Based on a True Story Ending Explained Before Season 3: Who Died?

From a shocking death to a last-minute arrest, Based on a True Story took some major swings while wrapping up season 2.

Warning: This story contains spoilers about season 2 of Based on a True Story.

The Peacock series, which premiered in 2023, followed fictional couple Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan (Chris Messina) as they teamed up with serial killer Matt (Tom Bateman) to start a podcast to make money off the true crime trend. Matt — the West Side Ripper — wasn’t thrilled when Ava and Nathan tried to cut ties with him at the end of the season so he dropped Ruby’s (Priscilla Quintana) dead body on their doorstep.

Season 2 picked up with Ruby’s husband, Simon (Aaron Staton), taking the blame for the murder he actually committed — but Matt took credit for. Matt’s relationship with Ava’s sister, Tory (Liana Liberato), made him try to stop murdering people. He seemed to be making progress until a copycat killer lured Matt out of retirement.

Ava and Nathan, meanwhile, tried to navigate parenthood while still prioritizing their relationship. For Nathan, that resulted in issues in his work life that he was hiding from his wife. Ava, for her part, fell back into trying to solve murders without clueing in math.

The season ultimately ended with a new dead body after Tory killed Matt’s ex-wife, Olivia (Melissa Fumero), a.k.a the fellow mom that Ava thought was her new friend. While Ava, Nathan and Matt initially teamed up to clean up the crime, the serial killer turned on the pair. The finale showed Nathan getting arrested after Matt planted evidence away from himself.

Keep scrolling to find out where each character stands at the end of Based on a True Story season 2 — and how the story set the show up for more episodes:

Ava Bartlett

The season 2 premiere showed Ava adjusting to the first months of motherhood. In an attempt to prove Tory wrong, Ava went to the park to make fellow mom friends, which is how she ran into Drew (Fumero). Ava and Drew developed a friendship and the newbie even shared information from her job as a detective about the copycat killer.

Ava used that information to get back into the murder-solving game. She even gained a following online after anonymously sharing theories on the new killer that proved to be right. But just as quickly as Ava found a fanbase, she lost the support because she wasn’t connecting all the dots. Drew turned out to be Olivia, who was trying to track down her ex-husband, Matt. The copycat killer, meanwhile, was the sister of one of Matt’s victims who was looking for revenge.

During the season 2 finale, Ava and Nathan escaped with Matt’s help. Matt promised to turn himself in except he was lying and Nathan ended the season in handcuffs with Ava promising to get him out.

Nathan Bartlett

Based on a True Story’s sophomore season was all about Nathan finding his voice. He brought Tory (and Matt) back from Mexico and that time alone with Matt created a bond. Matt then spent the entire season egging Nathan on to follow his gut and go against what Ava would want.

This resulted in Nathan getting arrested for attacking his tennis nemesis. Things got even worse when Nathan got involved in helping Ava track down the copycat killer. They got the new killer’s attention — and they were nearly murdered. Matt saved the day but then immediately framed Nathan and disappeared.

Matt Pierce

After killing left and right during season 1, Matt decided to try something new in season 2. He wrapped up his days as the Westside Killer and chose a future with Tory instead. This new version of Matt didn’t last long though because he couldn’t fight his instincts for long. Matt also questioned why there was a copycat killer pretending to be him.

It turned out that the new killer was related to his last victim. Matt confronted her — and saved Nathan and Ava. While Matt promised to turn himself in, he flipped the script on Nathan, who ended up taking the blame for all of Matt’s crimes.

Before watching Nathan get arrested, Matt married Tory so they couldn’t be forced to testify against each other. What started as a cute milestone in their relationship became something more sinister once Tory killed Matt’s ex-wife. She also kidnapped Matt’s son, which only divided him and Tory more.

Tory Thompson

Matt clued Tory in on his murderous tendencies before the season even started. This led to Tory supporting Matt throughout the season. But eventually his past caught up to him and Tory couldn’t handle it. She killed his ex-wife, Olivia, by accident and then kidnapped his son. The season ended with Tory feeling at fault for the chaos she caused. She returned Matt’s son and disappeared, which seemingly ended her romance with Matt.

Drew

Initially, Drew was a friend Ava made at the park. Drew turned out to be a detective working on the copycat killer case. As Ava continued to track down the killer, she found out that Drew wasn’t actually working for the police.

Ava then assumed Drew must be the killer. Drew subsequently turned up at Matt and Tory’s wedding, where she revealed she was Matt’s ex-wife and the mother of his child. An argument broke out and Tory killed Drew a.k.a Olivia, which forced Ava, Nathan and Matt to cover it up. Tory even kidnapped Drew and Matt’s son in an effort to make things better.

Tory started to regret her decision and returned Matt’s son to his grandparents. The whole group came together to dispose of Drew’s body but that is when Matt started to prepare to sell Ava and Nathan out. He didn’t hide Drew’s body so the cops would find it, and since they transported the remains in Nathan’s car, he ended up the prime suspect in her murder.