionally, she’s been the star of the surprising fiction series The Flight Attendant.
But Cuoco’s career keeps flourishing, and she has just premiered the Peacock original series Based on a True Story on Movistar Plus. It’s a dark humor series with touches of drama and a true crime element, as the title suggests. However, beyond that, it’s a series that grips you from start to finish and undoubtedly stands as one of the great surprises of the moment.
A true crime podcast filled with dark humor
In “Based on a True Story,” Kaley Cuoco portrays Ava, who is expecting her first child with her husband Nathan (Chris Messina). Both are living a somewhat tough life, far removed from what they had experienced before. While Nathan spends his time watching old videos of his days as a professional tennis player before being forgotten, Ava works as a real estate agent but struggles to advance in her unfulfilling job.
Furthermore, their situation worsens: Nathan is demoted at the exclusive Los Angeles tennis club where they both work, shifted from coaching potential athletes to directing children. All of this leads Ava to question how they ended up in this situation and how they’ll manage to be good parents given the circumstances they’re in.
Despite seeming like a melodrama, everything is handled with a very entertaining dark humor. And besides, the drama doesn’t last long because soon the mystery begins. In the midst of this situation, they discover that Matt (Tom Bateman), a plumber who becomes their friend, is actually the Westside Dismemberer, a highly sought-after serial killer.
At this point, the couple decides to do what anyone would in such a situation: start a true crime podcast. Similar to “Only Murders in the Building,” the podcast guides the series… and it does so in a very amusing way where the plot twists keep growing, leaving you eagerly anticipating what will happen next.
