‘Based on a True Story’: Who Is Ruby Gale? What Happens to Her?

Peacok’s Based on a True Story is a timeless comedy thriller that expresses how people’s fascination with true-crime stories can become tragic. One of the people fascinated with the Westside Ripper in the show is Nathan and Ava’s friend Ruby Gale whose obsession with the serial killer ends tragically. While Nathan and Ava struggle to move on with life after disposing off her body, many fans still wonder who Ruby is and what happened to her in the show.

Ruby Gale is introduced as Nathan and Ava’s well-off friend, enjoying her best life in an open marriage with her lawyer husband, Simon. Ruby’s life is a total contrast to Ava’s because Ava and Nathan are struggling financially and are forced to partner with a serial killer to create a hit podcast to survive. However, things take a turn when Ruby discovers Ava’s partnership with the serial killer and blackmails her, seeking to get in on the fun since her dream life has fallen apart.

Ruby gets too close to the action when she decides to confront Nathan in a bid to force her way into their podcast. What started as a little game becomes deadly because Nathan and Ava no longer control the serial killer, and Ruby only joins his long list of victims. Nathan and Ava are now the ones in trouble because Simon found them cleaning Ruby’s blood, so how do they explain their clean-up operation to Ruby’s husband?

What is Based on a True Story about?

Based on True Story is a comedy thriller about a couple that partners with a serial killer to create a hit podcast after falling into financial difficulty.

The problem starts when Nathan (a retired tennis player) loses his job as a coach at the local tennis club in LA.

His pregnant wife, Ava (a real estate agent), can’t raise enough money to keep the family going since she can’t seem to make any sales at her job.

The couple meet a plumber, Matt, whom Nathan agrees to give tennis lessons in exchange for fixing rotten plumbing in his house, which he cannot afford to pay for.

Nathan and Matt become friends, but soon Ava and Nathan discover that he is the dreaded Westside Ripper after a bartender Nathan and Matt met at the bar is killed by the serial killer, and Matt shows up with fresh scratch marks on his hands.

Instead of turning him in to the police, Ava, who is obsessed with true-crime podcasts, decides to use Matt to create a podcast that will satisfy America’s thirst for stories about serial killers.

Matt agrees to join in on the podcast, promising not to kill anyone again, but things take a turn for the worst after Matt meets a charlatan that makes money by claiming to be a survivor of the Westside Ripper in Las Vegas.

Matt seems to take control of the podcast as he enjoys the huge fanbase in Garners, and decides to satisfy the fan base’s thirst by giving them “fresh content,” which essentially means committing new murders.

Nathan and Ava can no longer control him, and their close friends and family are put in danger as Matt kills their friend Ruby and is also revealed to be in a relationship with Ava’s sister Tory.

Who plays Ruby Gale in Based On A True Story?

Ruby Gale is played by the American model and actress Priscilla Quintana, known for playing Jacquiline “Jax” Zhou in Pandora.

Quintana was born and raised in California before moving to film school after high school, where she trained as a model and actress.

Her first roles were in commercials before she landed her first film role in The Gambler in 2014 and Fast & Furious 7 in 2015.

She went on to play bigger roles in TV shows, including Isabella Tavez in Good Trouble and Mina in the 2019 movie Polaroid.

Quitana’s experience as a model and actress meant she was naturally suited for the role of Ruby Gale, a well-off wanna-be celebrity desperate for attention.

Ruby Gale flaunts her open marriage with Simon to Ava and the rest of her friends as perfect, but she is actually unhappy.

The trip to the Crimecon event in Las Vegas changed her life as she discovered that Matt was the Westside Ripper after picking up Ava’s burner.

Her life changed after the trip when her husband confirmed that he was uncomfortable with the idea of the open marriage and paid her lover, Carlos, to leave Ruby forever, and he accepted.

Ruby realized that her false lifestyle could not hold anymore and that the people in her life didn’t care for her.

Like her the rest of Ava’s friends, Ruby is obsessed with news about the Westside Ripper, so when her life fell apart, she saw Ava’s podcast as her path to fame.

When Nathan and Ava refused to bring her on board, she decided to contact the police, most likely seeking to become famous as the person that caught the serial killer.

Why Did Matt kill Ruby in Based on a True Story?

Matt knew that Ruby was communicating with the police trying to turn him in alongside Nathan and Ava.

He decided to kill her in a bid to save everyone involved but also dumped her in Nathan and Ava’s new Malibu house to turn them into accomplices to his crimes.

With Nathan and Matt disposing of the body after Matt killed her, they can no longer turn him in because they are accomplices.

However, killing Ruby only creates more problems for Matt and the couple since Simon found them cleaning up her blood from the floor.