Truth Be Told Recap: Playing With People’s Lives

This recap of Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told Season 1, Episode 5, “Graveyard Love” contains significant spoilers. You can read the recap of the previous episode by clicking these words.

I did say in the last chapter that the story seems way too obvious and Truth Be Told Episode 5, “Graveyard Love”, proved that — not everything is what it seems.

It opens up with Poppy (Octavia Spencer) meeting Warren in prison (she’s got her clearance back). Technically Poppy is now an investigator. She tells him about his father having unaccounted-for time. Warren reveals to Poppy that his father had him shanked.

Poppy is getting more heat from her close ones. Marcus blasts her for blowing up Owen on her podcast. He claims it is dangerous to mess with a respected officer of the law. Poppy states she is just after the truth. Marcus has a brief moment where he looks around Poppy’s house and says, “I couldn’t have given you any of this”. Poppy is quick to remind him that it wasn’t just Ingram that afforded their life, she contributed.

Poppy rings Marcus the next day — she is trying to understand Owen’s life and learns he set up an organization called Angel’s Halo and there’s only a single doner. Ingram walks in on the conversation and slyly says, “back into the field with Marcus?”. Ingram brings up that he has drawn up a restraining order on her father and she’s fuming. Flashbacks show Poppy’s father leaving the family.

Josie and Lanie almost have a side story in Episode 5. Lanie wants to learn more about her sister. The sisters check out the storage unit left behind by Susan — it’s all their stuff. Flashbacks show their mother burning their stuff in a fire. When Lanie says she likes the picture of Josie’s husband and son, Josie freaks out and walks out of the storage unit.

Poppy and Marcus investigate Owen’s business Angel’s Halo. The business licensee tells them to ask Owen themselves. Poppy notices the receptionist eyeing up Marcus and asks him to use that to his advantage. Meanwhile, Ingram visits Lillian about Poppy’s father. He offers her a deal; no restraining order if she makes sure Poppy’s father sees a doctor. Later that day, Owen confronts Marcus — “you tell Poppy to back off”.

Poppy’s father accepts the offer and goes to the hospital for an MRI scan. He mentions something to Igram about foster care. It was a vague moment that will probably come to light later.

With the plot developing, Poppy heads to a bar to meet Marcus in Episode 5. Marcus tells her that Angel’s Halo is a charity created after Chuck’s murder and that Owen is donating a grand a month to it. It only lists one beneficiary — initials are JJJ. Both of them believe it sounds like hush money.

How wrong they were. Meanwhile, Owen is put on a leave of absence while there is an investigation. The podcast has forced the police’s hands.

Episode 5, “Graveyard Love” moves closer to the twist. Warren rings Poppy and it is clear that he is getting impatient. Poppy tells him the initials of the beneficiary for Angel’s Halo. Warren is shocked — he says the initials are for a kid around the block, John James Jackson. Meanwhile, Owen is listening to Poppy’s podcast. Poppy texts him to say “time’s up. Owen’s wife explains to him that she and his son are leaving.

Owen’s world is falling apart.

As we near the final third in Truth Be Told Season 1, Episode 5, Warren goes to a panel regarding the dog Jacks that violently attacked an inmate and asks them to not put him down. Jacks attacked the inmate to protect him — “my own father wouldn’t do that for me”. The dog is sent to the shelter instead and Warren gets the chance to say goodbye.

A desperate Owen, soaked in rain, goes to meet his ex-wife Melanie. He is upset and explains that his current life has left him. He goes into an emotional rant about Warren and that he should have been there for her — Owen asks for Melanie’s forgiveness and then tries to kiss her. Melanie reacts angrily: “You want comfort from me? You took 19 years from me, 19!”.

Josie meets up with Lanie and talks about her mother and how there are too many memories and that it feels too toxic. Lanie agrees that she can leave and sneakily uses Josie’s phone and says, “Hey Siri, call home”. This girl does not give up.

And then the penny drops. Marcus meets John James Jackson — he’s in a coma and on life support. Angel’s Halo pays for all of the medical bills. But why?

The answer comes quickly in Episode 5. Poppy returns home to music — she thinks Ingram is being romantic, but it is actually Owen and he has a gun. He forces her to record a retraction, blaming everything on Warren and Melanie. Poppy insists that his story is incomplete and brings up Angel’s Halo. Owen is shaking with anger but also visibly upset, completely drenched from the rain. He reveals he hit John James Jackson by accident and that’s why his time was unaccounted for. Owen asks Poppy to tell her audience that he was a good man and then he shoots himself in the head.

Truth Be Told Season 1, Episode 5, “Graveyard Love” closes with a vicar visiting Warren about his father. Poppy’s producer calls saying that a witness claims they saw Warren leaving the house of the murder that night with a knife.

Warren is the prime suspect again folks but now that Owen is seemingly innocent (and now dead) who will be the new suspect? Poppy has clearly ruined lives here by reopening the case.

Additional Evidence

• One of the prison dogs is getting put down. Warren is upset and wants to talk to someone.
• Marcus spends time with his daughter at a record shop.
• Warren’s mum Melanie visits him in prison. He tells her about the new experimental cancer treatment.
• Ingram enjoys playing romantic music to Poppy and slow dancing.
• While Josie is planning on leaving, her mother Erin speaks to her. Erin brings up the painting in the storage unit and says she wants it. Erin didn’t really want the painting, she was snooping for something else.