One of the original creations of Apple TV+, Truth Be Told stars Octavia Spencer as Poppy Scoville-Parnell. Poppy is an award-winning investigative journalist who, twenty years old, covered the criminal trial of Warren Cave, a 16-year-old accused of murdering his next-door neighbour.
With witness testimony from one of the murder victim's daughters, Poppy's coverage pushed for Cave to be trialed as an adult. And he was. Found guilty, Warren Cave went to prison but when new evidence surfaces, his conviction is thrown into doubt and Poppy decides to revisit the case via her very popular podcast.
As you can imagine, not everybody is thrilled about the idea of digging up all the details again. Firstly, Warren Cave (Aaron Paul) has joined a white supremacy gang in prison so neither his prison mates nor her family like the situation very much.
Secondly, it was the testimony of Warren Cave's father, a serving police officer, that got him convicted. Then you also have the twin daughters and widow of the murder victim who all want to leave the past behind them.
But of course, Poppy plows on regardless, even when the situation puts her own life in jeopardy. A lot of people are hiding secrets and Poppy is about to uncover them.
Over the course of eight episodes of Truth Be Told, the story unfolds with enough pace to keep you interested. Though I have to admit I did want it to move along a little faster. But maybe that's a lack of patience rather than the storyline.
Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul are both excellent and Truth Be Told is a very good drama. It may not be ‘gripping' in the traditional sense and you won't be sitting on the edge of your seat but you will be desperate to find out what really happened and if Warren Cave is guilty or not.
All that said, the twin sisters both being played by Lizzy Caplan got a little irritating. But if you can get over that, Truth Be Told is an engaging drama about one journalist's pursuit of the truth and justice.
