Based On A True Story Season 2 Ending

Melissa Fumero and Sara Paxton, actors of Based on a True Story, discuss the identity of Drew, the murderer from season two, and the cliffhanger in the finale. In season two of the Peacock series, Fumero and Paxton played new roles. Paxton portrays Paige, the sister of the late Chloe Lake (Natalia Dyer), who was killed by Matt Pierce (Tom Bateman) in season one, while Fumero plays Drew, a single mother who befriends Kaley Cuoco's Ava Bartlett. According to the conclusion of Based on a True Story season 2, Paige is the West Side Ripper impersonator, and Drew is actually Matt's ex-wife.

Fumero and Paxton discussed their emotions to discovering the game-changing revelations of their respective characters in an interview with Grant Hermanns of Screen Rant. Fumero talked about the first death scene in her career and how her position as Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Amy Santiago inspired the artistic choice to make it appear that Drew is a police officer. Paxton discussed her thoughts on how Paige is progressively revealed to be the murderer and what will happen to her now that she is in Matt's custody in a possible season three. See the remarks made by Paxton and Fumero below:

Melissa Fumero:

Yeah, so Annie Weisman, the showrunner of Based on a True Story — who I'm also a huge fan of, who is just brilliant and hilarious and an amazing person — off the bat, when I had my meeting with her and Jaclyn Moore, who's also amazing, said that they wanted to do this fun thing, especially because I did a show like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where it's revealed that my character is a cop. Because the show has so much fun in being meta and satirical, they were like, "We're doing this on purpose, this is a comment on your Amy Santiago." And I was like, "Great." [Laughs] So yeah, and again, it was kind of that stylized moment that the show does that was just really fun. But to be honest, that was all the work of the creatives. My part was super easy. They were like, "Just walk in there and own the space, and own the room, and be a cop." And I was like, "I know how to do that." So, yeah, my part in it felt like the easiest puzzle piece in that sequence. But, yeah, that's the part of the show that I'm really a fan of is just those choices with lighting and shots and mood. It just takes you somewhere else, where you're being told that this is a big moment, and then, later, we find out it was something else.

Melissa Fumero:

Yeah, so Annie and Jaclyn were really generous with me that they gave me the heads-up of all of my character's twists and turns before I started, which was also fun to know where it was all going. I think that also it's fun to play a secret, as a character, and there's different ways that you can do that, but it was definitely something fun to hold in some of those scenes. I think it's such an unexpected [reveal], you don't see it. You know something's going on with Drew, but you can't put your finger on it. Kudos to anyone that guessed it. I can't imagine anyone guessing that she's his ex-wife. But it was such a fun reveal, and then the other piece was just having to do that monologue in front of that stellar cast. It was the first scene I did with all four of them, and I was like, "Okay, this is intimidating to say, the least." But again, they're such a wonderful group of people. Chris Messina was especially generous with his compliments. He was like, "You're doing great." He was like a little cheerleader on set that night, and it was really fun. I just kind of went for it, and then was relieved that it all worked. It also was my first death scene, so I was very honored to get to do that on the show. Everyone really took care of me. Also, it's harder than you think to hold fake blood in your mouth and cough it out appropriately. It's trickier than I thought it would be. There's a very specific placement in your mouth where it has to live before you actually do it, and it's weird. So, it took me a couple takes to kind of get it. Yeah, [I could come back for] maybe some flashbacks!

Sara Paxton:

That first walk-in reveal moment was so much fun. Filming that whole episode was so much fun, because I had just watched — admittedly, it's not me, it's my stunt double, doing flips and stabbing and blood spraying on the window. And I was like, "Wow, I'm a bada--, that's so cool." [Laughs] So that kind of fed into my walk-through reveal, and it was just so exciting. I've never played a character that's — maybe one other time — a villain like this, and so I just wanted to really go for it and have so much fun, because I feel like a lot of the roles that I've played in the past are either the victim of a killing or I'm the mean girl. That's a villain, but not like this, so that was really so much fun.

Sara Paxton:

I think that the producers and the directors of my episodes really handled it perfectly, because, like I said, when I auditioned, I only had a page of dialogue, and it had nothing to do with who the character would become. And I just thought, "Oh, it's a one episode, small character, that's fine." And then, when I got on set and I finished shooting those scenes, everyone kind of gathered round and Jaclyn and Anu [Valia], and I think Alex Buono, the other director of the other episodes, and Annie. They were like, "Okay, we can tell you, there's more to your character." I was like, "Oh, okay, what's going on?" Inside, my fingers were crossed, I was like, "Please, let me be a murderer. Please, let me be a murderer." And then they told me, they're like, "You're the serial killer for the season." I flipped out, I was so excited. So initially, to answer your question, I didn't think about it at all, because I shot those scenes not even knowing where my character would go. But then, moving forward, I think they helped me find that balance of it's there, but not too revealing. My character is really distraught about the murder of her sister, so you could chalk up any emotions or anger to that, and not anything else. So they helped me walk that line.

Sara Paxton:

I think in that moment, this is what she's been waiting for all these months since her sister's murder, and once she realized, in that first episode, you see my character, she realizes who Matt is and why he was there. I think that once she knows, she's just filled with serial killer glee that he's there right in front of her. He fell into her trap, and now is the moment that she's probably been imagining for a long time. And I won't say — well, really, I don't know where my character is going to go. I'm just as excited as the audience to hopefully find out.

Sara Paxton:

I've thought about a million things, but I feel like it would be kind of interesting if they teamed up. But I don't know, the audience will have to watch the show and form their own hypothesis on what's coming. It kind of gives me like Pulp Fiction in the diner vibes.

What This Signifies For A True Story Based On

The most significant narrative twists in Based on a True Story season 2 include Drew being Matt's ex-wife, Paige being the copycat killer, and Ava's sister Tory Thompson (Liana Liberato) killing Drew. Due to Fumero's compelling performance and the audience's preexisting familiarity with her as Amy on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, it is easier for Ava to accept that Drew is a police officer. This also makes her death startling, particularly because Tory is the one who killed her.

Since Paxton was unaware that Paige was the season's serial murderer when she filmed her character's opening scenes with Matt, her trek behind the scenes to discover the truth about her adds to the surprise of her narrative twist. Given what happened to her sister and how the media covered her death, her grief and anger make sense, but they also serve as seeds for the big surprise. In the meanwhile, Paxton's suggestion that Paige and Matt work together in season three of Based on a True Story is an exciting prospect that will keep the show moving in surprising ways.

Our Analysis of Sara Paxton's and Melissa Fumero's Remarks

Because it builds more suspense, season two of Based on a True Story is even better than season one. Ava, Nathan, and the audience are aware that Matt is the West Side Ripper in season 1, and the primary suspense is whether or not their secret will be revealed while they produce their podcast. In season two, it is more interesting to try to identify the West Side Ripper copycat killer and discover how Drew fits into this mystery without knowing who they are. By examining Paige's future, Based on a True Story 3 should be able to maintain this momentum.