Episode 8 of “Truth Be Told” Season 3 was a look at survivors of sexual assault like we had never seen them before. We are aware that the psyche of the survivors seldom takes a linear narrative, but we realized just how complex it can be after watching this episode through Trini, Eva, and Poppy’s mother, Elinor. We had understood Trini’s hesitance in not letting go of Aubrey, but we hadn’t known the reasons behind Elinor’s actions, and Eva surprised us in this episode. We are with Poppy when she says that she doesn’t understand why Eva acted the way she did. But maybe it is not for us to understand. Maybe our only job is to be patient and allow someone the space to heal at their own pace. As for Trini, it was good to see her have a breakthrough, and finally, Poppy had some clarity regarding her mother. But as we see the common thread connecting the survivors, we are once again reminded of how susceptible women are to violence at all times. This is how it plays out in the eighth episode of “Truth Be Told” Season 3.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happened To Emily Mills?
Emily Mills was brought back from her kidnapper’s house, and everyone was relieved that she was safe and unharmed. Emly claims that it was the love and good wishes of everyone that kept her going and did not allow her to lose hope. But officer Aames is not convinced that everything is as it looks. When he sees the picture of Emily Mills’ room before her disappearance, he finds something off about it. He acts on his hunch and discovers startling evidence. When he goes to meet Emily Mills’ family later on, he tells them that Emily was never really kidnapped. The whole thing was her plan, and Peter was in on it. Peter had been stealing money from his wife by having Victor siphon off funds from her account. Emily found out about it, and she contacted Peter’s coke dealer, Marv, to stage the kidnapping. She wanted to get famous, and Marv would have gotten the prize money upon finding her.
Aames had figured it out because Emily’s teddy bear was missing from her room and had been found at Marv’s place, which means that she had packed it. Emily’s mother tells Aames that her daughter will take responsibility for her actions. As for Peter, he claims that he only knew about the plan when Marv came to him, asking about the reward money. He also says that he will check into rehab, but it is obvious that his marriage is over.
Trini and Aubrey
Trini has struggled with her feelings for Aubrey for quite a while now. While the facts and everyone around her tell her constantly that Aubrey put her in that situation, Trini believes that he was a victim himself. She had been groomed and gaslighted to the extent that she could not see Aubrey’s faults. When she hangs out with Melanie, she tells her how Aubrey could always tell when she zoned out and used to be there for her then. It is instances like these—the little things—that are making it hard for Trini to accept that she was chosen by him to help the trafficking ring. Trini asks Zarina if she can go out for ice cream with Melanie, and her mother allows it. But Trini goes to meet Aubrey instead, and she asks him the question she has probably wanted to ask for a long time. She asks him whether he knows what is going to happen at the mansion. He says that he knew about the mixer, but he thought that Trini could say no if she wanted to. But Aubrey’s answer makes a lightbulb go off in Trini’s head, and she tells him that he made her believe that she had to do those things for him. Aubrey tries to justify it, but things are clear for Trini now. When she goes back home, she confesses everything to her mother, who forgives her. They talk about how it is all so confusing and decide that they will seek some help from Chheng, who has experience with such cases.
Poppy’s Inner Conflict With Her Mother
Poppy has been dealing with the new revelations about her mother for a while now. After she came to know that she wasn’t Shreve’s daughter, she was still willing to make peace with it, but after knowing that her mother went back to her ex after her marriage to Shreve, she sees her mother in a new light. As she deals with this dilemma throughout the episode, Shreve helps her get through it by taking her to see Uncle Bug, Elinor’s brother. He tells Poppy that Alexander, Poppy’s biological father, was a controlling and abusive man. Luckily, Elinor met Shreve, and she was able to start a new life with him, but the reason she went back to Alexander was to protect her children. Alexander had found her one day, and Elinor was scared that he would also be able to get to Poppy and Desiree; hence, she had gone back to him to keep him away from them. She did not tell this to Shreve because she was scared that he would take matters into his own hands and kill him.
This changes things for Poppy, who had not been able to understand if the troubles of her childhood were due to her mother being irresponsible or if they were just unavoidable circumstances. Knowing that Elinor loved her with all her heart puts Poppy at ease with things and gives her the clarity to move on with her family.
Season 3, Episode 8: Ending Explained – Who Killed Andrew Finney?
Eva is furious with Poppy that she did not use her interview in which she spoke about her past. To be honest, we do not understand her anger, but we are choosing not to comment on it. Meanwhile, Poppy discovers that no video footage was retrieved from the mixer. Billy Ochoa, the guy who assaulted Trini, has investments in multiple companies, and Poppy and Markus believe that he could be the reason the evidence was so cleanly erased. But Markus comes through with an old contact of his and gets the videos. However, one of the videos gives Markus and Poppy a new perspective. They find that it was a woman who was making the recording, which means that Andrew Finney might not even be the one pulling the strings. When Poppy goes to talk to Finney, he slips her a note saying that he will meet her later as he can’t talk there. That very day, Finney also runs into Eva in the parking lot, and she tells him who she is. Finney denies knowing her but checks her hand regardless, for the tattoo. Much later, when he is leaving for the day, somebody runs him over with their car multiple times and kills him. When his case is being investigated, Aames tells Poppy that his death looked personal due to the sheer brutality of it.
Currently, now that Poppy and Aames know that Finney is not the kingpin, they theorize that Billy Ochoa could be their man, but only the coming episodes will tell us whether that is the case.
Final Thoughts
Every person at the end of Episode 8 of “Truth Be Told” Season 3 has definitely thought that Eva was the one to kill Finney. There was a certain deranged look on her face when she confronted him in the parking lot, and we also believe that there was more to her anger than she really let on. We also have a crazy theory in our minds that has been there for a while. What if Eva is the kingpin after all? Maybe she never left the life but instead, shifted base to be the one in power. Maybe her confrontation with Finney was her way of telling him not just who she had been but who she was right now. That would change a lot of things and would be the most shocking twist of them all. With only two episodes left of “Truth Be Told” Season 3, we cannot wait to see what is in store for us.
