Truth Be Told doesn’t know how to make a murderer
0Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/6/20999451/truth-be-told-apple-tv-plus-true-crime-octavia-spencer-aaron-paul-making-a-murderer
Reported today in The Verge.
Truth Be Told doesn't know how to make a murderer
Truth Be Told should be a home run. Its premise - the story of a podcaster revisiting a murder case 20 years after a suspect has been incarcerated - immediately evokes Serial. The pilot, which showcases what appears to be a coerced minor's testimony, might as well mention Making A Murderer by name. These are popular, compelling true crime stories, and Truth Be Told is out to recreate the thrills of the genre through fiction.
Truth Be Told is the latest original series from Apple TV Plus. Poppy Parnell (Octavia Spencer) is a true crime podcaster returning to the case of Warren Cave (Aaron Paul), a man convicted of murdering his neighbor when he was a teenager. Poppy has reason to believe that Warren might be innocent, but she's also got some skin in the game - it was her reporting that led to Warren's conviction 20 years ago, a series of stories that made her career. "Doesn't that mean it's just a crime story?" you might ask, and you know what? You'd be right! It's a crime story, with the reportorial inflection of your favorite nonfiction podcast. I wouldn't think about it too much, because Truth Be Told does not. It'd be much nicer if it did.
Almost immediately, there's a dissonance between the facts as the show lays them out, and how it considers them. Most glaring is Poppy's portrayal as directly responsible for Warren's incarceration, thanks to her reporting - which means she has a stake in this story that wouldn't pass a journalism sniff test in a million years - but could make for a compelling thriller as Poppy gets more wrapped up in a story she's far too close to. (Though if Poppy's reporting helped land Warren in prison and he's actually innocent, that means Poppy is a bad repo