Octavia Spencer joins forces with Gabrielle Union in ‘Truth Be Told’
BEING in the media space, it was a difficult week to focus on anything other than AKA. Social media, print publications, and online platforms were saturated with news updates on the back of his violent murder last Friday.
Apart from some grandstanders in the celebrity fraternity (cough: Nota Baloyi and Slik Talk), the mood in Mzansi was understandably sombre and it wasn’t helped by the conspiracy theories and finger-pointing of armchair detectives.
I tried to distract myself with Truth Be Told, which returned to Apple TV+ for a third instalment.
If you haven’t watched this crime drama, which is based on Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber, I will say Octavia Spencer makes for a formidable anchor as Poppy Parnell, an investigative reporter behind a hit truecrime podcast.
She leaves no stone unturned when it comes to getting to the truth. And this often puts her in dangerous situations. But she remains fearless through it all.
As a quick recap, in the first season, Poppy, haunted by the old murder case of Stanford professor Chuck Buhrman, where she helped convict Warren Cave, and dusted off her mike to resume with the true-crime podcast that made her famous. Her task wasn’t easy as she had to admit being wrong in the wake of new evidence that proves the innocence of Cave.
In season two, things got personal as Poppy helped to find the person who murdered the photographer/filmmaker husband of her childhood best friend and author, Michah Keith (Kate Hudson).
A powerful woman with a wellness empire akin to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, Michah has many secrets and this creates friction between Poppy
and her. The third instalment is also kind of personal. Come to think of it, they always end up being so for Poppy.
While looking into the disappearance of several young black girls in Oakland – following a huge political push to find a missing white girl named Emily Hill – Poppy learns that Markus Killebrew’s daughter Trini (Mychala Lee) is missing.
He is a former detective and longtime friend of Poppy, who battled alcoholism for many years until he got help. Like any concerned parent, he is beside himself with worry, especially after Trini’s sex tape with her boyfriend goes viral. He worries about the sleazy world she is being lured into.
And his feelings on the situation are dismissed by his heavily pregnant wife, who has a contradictory approach to parenting.
In the meantime, Poppy joins forces with school principal Eva (Gabrielle Union), who is most unorthodox in how she approaches the case.
As the episodes progress, discovered that Eva’s interest back to her dark past.
Beyond settling a score, Eva has to deal with past demons and it is an emotional – not to mention precarious – journey.
Truth Be Told is a compelling offering. The writers develop the characters with commendable depth, balancing it is links strengths with weaknesses.
As much as the current investigation is the main story arc, it is underpinned by subplots involving murky politics and frustrating legal red tape.
Although Poppy is a dog with a bone when she gets a whiff of a clue, her personal life is messy, especially after her divorce in season two.
This season, she struggles to accept that despite their closeness, Lukather “Shreve” Scoville (Ron Cephas Jones) isn’t her biological dad.
While her sisters are in the dark about this, Poppy nurses deep anger and resentment towards her dead mother.
True to the whodunnit’s blueprint, the third instalment includes some new faces alongside familiar ones.
Union offsets Poppy marvellously as they seek answers and an end to corrupt key figures having a strong hand in the seedy underbelly of the city.
David Lyons reprises his role as Inspector Aames and plays a pivotal role in the investigation – one that hits closer to home for him when he has to put his partner behind bars.
Streamers will be on tenterhooks as every episode ends on a cliffhanger.
If you enjoy the genre, this series is worth binging on as it ticks all the boxes.
Truth Be Told season 3 is streaming on Apple TV+.