Dhruv Trivedi
‘Truth Be Told’ season 2 follows journalist turned podcaster Poppy Parnell as she delves into another mystery, this time surrounding her childhood friend Micah. A brutal double murder sets off a chain of chaotic events, and even as Poppy races to put together all the moving pieces, she comes face to face with her own past. One of her closest friends seems to be the prime suspect, which makes things even more complex and leads to some truly explosive reveals. If the season finale left you with a few questions, we’re here to clear them up! Let’s take a closer look at the ending of ‘Truth Be Told’ season 2. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Truth Be Told Season 2 Recap
Season 2 opens with Poppy attending a party in honor of her childhood friend Micah Keith, who has since become a world-famous author on the back of her gritty biography. We then find out that Micah grew up on the streets and befriended Poppy and her family during that time. Micah is extremely close to all of Poppy’s sisters and her father, Shreve, while Poppy is good friends with Micah’s husband, Joshua.
At the party, Joshua mentions to the podcaster that he has something to discuss with her and then leaves to go home. However, when Poppy and Ingram come over to Micah’s later that night to drop her, they find Joshua and his son, Drew, murdered. As Micah grapples with the devastating loss, Poppy delves into the crime, trying to decipher who might be behind it.
She realizes that Micah’s assistant Ramon seems to have a distinct dislike for her late husband and begins to follow him closely. However, the investigation is turned upside down when Ramon is also murdered. The man suspected of killing him is an ex-convict named Holt Redding. To her shock and dismay, Poppy then realizes that Holt and Micah are having an affair and begins to suspect her friend.
The investigative podcaster then finds out that Micah and Holt met in prison, where they became close friends and formed a group along with a disturbed homeless artist named Rose. When Rose is eventually tracked down, she reveals that the book Micah is passing off as her own was stolen from Rose, who was its original author. She allegedly stole Rose’s life story and built an empire on its popularity. On learning this, Poppy begins to suspect Micah of killing Joshua.
Truth Be Told Season 2 Ending: Who Killed Joshua and Drew?
A few nights later, Poppy is accosted at her father’s bar by a man who tries to kill her. However, her father Shreve intervenes just in time and kills the intruder. It is then revealed that the man who tried to hurt Poppy was a former policeman named Martin, who also had a grudge against Joshua. Upon checking Martin’s phone records, he is found to be collaborating with Ivy, who is Micah’s partner in their lifestyle brand Shelter. Finally, Poppy begins to believe that Micah might not be responsible for Joshua’s death, and the two friends reconcile. However, Shelter is shut down in the end, and Micah seemingly loses most of her wealth.
Hence, after being suspected of killing her husband for most of the season, Micah is finally vindicated when it is revealed that Martin had a grudge against Joshua. As a filmmaker, Joshua made a documentary about an extremist group called the Sons of Ivar, to which Martin belonged. The two seemingly had a falling out over how the film portrayed the group, and the former policeman began to nurse a grudge against Micah’s husband.
When Micah’s partner Ivy found out that Rose had revealed to Joshua that his wife was a fraud, Ivy feared that their brand, Shelter, would collapse and all they worked for would be for naught. Realizing Martin had a grudge against him, Ivy teamed up with the former policeman to kill Joshua. However, they didn’t expect his son Drew to be with him and were forced to kill Joshua’s son as well. In fact, Ivy reveals that she and Martin had even planned to kill Micah in the process but couldn’t because Joshua returned home alone while his wife went for dinner with Poppy.
Is Micah Guilty?
Micah is eventually found not to have murdered her husband or his son Drew. However, she is far from innocent. The crime that Micah so desperately tries to hide is the fact that she stole her friend Rose’s life story and published it as her own. Since all her fame and fortune stems from her gritty book, Micah even goes so far as to hint to her accomplice Holt that Rose should be killed. As we see near the end of season 2, the revelation that Micah is a fraud destroys her financially as her company, Shelter, shuts down, and she loses her opulent mansion.
Therefore, Micah is undoubtedly guilty, but not of the heinous murders of her husband and his son. The fact that she returns Rose’s personal journals from which she plagiarised her story, combined with the loss of most of what she earned from the sales of her book, shows that Micah is truly repenting for what she did. Perhaps most significantly, Poppy forgives her when she realizes that what Micah did was out of desperation to escape poverty and that in the process, she actually helped more people than she hurt. Hence, season 2 ends with Micah’s vindication.
What Happens to Rose and Holt?
Rose is last seen in an unnamed location, surrounded by her art. She seems to have found herself a home and is overjoyed when she gets back her personal journals from Micah, describing it as being reunited with a piece of herself. Since Rose also features on Poppy’s podcast, her story has likely spread, which means that people now know that Micah’s explosive biography was actually hers.
Therefore, if not already, it is likely just a matter of time before Rose is approached by a publishing company (or even art collectors) in order to publicize her works. In a way, by already popularizing Rose’s story by stealing it, Micah seems to have paved the way for Rose to finally be recognized for her artistic talents.
Holt, on the other hand, is destined to spend many years in prison. Though he is likely acquitted of Joshua and Drew’s murders now that Martin is caught, Holt is still being held for the murder of Ramon (which he did commit). With Micah now powerless to help him, the future looks bleak for the man.
What Does Poppy’s Father Shreve Burn at the End?
Poppy’s father, Shreve, goes through a box of family mementos near the end of season 2. Amongst them, he finds Poppy’s birth certificate. Upon closer inspection, it is revealed through the form that Shreve is not Poppy’s birth father. Therefore, unbeknownst to Poppy, she is adopted. This could also explain why Shreve left her in a foster home during his younger days, though he bitterly regrets doing that now.
In the end, Shreve burns the birth certificate that he has held on to for so many years, signifying how he has once and for all accepted Poppy as family. This could partly be the result of the life-threatening experience that the two went through together when Martin attacked Poppy. Alternatively, Shreve possibly realizes just how much Poppy has bravely endured throughout her life, and he now begins to feel responsible for it. The fact that he burns the certificate also seems to hint that Poppy will likely never find out that she’s adopted.
Read More: Is Truth Be Told Based on a True Story?
