‘Based on a True Story’ Star Tom Bateman Teases Matt’s Killer Season 2 Return (VIDEO)

Based on a True Story may not be based in reality, but Season 2 is keeping serial killer Matt’s (Tom Bateman) story unpredictable as his entanglement with new parents Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan (Chris Messina) continues.

The series returns to Peacock on Thursday, November 21, and Bateman stopped by TV Insider’s studio to tease what’s in store for the latest chapter. As fans may recall, the killer who led a double life as a plumber weaseled his way into Ava and Nathan’s lives when their true crime obsession uncovers him as the Westside Ripper in Season 1.

Colleen Hayes / Peacock

After initially starting a podcast together in agreement that they’d all stay on their own side of metaphorically drawn lines, those boundaries were blurred when people in Ava and Nathan’s lives began snooping and uncovering some answers about their activities. When a friend of Ava and Nathan’s wound up dead, they were left to clean the mess Matt had seemingly made, but where is he when Season 2 picks up?

“There’s been a wonderful time jump, which is so fun,” Bateman teases. “I love what the creators have done for Season 2 because they sort of make us wait to see him.” As Bateman puts it, Matt is like “the shark in Jaws, you’re like, ‘Where is he?’ We don’t know what he’s doing. And he looks totally different.”

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As Bateman notes, Matt’s taken on a “new-age hippie” look. “I’m in the process of healing,” he says of his character. So, where does that leave Matt in regard to Ava and Nathan? “I would like them to forgive me so that we can be friends,” Bateman says of Matt’s approach, but there’s something deeper at play. “He’s actually got a plan to effectively destroy their lives,” the actor teases.

Could that have something to do with his engagement to Ava’s sister Tory (Liana Liberato)? Their romance was teased at the end of Season 1, but they’ve taken a major leap forward in their relationship in Season 2. And Matt’s seemingly changed perspective certainly raises suspicions. “He’s not doing any of the evil stuff that he was doing in the first season,” Bateman shares, but hints that could be part of a “long game.”

Find out what else he has to say in the full video interview, above, and don’t miss Bateman’s return as Matt in Based on a True Story Season 2 when it arrives on Peacock.

Based on a True Story, Season 2 Premiere, Thursday, November 21, Peacock