Summary
Let’s hope the series finishes here.
This recap of Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told season 2, episode 10, “Last Exit…Oakland,” — the finale/ending explained — contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
I think we’ve made it clear at this point that Truth Be Told is not a hot favorite here. While the finale does not signal an end, it gives the opportunity to be a closed book. We don’t need any more seasons of this.
Truth Be Told season 2, episode 10 recap – the finale
The finale opens with Aames and police officers arriving at the murder scene after Shreves had killed Martin. Poppy and Shreves refuse to talk, and Shreves is arrested. Poppy explains to her lawyer and Markus what happened, and predictably, they think it is self-defense. The writers must have zero knowledge of what self-defense means — the first time he stabbed Martin could be construed for self-defense, but the second he stabbed? Absolutely not. The police hold Shreves for probable cause for 48 hours, which means he will spend time in prison. Anyway, Poppy learns that Martin was tracking her, but also, the cell towers put him close to Josh on the night he was murdered. This also brings Micah back into the fold.
Poppy visits Shreves in prison. Shreves tells Poppy that Micah visited, and he wants her to listen to her story. Poppy meets Micah at the theatre — she wants to know why she stole Rose’s life. Micah calls her a hypocrite, claiming that Poppy shed all the roots to her family when she became a journalist. Micah explains that not everything is a lie and that her blood family abandoned her. She says Shreves was like a family to her, and she felt safe being around them.
Unable to get off the broken record, Poppy tells Micah that she thinks she used Martin to kill Josh in order to protect herself. Micah is dismayed that Poppy believes this. As for the audience, they are just bored at the same dialogue getting thrown about.
The two women decide to record together, with Poppy interviewing. Micah talks about her mother dying from drug abuse and living in a broken home. She divulges how she saw Shreves as a father figure and felt protected.
After that supposed emotional moment that was way too late to be effective, Markus finds out that Ivy called Martin the morning after Josh was murdered — there’s also a lot of call logs between them. Poppy asks Noa to check out security footage, and lo and behold, there are images of Ivy and Martin together. Poppy concludes that Ivy is responsible for the murder of Josh. How underwhelming.
Poppy confronts Ivy as Aames, and the police arrest her. Micah is confused about what’s going on and gets upset. Aames asks Micah to get a confession out of Ivy.
In the interrogation room, Ivy claims she was trying to protect Micah and Shelter, as she felt that Rose would expose them with Josh’s help. She raises how Martin had a “bone to pick” with Josh over the documentary, so it was not hard to convince him. Ivy wanted to write herself into the future of Shelter. However, she did not anticipate Josh being at the scene with his son. Ivy had to help Martin and kill Josh’s son.
Ivy suddenly becomes dismayed that Micah cannot “see her.” She explains that the next part of the plan was killing Micah, which would have turned her into a martyr. Micah walks out as Ivy gets increasingly frustrated. The writers have chosen a twist that involves a crazy colleague willing to kill for an ideology based on Micah’s influence. It’s lazy.
After this ordeal, Micah and Poppy admit they love each other and hug it out, which brings flashbacks of when they were younger.
The ending
The finale ends with a few conclusions.
Poppy releases a podcast episode where Micah confesses to using Rose’s material. She admits she didn’t expect the book to shake the world, so she tried her hardest to make it up to Rose by changing the world. All the journals are returned to Rose with the truth known. Poppy admits she ran away from her truth and let pain define her — she now looks forward to truly going home.
Shreves leaves prison after 48 hours — clearly, the investigation saw it all as self-defense? The episode ends with Shreve looking at a birth record that suggests he isn’t the father of Poppy — he burns it. Let’s be honest; he was her “real dad,” even if he wasn’t the birth father.
Additional points
What did you think of Truth Be Told season 2, episode 10 — the finale/ending? Comment below.
