Based on a True Story

With credulity crumbling by the end of eight mostly enjoyable, if increasingly ludicrous, episodes, Based on a True Story might not have enough blood to pump through another season (even if a cliffhanger ending suggests that it will happen anyway), but murder fans should find enough here to chew on.

It’s not as brazen as Poker Face, as innovative as Mrs. Davis, or as bizarre as The Resort, but BOATS scratches the itch for an entertaining, if not illogical, TV comedy.

This is a series that unravels quickly, and that’s assuming that it was ever raveled (so to speak) in the first place. It boils down to a neat idea with lukewarm results, like so many podcasts and TV shows.

The target is broad and easy to hit (others already have) except "Based on a True Story's'" aim is unsteady. The show would much rather be a comedy (also unsteady) or thriller (unsteadiest of all). At its best, this series features three seasoned and particularly appealing actors who know how to sell the premise — outlandish and as full of plot holes as this one is. But at its worst — far worse — is a recurrent pattern of violence against women.

It’s one thing for a series to throw you for a loop from time to time and blindside you with some major twists. It’s quite another thing when there are so many red herrings and fake-outs that we feel more pranked than entertained.

A seemingly daring, dark premise that disguises a mild domestic comedy. It promises slashing satire. It cuts like a butter knife.

If you’re looking for a breezy summer binge, it makes a passable substitute for any of the aforementioned shows [Dead to Me, Good Girls, and You]. But the writing is blander, the characters thinner, the plot too reliant on viewers’ willingness to suspend disbelief. And the true-crime satire is disappointingly timid.