‘Truth Be Told’: Mekhi Phifer & Ron Cephas Jones Tease Their Season 2 Hurdles
Truth Be Told is weaving a complicated web of mystery and intrigue in its second season, but some elements are more transparent than others.
Poppy Parnell’s (Octavia Spencer) involvement with childhood friend Micah Keith (Kate Hudson) may revolve around the mystery of her husband Josh’s (Jason O’Mara) death, but their ties run deeper than crime-solving. It’s not just Poppy who is familiar with Micah, but her family as well, including dad Shreve (Ron Cephas Jones).
His struggle came to the forefront of Episode 2, “Ghost at the Feast,” and will continue as he grapples with his suspected CTE diagnosis, a brain disease linked to traumatic injuries caused by his boxing days. Opening up to his daughters and wife about the outlook, Shreve pleads with them to stick together, even when he can’t.
“What’s interesting is that we’re going to learn together,” Cephas Jones says of Shreve’s prognosis. “It’s [something] he’s going through that even the medical profession doesn’t know a lot about.”
“We’ll learn a lot about mental health and how it affects people around us, how it affects our family. I thought it was one of the brilliant things that Nichelle Tramble and the writers brought into the story with Shreve is that there’s also a different type of mystery that’s happening, that we’ll get a chance to follow and learn about.”
While that medical journey is just one of many moving parts in the show, Truth Be Told is also building an interesting story for Poppy’s friend Markus (Mekhi Phifer) who is providing security at Micah’s company. “He’s being pulled in so many directions,” Phifer says explaining that along with reuniting with his wife, Markus is also dealing with the peculiarities at Shelter.
“He’s at Shelter with Micah, and he’s dealing with David Lyons’ character [Detective Aames], who’s also an active member of the force. And it’s kind of trying to navigate those waters that keep him on his toes and will keep the audience at the edge of their seat because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Phifer teases.
Truth Be Told, Season 2, New Episodes, Fridays, Apple TV+