# Truth Be Told (2019)

> A true crime podcaster risks everything to uncover the truth behind a string of disappearances in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/68731

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 28
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama, mystery, thriller
- Created by: Nichelle Tramble Spellman
- Network: Apple TV
- Cast: Octavia Spencer, Lizzy Caplan, Mekhi Phifer, David Lyons, Kate Hudson, Christopher Backus, Aaron Paul, Gabrielle Union
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7821582/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, psychological, suspenseful, melancholic

## What critics say

Audiences found the premise and lead performance engaging in the first season, but later seasons were rated markedly lower, with mixed reception overall.

## Synopsis

Truth Be Told (2019-2023) is an American mystery thriller series created by Nichelle Tramble Spellman for Apple TV. Octavia Spencer plays Poppy Scoville, a true crime podcaster in the San Francisco Bay Area who pursues the truth about disappearances and murders even when the cases threaten her own life. Her investigations draw her into interviews with suspects, witnesses and grieving families, and into a web of old family history and buried guilt. Lizzy Caplan, Mekhi Phifer, David Lyons and Kate Hudson appear among the principal cast, with Aaron Paul and Gabrielle Union in recurring roles. The series runs three seasons and twenty-eight episodes, with each season built around a new case that feeds a larger personal mystery. Its tone is tense and psychologically driven, with flashbacks adding dread and shifting perspectives on who can be trusted. Set in Oakland and nearby California communities, it plays out in a present-day atmosphere of podcast studios, interrogation rooms and dim family homes. Viewers who enjoy Serial, Sharp Objects and Big Little Lies will find similar pleasure in its layered investigative suspense and its focus on a woman confronting dangerous truths.

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