Based on a True Story – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

The Universe

Why did Matt kill Ruby?

While Matt is having a video chat with his group of “perverse individuals,” he attends a call from Ava and Nathan. They are livid and panicky over discovering Ruby’s body. The trio had a deal – no more killing! But Matt broke the rules. He tells them that Ruby was all set to go to the police and that is why he killed her. The Bartletts don’t believe his word. They want him to come and clean up the mess. But Matt rejects their pleadings and says they must clean up and come home till he “hangs with Tory.”

After dumping Ruby’s body in their car trunk, the duo rush home. They get a literal surprise as Tory and Matt have organized a 10-year anniversary party for them. Matt once again rejects their request to dump Ruby’s body and lays his idea onto them: spinoffs for “marginalized killers.” This will be their way of working a way around the “woke police.”

What mistake do the Bartletts make with Ruby?

As Nathan and Ava are recovering from this shock, they have another one as they find Simon at the party. He requests to talk to Nathan outside and he agrees. Simon profusely apologizes for his behaviour the other night. He regrets what happened with McEnroe but Nathan isn’t having it. He says his piece and while he does, Ruby’s phone rings in the trunk. They have forgotten to take it out and now Simon gets suspicious. He goes to the trunk and demands that Nathan open it. Nathan, who was pushing Simon away, hugs him and invites him back in to compensate.

Nathan invites Ava outside. To turn off the phone, Ava holds Ruby’s phone and Nathan uses her face to unlock it. They learn that Matt was telling the truth as Ruby had sent a voicemail to Detective Burrell about the Ripper. Tory intervenes and calls them back inside for her toast. Matt warns them that they will now have to “take care of Simon,” which means they will have to kill him too if he raises an alarm. She gets emotional while talking about how Ava, her elder sister, drove cross-country to bring her home after their mother died and their father married someone else.

Ending Explained:

What anniversary present does Matt give Ava and Nathan? Where do they go to bury the body?

Matt gives the duo a pair of his booties, the same ones he used when he worked as a plumber and a serial killer. They decide to take Ruby’s body to the Beverly Club.

In the last episode, we had seen that there was a huge hole on tennis court number 1 as there were plans to make it smaller in proportion to make “pickleball” the primary sport. Nathan digs a deeper hole to throw Ruby’s body in. As he does so, Ava brings up how Nathan never talks about the baby.

She is insecure about his perceived lack of excitement about starting a new family. But Nathan assures her he wants the baby as much as her but he is scared. As they bond, Ava recalls how she first met Ruby at a party. Even then, she was the coolest girl in the room and everyone wanted to be around her. Suddenly, she notices that the blue dart in her neck is missing. At this point, Ruby gets up and kills the Bartletts! Of course, as you might have guessed, this was another dreamscape.

How does Season 1 of Based on a True Story end?

Ruby is thrown in the ditch and they get back to cleaning. The mess of blood stains and other evidence is cleared out, as we learn that Tory and Matt have been having an affair all this while. Ava and Nathan discuss baby names as they scrub the floors in the Malibu apartment. Just then, Simon walks in with a wry smile on his face.

As expected, Aaron Staton (Simon) will be made a series regular, if the show is renewed. The ending was quite unexpected as Simon was able to just waltz into their Malibu house. How did he even know about it? And how did he get there? Did he track Ruby’s last known locations, as Ava had indicated earlier that the police would probably do? Or is there another secret connivance we do not know about? The gamut of possibilities is endless. Simon hated Ruby. So he would be expected not to go out on a limb and seek justice for her.

Couple that with his strange idiosyncrasies and unhinged mental state, Simon would make for the perfect addition to the troika of podcasters. The police investigations should start soon to make things even spicier.

The Episode Review

Matt put everything in perspective when he said, “This will never end.” That is the forgone conclusion that Ava and Nathan were heading toward all this while. It is the new truth of their life underneath all the shenanigans they had with the podcast. They made a choice and now, they must live with the consequences of their actions.

The finale was quite short, which didn’t allow the makers to bring more nuance to how they ended things. It did feel a little abrupt and jaded, almost like the writers didn’t have any new ideas. Or perhaps they did but they have chosen to explore the full extent of them in the next season. Anyway, season 1 has ended on a cliffhanger with an uncertain future. Overall, it was a satisfactory end to things but perhaps a more promising beginning to the next chapter.