'Truth Be Told' Episode 3 review: Haneefah Wood as Cydie delivers a stunning performance as the Apple TV show ups the ante
SPOILER ALERT for Episode 3 of 'Truth Be Told'
'Truth Be Told', one of Apple TV+'s most ambitious projects, will premiere with the first three episodes on Friday, December 6. While the first episode of the upcoming series sets up the plot and tells everything we need to know about Poppy (Octavia Spencer), and the second one gives us insight on the Josie and Lanie's (Lizzy Caplan) lives have been like since the murder of their father, episode 3 - really the end of episode 2 - is when the story really starts to progress in the present.
We see that Poppy's no holds barred investigation into the murder of Chuck Buhrman (Nic Bishop) has some real-time implications and those implications are not just limited to Warren Cave (Aaron Paul). We saw how he was affected by Poppy's investigation on the outside, and while she definitely - probably - felt bad for him, it did not deter her efforts to find the truth. To her, that is more important than the collateral damages.
At the moment, we have some clues regarding who the real killer may be, and yet, it would be foolish to wholeheartedly believe them to be the real killer so early in the series. However, the primary suspect is not below attacking everyone to protect himself, even their own son. In Episode 3 of the series, at least this much is established. We see that they are also not above hurting the people around Poppy to make sure the case of Chuck's murder remains closed.
This episode beautifully and heartbreaking depicts what it is like to have the men of law come into your safe space without any warning, and take you to prison. It shows how dehumanizing the experience of being taken to prison is, and Haneefah Wood's performance as Cydie Scoville during these moments of immense humiliation and despondency is depicted with pure and raw emotions. The details of her look including her hair and her nails and her make-up are taken away by the cops and it feels like she is stripped off her humanity. Those scenes and the reaction of Poppy and her family to those events set the tone of what is going to happen next.
Increasingly, 'Truth Be Told' is proving to be one of the best crime thrillers we have seen in recent times and we are excited to see how Poppy solves this puzzle. Episodes 1, 2 and 3 of 'Truth Be Told' will be added to the Apple TV+ library on Friday, December 6, so don't forget to binge them when they do.