Ghosts at the Feast

***Ghost at the Feast*** is the second episode of the second season of Truth Be Told. It is the tenth episode of the series overall. It aired on August 27, 2021.

## Synopsis

*As she looks into the deaths, Poppy uncovers a massive secret. Shreve reveals a medical diagnosis to his family.*

## Plot

Poppy records her first new episode of Reconsidered. She explains to her viewers that Joshua had a potentially volatile connection to the Sons of Ivar, a men’s rights activist group full of violent, angry members.

Once Joshua realized what he was involved in and created his documentary, they turned on him. One of the members might have killed Joshua, an explanation the SDPD doesn’t appear inclined to investigate further.

Poppy makes good on her word to Micah to investigate Joshua’s death. She and Noa regroup to discuss potential suspects. Noa’s source in the police has tipped her off that the Sons of Ivar are not likely suspects and that the case is still officially closed.

However, she has traced the calls between Drew Turney, the other murdered man and Joshua back to six months ago. Joshua lived with five roommates around then when he suddenly received enough money to let him move out into a luxury apartment. Which has Poppy wondering if this was a full-blown relationship.

Noa is still curious about Micah. Since a scorned wife is a strong motive. Poppy wonders what role she is supposed to serve. Friend, confidant, or journalist, and decides that she can’t bury my friend without any answers.

The next day, Ingram and Noa accompany Poppy to a service hosted by Shelter, a celebration of Joshua’s life. Poppy is content to stand in the back instead of sitting, as Micah’s fans make her nervous. Poppy’s nerves appear to be warranted when a superfan named Ruthie arrives and approaches Micah directly to discuss grief. Ruthie reveals she lost her son and used Shelter’s grief protocols to get through it. Micah offers to take Ruthie to one of the recovery rooms.

In an office, Marcus and Ivy chat with Ruthie, who thinks that Micah needs her. Ivy asserts that Micah is on her own grief journey. Ruthie remains insistent that she is always there for Micah. But on her way out, Ruthie gets followed by someone in the parking garage.

Poppy runs into her old friend Taffy Carr who invites her to lunch with Bobby, who once pursued Joshua about partnering on a documentary. Taffy and Bobby claim Joshua has been skirt-chasing for years. But go onto say while him cheating is nothing new, being with men is. They then say Micah had known about his cheating and that there isn’t a world where she wasn’t involved in his death.

As if on cue, Micah appears, interrupting the meal to chastise Bobby for talking bad about her and Joshua. Poppy grabs Micah and suggests they leave. She takes Micah to their favorite bar, where they have a heart-to-heart.

As it turns out, Micah had requested a lock of Joshua’s hair because she wanted it fashioned into a piece of Victorian-era jewelry. She wanted it to be white over black, which meant he was unmarried at his time of death. It seemed fitting to her since he died in the arms of another man, but the jeweler convinced her not to do it.

Then she admits to Poppy that she did know about Joshua’s affairs. She reveals that she had three late-stage miscarriages and feels that they took a toll on their marriage. Still, she loved him and believed he’d come back to her someday.

Continuing her investigation, Poppy attends Drew’s shiva, where she chats with his parents. Despite Aames telling them not to cooperate with Poppy, they do so anyway because Aames starts ignoring them. They tell Poppy that Drew deferred a year at USC to pursue a fellowship with Joshua because he wanted the experience of working with a real artist. Poppy says none of Joshua’s associates were aware of any fellowships.

Distracted by Ramon skulking around at the shiva, Poppy says her goodbyes to Drew’s parents and follows him to the crime scene. Inside the studio, Ramon rifles through Joshua’s things. When Poppy catches him, he says Micah asked him to retrieve some things for her and also claims that’s why he was at Drew’s shiva.

Poppy notices that he was looking through a folder containing photos of Drew and Joshua together. Two images show that Drew and Joshua have matching birthmarks, and Poppy confirms with his mother that Drew was adopted.

Later, Noa reveals that their blood types of the two men are also match, and it’s the rarest type. But while Noa is ready to blow the murder-suicide theory out of the water by revealing the truth on the podcast, Poppy isn’t so sure they should use it on the podcast despite Micah giving her permission to air everything out with no limitations.

Ahead of Micah’s next big virtual Shelter event, Poppy tells Micah what she’s discovered about Drew and Joshua’s relationship. A speechless Micah walks out and goes on stage. Micah has a breakdown on stage in front of countless fans tuning in live across the globe, revealing Joshua died protecting his child to everyone.

Poppy gets an unpleasant surprise, when she’s been served on behalf of Alana Cave, who is suing her for the wrongful death of Owen Cave.

Still grieving her husband’s death, Poppy takes Micah along with her to church to listen to Desiree sing in the choir. But the joy is short-lived. After the church service, Shreve finally realizes he has to tell his family the truth about his illness after accidentally calling Lillian by his ex-wife’s name. It’s all too much for Lillian, who excuses herself from the room.

Poppy comforts her in the kitchen. “We stand strong against whatever is coming. And Lillian, we never turn on each other.” She promises to be there for Lillian and her dad every step of the way.

Later, Cydie looks through the paperwork regarding Shreve’s clinical trial and his neurological examination. It’s too much for her to handle, so she requests a shift at work, although she lies to Poppy and claims she got called in instead. Poppy asks if it’s all too much for her to handle. She is the baby of the family, used to being taken care of rather than the carer, and Cydie tearfully admits it is.

Then she mentions the new episodes of Reconsidered and advises Poppy not to erase Drew and his story since he was murdered too. She reminds Poppy of what happened to her since she was arrested and humiliated after a vengeful Owen Cave pulled strings and started targeting Poppy and her family.

What happened to Cydie still weighs on Poppy every day, and it was all because she tried to keep aspects of her life hidden. Not wanting to make that mistake again, Poppy focuses more on Drew.

Cydie later gets harassed by a strange man at the end of her shift. Thankfully, Cydie doesn’t get hurt, but he definitely scares her. She reports him the second he’s off the bus.

Despite the case being closed, Aames continues to investigate on his own, especially since Poppy is keeping Joshua’s murder in the news. He chats with an undercover cop that has infiltrated the Sons of Ivar. He tells Aames that the Sons couldn’t have killed Joshua. Not only is a double-murder too complicated for them, but the undercover agent says all of the higher-ups were busy with a new member initiation the night of the murder.

He finds Poppy at Shelter to tell her that the Sons of Ivar have officially been cleared. However, he does think there is something suspicious about Shelter. Aames spent years studying cults and fringe groups, and he sees similarities between a former cult member named Jasper Gaines and people like Micah and Shreve.

## Cast

### Main

* Octavia Spencer as Poppy Parnell
* Mekhi Phifer as Markus Killebrew
* Michael Beach as Ingram Rhodes
* Tracie Thoms as Desiree Scoville
* Haneefah Wood as Cydie Scoville
* Ron Cephas Jones as Leander "Shreve" Scoville
* Kate Hudson as Micah Keith
* Christopher Backus as Holt Redding
* Alona Tal as Ivy Abbott
* Katherine LaNasa as Noa Havilland
* David Lyons as Inspector Aames
* Andre Royo as Demetrius
* Merle Dandridge as Zarina Killebrew
* Mychala Faith Lee as Trini Killebrew
* Tami Roman as Lillian Scoville

### Recurring

* Hale Appleman as Lachlan
* Michael Muhney as Martin Haywood
* Anthony Lee Medina as Ramon Tomas
* Tessa Munro as Leana Parker
* Donna Pescow as Esta Turney
* Paul Schulze as Bobby
* Allison McAtee as Taffy Carr
* Rob Brownstein as Arthur Turney
* Keli Daniels as Ruthie Pupkin

### Co-Starring

* Julie Craig as Shae
* Mele Ihara as Process Server
* Travis DesLaurier as Bartender

## Gallery

### Images

* Screencaps
* Behind the Scenes