Based on a True Story (2023) s02e03 Episode Script

1
[WOMAN WHIMPERING]
[GASPING AND CRYING]
[THUNDER CRASHING]
Please
[GASPING]
- [STABBING]
- [GASPS]
[THUNDER CRASHES]
I'm back, Ava.
Did you miss me?
[NEWS ANCHOR] Police don't know much
about the 27-year-old journalist
whose life was cut short.
But one thing's clear.
The Westside Ripper is back.
So the women this side
of La Brea, stay safe.
Ava, are you trying
to burn the place down?
[NEWS ANCHOR 2] Now, to
Jennifer, with the weather.
- Morning! Uh, hey.
- [COUGHS]
Where were you last night?
Asleep on your couch.
Yeah, we drank too much.
We crashed. Remember?
So you're telling me that you
didn't stab a young brunette
around 2:00 a.m. in Palms?
Ava, what are you talking about?
Well, the news is saying the
Westside Ripper has returned.
And I think, if I remember right,
Matt, the Westside Ripper is you.
- Hold on.
- [NATHAN] What's up?
Matt's killing people.
Matt killed someone.
I have no idea what she's talking about.
[AVA] Well, honestly, the
victim fits his MO, okay?
Pretty brunette,
stabbed to death, Palms.
[TORY] Matt did not do this.
Right, honey?
[MATT] Someone's trying
to taint my legacy,
and I can't say anything
about it. I mean
what did I ever do to make someone
do something like this to me?
- Hey. Come here.
- To him?
- We need to do some of Gustaf's visualizations.
- Okay. Yes.
You know, it really sucks how
little you think of my judgment.
It's not that I
You guys, let's talk about
[FRUSTRATED GROAN]
So, why did we drive 30
minutes to come to a park?
Mmm. I may or may not have some beef
with the park moms near our house.
- You what?
- Don't worry about it. I'm taking care of it.
[WOMAN] Seriously, I have never been
happier to be over 30 and blonde.
- Oh, my God. You hearing this?
- Men don't know it's not natural.
If I was five years younger,
I would definitely be on the
Westside Ripper's kill list.
- You totally would.
- Thank you.
David wants to increase security
at our house just to be safe.
[WOMAN] We did that
last year, and all we saw
was our nanny stealing my La Mer.
[SIGHS] I cannot believe
we deactivated our Ring cam.
I had to. You became
obsessed watching it.
You'd stay up all night trying
to crack neighborhood lawn crimes.
I had to cut you off.
Well, I have to cut you
off. Sex is off the table.
Okay, maybe I lied,
and I never deactivated it.
Oh! Well, uh, maybe sex
is back on the table.
Well?
- This is, uh
- What?
- interesting.
- What's your face? Give it to me. Give it to me.
Oh, my God! He snuck out last
night! I fucking told you!
- Maybe he left something in the car.
- I'm gonna get this guy.
Oh, he left something in
the car? Like a dead body?
I bet he left something in the car.
I'm gonna fucking get this
son of a bitch. Unbelievable!
Shh! Quiet.
Hi. How's it going?
How old are your
Okay, yeah.
- He didn't do it.
- Tory, he has a history.
He has no alibi.
He is lying to you.
He lied to all of us about where he was.
He did not lie. He withheld the truth
because you were screaming at him.
- [SCREAMING] No, I wasn't!
- But he told me everything,
when he left, where he went, all of it.
I love that you're covering for him.
So, where was he?
- That's between me and Matt.
- [AVA] Oh, my God.
This whole new victim
thing is hard enough for him
without you guys making it worse.
- He has an alibi, right? That's good.
- You know what? Shut up.
You want him to be innocent
so you can keep your boyfriend.
He's not my boyfriend.
As fun as this is, I
have class. Excuse me.
We're not done talking about this.
- Yes, we are.
- No, we're not.
Matt is moving in with me.
And pretty soon, we are getting married.
That is the reality.
Accept it.
[SPLUTTERS, SIGHS]
Oh, my God.
- [ITEMS CLATTERING]
- [FRUSTRATED GRUNT]
- [NATHAN] You okay down there?
- Yes.
- [NATHAN] Whatcha doin' down here?
- [SCOFFS]
Well, instead of stewing about the
fact that Matt is out killing again,
I decided to focus on the
things I can fix instead.
So, I took a little deep
dive into our financials.
Oh. That's not a good place to look.
No, it's not good at all.
$20,000 in savings, okay,
which sounds all right
until you realize that we
have to fix a leaky roof,
we are behind on our credit card bills,
and we are not gonna be
able to afford daycare
unless I start bringing in money again.
Got there fast, right?
Which means I have to renew
my real estate license.
So guess what? I am
cleaning this place out.
This is going to be my little workspace.
Okay, so how What-what do you
want us to do? How can we help?
You can start by removing
all of the tennis stuff
that you are going to sell for us.
Donate, to charity.
Whatever. Donate, sell. Ugh!
She's stressed. You're stressed.
And when she's stressed, she gets
insensitive. I know you've seen it.
She's a nice lady. We love her.
[QUIETLY] Can be a pain
in the ass sometimes.
I can hear you talking.
- She's still a great woman.
- I can still hear you talking.
[AVA'S FRIEND] Her idiot dad insists
on buying her all these fancy toys,
but all this girl wants is a
tacky souvenir from a beach dive.
'Cause she's her mama's girl, isn't she?
Don't judge me. I know they're filthy,
but they're the only thing
that keep her from screaming.
Oh, I don't care.
- How are you?
- Ugh, I'm distracted.
I should be studying
for my license renewal,
but I'm just, like, so
worried about my sister.
- Bad boyfriend?
- Yes!
I just wish I could make her
see who he really is, you know?
I know she's an adult, she can
make her own decisions, but
Mmm. Nah. No, no, no.
- That's dumb. Who cares about that, okay?
- [LAUGHS]
If I had a sister who could've
stopped me from marrying my ex,
it would've saved me a lot of trouble.
Yeah.
This ex, what's the deal with him?
[PHONE VIBRATING]
Oh.
Oh, it's my boss.
Shoot, I gotta go.
It's all right. Do you
wanna get drinks later?
Uh, can we play it by ear? Just
work's been really crazy lately.
- Oh, yeah. No, totally.
- Okay.
And last thing. About your sister
Trust your gut. You know?
If this guy sucks, find
a way to make her see it.
And anyway, it feels really good to
just give back in my own small way.
What I'm finally getting
around to saying is
You're welcome.
Uh no, thank you.
A-are you rejecting my donation?
This auction is meant to
raise money for brain research,
not to just get rid of old stuff.
This stuff is memorabilia
from my time on the circuit.
- I'm Nathan Bartlett.
- Okay.
This is an article about me, right here.
The things is, why
would anybody wanna bid
on a musty, old newspaper clipping
about you losing to Danny Merrick?
They could bid on an actual
match with Danny Merrick.
That match changed the
trajectory of my whole career.
Anybody who knows about tennis knows
Wait a minute. Did you just say
that you guys are
auctioning off a match?
- Oh.
- To play Danny Merrick?
Yes, we are. Love him. Super cute.
Listen, sir, I'm gonna have to
ask you to take your stuff and
You know what, lady?
This stuff is priceless.
- Oh.
- [KNOCKING ON DOOR]
Hi! Sorry to drop by unannounced,
but you've been ignoring me,
- so you gave me no choice.
- Okay.
Here's the thing. You were right.
I hate fighting with
you, and, um, I am sorry.
You're an adult now. You
can make your own decisions.
I need to respect that.
Wow. I don't think you've ever
apologized to me for anything.
Mmm. I don't think that's true.
Not even when you said
I was too drunk to drive,
and you ended up totaling my first car.
Ugh. Whatever! Anyway
I got you and Matt a
little housewarming present.
- Wow! It's so cute.
- Mm-hmm.
Is this a baby shower regift?
Okay, the point is
I love you, and I, you know
Just 'cause I don't
love or really understand
this thing with you and Matt,
I don't want it to come between us.
- You're You're an adult. I need to accept that.
- Right.
By gifting me a child's plushie?
[MOCK GASPS] This is
Ruth Bearder Ginsburg.
Show some respect.
She is pretty cute.
I like it right here.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
Nathan. Nathan, wake up.
Matt's on the move, okay?
We got about 12 minutes of manscaping
before he's on his way. Let's go!
What if he's my boyfriend?
[NATHAN] What the hell
are we doing? Why am I up?
Why are you driving
like Dominic Toretto?
I'm going 31 in a 30. Calm down.
- [AVA GASPS]
- [NATHAN] Is that Matt?
[AVA] Yes. Oh, my God.
I fucking told you.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES]
Ava, what is this?
Okay, funny story.
Remember when I told you
I was gonna put all my effort
- into fixing the leaky roof?
- Yeah.
Instead I actually decided to
install a nanny cam in Tory's room,
and I've been spying on them ever since.
What? I thought you
were giving up this shit.
This is different.
This is family.
Oh, my God. You really
are Dominic Toretto.
- [AVA] All right, what is this place?
- [NATHAN] It's just a dark bar.
- I'm sure it's innocent.
- Oh.
- Uh Uh
- [NATHAN] What's he doing?
[AVA] I told you!
- Man, he was doing so well.
- Oh, was he? Was he, Nathan?
Because that woman he's following
looks exactly like his next kill.
- What are you doing?
- I'ma go in, see what's going on.
You can't go in there now. You go in,
he's gonna know you were following him.
Yeah, you're right. You're
right. Okay, new plan.
We are gonna stake this
place out all fucking night.
We're gonna watch him like hawks
[SNORING]
- [KNOCK ON WINDOW]
- [HORN HONKS]
[SHRIEKING]
Oh.
[NATHAN GRUNTS]
Oh my
[EXHALES]
Hey, buddy.
[MATT INHALES DEEPLY]
It wasn't my idea. I was
sleeping. I was dreaming
Why are you lying? What is
this place? Why are we here?
Let me just remind you
two of something that
you seem to have forgotten.
I have the option,
should I decide to use it,
of ruining your lives.
- My boyfriend sucks.
- Yeah, your boyfriend is a real dick.
- [MATT] Why'd you follow me?
- Why are you sneaking out?
How did you know that I was sneaking?
Mother's intuition.
You sure it wasn't the, uh,
the nanny cam that
you put in Tory's room?
Yeah, I can spot a hidden
camera a mile away, Ava.
How do you think I got
away with all those murders?
White privilege, spotty police work.
I try not to think about
that part of your life.
I don't know what's more aggravating.
That you can't accept
that I am a new man,
or that you don't appreciate
how good I was in my prime.
Okay, it still does not
explain all of your sneaking
- I wasn't fucking sneaking!
- Shh!
This Johnny-come-lately killer
and your unfounded accusations,
they've got me on edge, and I'm
adopting a new coping mechanism,
which is, whenever I feel that way,
I come here with a guy from AA
called Nick, and we throw some axes.
- I never heard of any Nick.
- [PHONE VIBRATES]
They're saying the Westside
Ripper killed again six hours ago.
S
[TUTS] So are we ready to admit
that the media is the problem?
Because you know that wasn't me.
Yeah, I know. You were
with Tory six hours ago.
You were around Tory, on
top of Tory, inside of Tory.
- It was fucking disgusting.
- We got it. Thank you.
Well, you know what? If you're
not killing these people, who is?
- That's what I wanna know.
- Let's think. You probably have a lot of fans.
Not our problem. What we
did tonight is fuckin' crazy,
and immoral, and potentially illegal.
All right, fine. Fine.
Consider it dropped. I'm done.
And you don't owe me an apology.
I agree.
[INHALES] But, Ava,
I think you might owe your sister one.
- [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- [DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]
[AVA] For the hundredth time, I
am so sorry about the nanny cam.
[TORY] Mmm.
Are you still mad at me?
The lemon sponge is divine.
I was worried about you.
Stop being mad at me!
Can you just Can you
bring us another piece?
She's not sharing. Thank you.
Please look at me. Please look at me.
You think that I shouldn't trust Matt,
but you're the one that I can't trust.
Please try and see it from our side.
Try and see it from mine.
I am settling down with Matt
because he is special to me.
Yes, he has a past,
but who doesn't?
He's also 100% honest with
me, and he's passionate.
We did witness that on the the cam.
You know what? I think that passion
- is the real reason why you're obsessed with him.
- Ew.
You are bored of your dull,
dreary, middle-aged mush of a life,
and he keeps things exciting for you.
My life is not dull. Not
true. And I'm not middle-aged.
Really? I'm pretty sure the last
thing that got your heart rate up
was true crime, and you gave that up.
It is decaying our collective
sense of right and wrong.
Freaking out about Matt
was just a work-around.
No, that's not true.
Sweetie, I need you to get a life
instead of spying on mine.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, for
Trend forecast. Blonde is back,
and brunette gets you whacked.
I'm going to show you how to go platinum
from your home bathroom.
You just need
[MAN] Have you guys heard
of this new wave of murders?
Murder is back. So, let's
go over home defense basics.
I always keep Mace. My car is
Anyways, I have to go to Erewhon.
- So get ready with me
- [WOMAN] 9,000-volt electric cattle prod.
The police aren't saying much,
but they did say that the
second victim was a psychiatrist
who was killed in an
early 1950s high-rise
in Rancho Park once
inhabited by Bette Davis.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
Uh, is your client looking
for anything specific?
You know, she's a single woman, so
she probably wants to be up high.
I'm thinking possibly
the, uh, seventh floor.
Maybe that one right there.
- Can I see that one?
- Okay.
That'd be great.
- [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- Hmm.
- Here it is.
- Yeah.
- So nice.
- Uh-huh.
[AVA] Mm-hmm.
You know, I can You
can go back to your office.
I can look at it for a minute.
Just don't be too long, okay?
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES]
[AVA] Oh, my God.
Okay.
[BROKEN GLASS CRUNCHING]
[RATTLING]
[CLICKS]
[MUSIC INTENSIFIES]
[MOUTHING]
[PHONE VIBRATES]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC CRESCENDOS]
[SIGHS WITH RELIEF]
["RIGOR MORTIS RADIO"
BY THE HIVES PLAYING]
- Oh. [LAUGHS]
- Oh! Two for three.
That was great. Man, you were, like,
- born with an ax in your hand.
- Thank you.
Nobody's good at it their first time.
He's being nice.
He was a natural.
You're too kind.
You're too kind.
[WHISPERS] Fuck.
I was a star, baby ♪
- [MATT] Hey!
- [NICK SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
- [NICK] That was incredible.
- [MATT SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
[MUFFLED ROARING]
[NICK] That's what athletes do.
Hey, buddy, buddy. Look,
I'm loving this energy,
but are you okay?
Yeah, I'm great. I'm making
friends. You're making friends.
- We're all making friends.
- Nathan, Nathan.
I'm not okay.
I went to donate valuable
items from my tennis past,
but the auction woman said
she didn't want any of 'em
because they had no value,
and she thinks I'm a failure.
She said that to you? She
said that you were a
- that you were a failure?
- Pretty much.
What exactly did that woman say to you?
"No one's gonna care about
how you blew out your knee
losing to Danny Merrick
when they could bid on an actual
match to play Danny Merrick."
We are gonna make them care.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
One thousand. Do I hear two thousand?
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to play two-time US Open
champion Danny Merrick, folks.
I see 2,000 up front.
Buddy, it's time to put
that paddle in the air
like you just don't care.
I do care. These bids are way too high.
Look how old is Merrick now,
anyway? He's gotta be ancient.
- He's three months younger than me. He's not ancient.
- He doesn't look it.
- Do I hear eleven?
- Eleven thousand.
- Look, I think you could take him.
- You think?
It's not what I think. What do
you think? Could you take him?
- Twelve thousand.
- You got a simple decision to make here, Nathan.
- Who are you?
- Thirteen thousand.
Who do you wanna be?
Fourteen thousand.
Who do I wanna be?
Nathan Bartlett, and I bid $20,000.
[PEOPLE GASP]
Uh, we have a $20,000 bid.
$20,000 going once, going twice.
Sold.
Ava's gonna kill me.
- Sorry I left so abruptly earlier.
- Oh!
Work has been insane.
Gotta tell you, I am a terrible friend.
I-I don't even know what you do.
You're not. You're a good
friend, who doesn't pry.
Well
And also, I intentionally
don't tell people.
Oh! W-why? Are you a Are you a spy?
- [CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY]
- Are you a contract killer? [GASPS]
- Restaurant critic?
- No. And, oh, I wish.
I guess it's time to come clean.
Okay.
I'm a homicide detective.
- What?
- Yeah.
And I don't really tell people
because there are so many
true crime freaks out there.
Oh.
There's this one killer
I've been chasing for years,
and, mmm, as soon as I get
him, I am done. I'm retiring,
and I'm opening an Etsy store
where I sell erotic tea cozies.
Who is this this white
whale you-you speak of?
[SIGHS]
The Westside Ripper.
- [CLEARS THROAT]
- Heard of him?
[SUCKS TEETH] Westside Ripper
Westside Ripper
West No.
- Really?
- No. Doesn't ring a bell.
I don't like true crime.
Prefer musical comedies.
Well [INHALES] he's
been killing women for years,
and every time I get close,
he just slips away.
Really? Wow.
So, he used to pick women
who were very similar
and kill them the exact same way.
- Hmm.
- But then, he just kind of pivoted.
Like, first, there was a redhead.
Now, a mom in her thirties with
a rosary tied around her wrist.
The press doesn't know about that.
Oh, no. But, you know,
what do you think
Why do you think he's
changing his pattern?
Maybe he got bored, or he's
trying to throw us off his trail.
[SNIFFING]
Oh, come on! [SNIFFS]
[GRUMBLES]
- We have a situation.
- Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. I'll be right back.
Take your time.
Hey, mama.
Yeah.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
No, Jack, Mommy is not gonna
look in her friend's purse, okay?
- We learned our lesson with the nanny cam.
- [COOS]
Oh, you think I should?
Okay. Don't tell Daddy.
You are gonna get in so much
fucking trouble for this.
- [CAMERA CLICKS]
- Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
[CAMERA CLICKING]
Aw, man. When did you do that?
Oh, my God.
[SIGHS] Sorry about that.
- Kid's a double threat.
- Yeah.
- Want another round?
- Yes. Yes, yes.
Am I crazy? I just spent all our
money to play in a tennis match?
Crazy is good.
Money What is money? You
can always make more money,
but this shot, this opportunity,
that doesn't happen for
guys like us, all right?
- Yeah. You're right.
- Yes.
This is just between us for now, okay?
Until I win.
Till you win.
- This is your destiny.
- This is my destiny.
- Yes.
- Where are those ?
- Hey, do you mind if I keep some stuff here?
- What kind of stuff?
Just some stuff that
won't fit at Tory's.
You mind? You wanna
check in with Ava or ?
No, I don't need to ask Ava.
Yeah, keep keep
whatever you want here.
Thank you. Oh, and you'll I
mean, you'll keep it quiet, right?
Yeah, sure.
Our little secret.
Our secret.
This feels like new beginnings.
You know what I mean?
[BOARD SQUEAKS]
First kill, definitely
Westside Ripper vibes.
But the second with the scalpel?
Tory's right. You're grasping at
this thing 'cause you're bored.
Bored of spending most of
your time talking to a baby.
- Bored of your job.
- Bored of your husband.
No, no! [SPLUTTERS] Baby jail and
work. Not husband. Not husband.
Babe! We're in your
head. You can't lie to us.
You wanna solve this so
you can have a little fame,
excitement, the spotlight.
No, I wanna solve this because I
know something the police don't.
Matt is not the killer, which means
there's another killer out there,
and if I don't solve this soon,
more innocent women are gonna die.
[CACKLING]
Since when do you care about women?
I love women. I'm obsessed with
women. I donate to Planned Parenthood.
Monthly recurring or one time?
Fine. It's not entirely about them.
Just admit it. You're flying solo
'cause you want a little thrill
and 'cause Nathan's a buzzkill.
Okay, can we not discuss
the implications now?
Can we please focus on the task?
Don't push her, Roch. I
don't think she's well.
You know, he's never
killed a mom before.
Also, the rosary's a little showy.
The last killer that did
this was the Rosary Killer,
but he hasn't been
active in, like, 20 years.
Most people don't just
have scalpels lying around.
I mean, it feels like whoever's
doing this is trying to prove a point.
The incisions are precise,
almost like he's trying to
carve her like a surgeon would.
She was beheaded.
[WHISPERS] Jack the Ripper.
[AVA] Wait. So the
first kill mimicked Matt.
The second, Jack the Ripper.
The third, the Rosary Killer.
The murderer isn't copying one
killer. He's copying multiple killers.
He's a copycat serial killer.
[GASPS] I solved it!
I figured it out. [SCREAMS EXCITEDLY]
["PSYCHO KILLER" PLAYING]
Okay. Okay.
Psycho killer ♪
Qu'est-ce que c'est ? ♪
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa ♪
Better ♪
Run, run, run, run,
run, run, run away ♪
Ah, ah, psycho killer ♪
Ah, ah, ah ♪
Psycho killer ♪
Qu'est-ce que c'est ? ♪
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa ♪
Better ♪
Run, run, run, run,
run, run, run away ♪
Psycho killer ♪
Qu'est-ce que c'est ? ♪
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa ♪
Better ♪
Run, run, run, run,
run, run, run away ♪
[SONG ENDS]