WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Lady in the Lake episode 1 & 2.
Summary
The first two episodes of the highly anticipated Apple limited seriesLady in the Lakepremiered on Friday, July 26, 2025.Based on the 2019 bestselling novel by Laura Lippman,Lady in the Lakestars Oscar winnerNatalie Portman in her first-ever leading rolein a television series. Portman leads an exceptionalcast inLady in the Lakewhich also includes rising star actress Moses Ingram, future Superman David Corenswet, and Mikey Madison, the star of this year’s Palme d’Or winnerAnoraby Sean Baker.Lady in the Lakehas opened to positive reviews, earning a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The first two episodes ofLady in the Lakeintroduce Ingram’s character Cleo Johnson, a mother and hard-working model and bartender who leaves her political aspirations behind to work for the ambiguous club owner Shell Gordon full-time. This is before her ultimate death, of course, which is depicted in the opening scenes of the new series as a man drops Cleo’s body into a lake late at night.Cleo’s death becomes a point of fascination for amateur investigative journalist Maddie Schwartz (Portman)who leaves her tepid family life as a housewife and eventually becomes entrenched in Cleo’s unsolved murder case.
As Cleo narrates in the opening scene, her end becomes Maddie’s beginning. The timeline then jumps back to Thanksgiving Day in 1965 Baltimore when Maddie spots Cleo modeling a dress in a window. She walks into the department store and demands to buy the dress off Maddie’s back after the chop of lamb she purchased at the local butcher bleeds onto her yellow coat. This would be the only direct interaction that the two characters would end up having with each other. The series also showsglimpses of Tessie Durst, a young girl who went missing on Thanksgiving Dayafter walking into a local fish store.
What Time Lady In The Lake Releases On Apple TV+
Natalie Portman will make her debut in a leading role in a television series with Lady in the Lake, which will stream exclusively on Apple TV+.
10Tessie Durst Was Being Held Captive By A Man In A Santa Costume
This makes a clear connection to the fish store
The title ofLady in the Lakeepisode 1, “Did you know Seahorses are fish?”, refers to a question that Tessie Durst (Bianca Belle) asks the employee at the local fish store on Thanksgiving Day, the day she went missing. Moments later, the audience is given another glimpse of where Tessie ends up after the strange encounter with the employee Stephen Zawadzkie (Dylan Arnold) and a suspicious patron named Reggie Robinson (Josiah Cross).
Interestingly, Reggie looks a lot like the man who tossed Cleo’s body into the lake in the opening scene. What’s more, Tessie is briefly shown with her hands tied up looking at an unknown man dressed as Santa Claus holding a fishbowl with a seahorse in it.
9Maddie’s Husband Milton Brings Up Allan Durst After Tessie’s Disappearance
Allan and Maddie have a past together
A minor but potentially key detail may have been easily overlooked about halfway throughLady in the Lakeepisode 1. Maddie is preparing the lamb brisket she bought earlier that day in her kitchen and listening to the radio announcement about Tessie when her husband Milton (Brett Gelman) mentions Tessie’s father, Allan (David Corenswet). Milton says his name with a hint of suggestion which throws Maddie off guard,as if there is some type of history between the two of them.
Maddie’s momentary surprise turns into annoyance at Milton, saying back to him dismissively “Oh, who cares?”. Milton then asks Maddie with a sly grin, “Anything else you wanna tell me?” which may imply that Maddie had previously hidden something from Milton, potentially even an affair. Without reading too much into it,the scene illustrates how preoccupied Maddie is with Tessie’s disappearanceand how her husband and son are not sympathetic or interested in it at all.
8Maddie Leaves Her Husband & Family Home And Gets An Apartment In “The Bottom”
Maddie rids herself of her unwanted life
Maddie decides to leave Milton indefinitely after he gets upset with her for putting the lamb brisket on the dairy plate, which goes against kosher tradition. While that may have been the final straw on the camel’s back, Maddie left Milton and her disrespectful son Seth (Noah Jupe) because ofher pent-up frustration at being reduced to a housewife.
Even though her emotions were amplified by the disappearance of Tessie Durst,it seems like this abrupt decision had been visualized long before. In desperation, Maddie is forced to pawn some of her jewelry to Sid Weinstein (Amos Glick) in order to stay in an apartment in an area of Baltimore known as The Bottom. Sid’s daughter Judith (Mikey Madison) accompanies Maddie to her new apartment. Despite her friendliness, Judith seems a little too interested in becoming close to Maddie.
7Maddie & Judith Discover The Body Of Tessie Durst
Maddie stays with the body as Judith runs for help
At the end of the first episode ofLady in the Lake, Maddie and Judith walk through the woods as Judith smokes a joint. Shockingly, Maddie discovers the body of Tessie Durst at the edge of a lake. It’s unclear whether Tessie’s body was left there or if it was dropped into the lake and floated ashore. Maddie refuses to leave Tessie’s side as Judith runs off to get help. Maddie attends Tessie’s funeral inLady in the Lakeepisode 2 titled “It Has to Do With the Search for the Marvelous.”
6In 1947, Maddie Interviewed Allan Durst’s Mother Louise
Maddie learns of Hal Durst’s inappropriate interest
Episode 2 begins with a flashback sequence that features a de-aged Natalie Portman in 1947. The flashback reveals thatMaddie was in a relationship with Allan Durst while they were in school together, which explains why Milton brought up Allan in a suspicious manner in the first episode. Obviously, Maddie and Allan never worked out, although the flashback doesn’t fully explain why. However, another brief flashback from episode 1 hints that Hal Durst, Allan’s dad, took Maddie’s virginity.
A young and ambitious Maddie interviewsAllan’s mom Louise, who is a well-known surrealist painter. During the conversation, Louise grows tired of Maddie’s overly polished questions and instead asks her what she believes makes an artist a surrealist. Maddie responds thoughtfully, “I think it has to do with the search for the marvelous.” Louise gets up to take a call as Hal stops in to offer encouraging support about her pursuit of becoming a journalist. However, Maddie alarmingly discovers that he is an artist himself who has seemingly used Maddie as inspiration for some suggestive body artwork.
5Cleo Starts Working Full Time for Club Owner Shell Gordon
Cleo learns Senator Summer isn’t as pure as she seems
Cleo discovers through her friend Dora Carter (Jennifer Mogbock) that Myrtle Summer (Angela Robinson), a former teacher turned Senator who she volunteered to support,received donations from none other than Shell Gordon(Wood Harris), a notorious club owner and racketeer. Cleo asks Myrtle for a full-time position supporting her campaign, but Myrtle says hiring her would reflect poorly on her image because of Cleo’s association with Shell.
Knowing that Myrtle had accepted large donations from Shell Gordon and that she was basically lying to her face,Cleo takes matters into her own hands. She decides to “hang on to her dignity” by essentially withdrawing her support of Myrtle Summer during a filmed interview, causing a tense scene. Having given up on trying to find an honest career, she returns to Mr. Gordon, fully aware of his massive power and influence throughout Baltimore, and offers to work for him full-time.
4Maddie Stages A Fake Burglary To Get Insurance Money For Jewelry
Officer Ferdie quickly sees through Maddie’s scheme
Still desperate to pay the rent on her apartment, Maddie tries selling her car to no avail since nobody will permit it without her husband’s signature. Rather than attempting to forge Milton’s signature, Maddie lightly stages a burglary in her apartment just one day after discovering the body of Tessie Durst.This raises the suspicions of Officer Ferdie Platt (Y’lan Noel), who spotted Maddie at the station after finding Tessie. It doesn’t take long before Ferdie starts to suspect foul play on Maddie’s end although he doesn’t fully accuse her of staging the burglary in the episode.
3Stephen Is Arrested After Holding His Mother Hostage In Fish Store
Stephen appears to be the most obvious suspect
In an intense scene, Stephen bizarrely dances with a mop while his mother, who was alone at Tessie’s funeral, is tied up and being helped hostage. A fleet of Baltimore police officers have their guns pointed at Stephen, who strangely continues dancing and is oblivious to what’s going on around him until several officers open fire, breaking the exterior glass of his fish store.Stephen’s mother is able to convince the officers not to shootas he walks out of the store with his hands up wearing a gas mask that appears to be from World War II and is taken into police custody.
2Reggie Sends Cleo On A Drop That Ends In A Shooting At Myrtle’s House
Cleo finds herself in the middle of a dangerous situation
Reggie decides to lay low after receiving a tip from a police officer that Stephen’s mother is implicating someone who looks exactly like him in Tessie Durst’s murder. He sends Cleo with an envelope full of cash to go out and do a drop with an associate named Duke. Duke turns out to have his own agenda in mind and forces Cleo to drive him and two other men to Myrtle Summer’s house. Cleo waits in the car asone of the men knocks on her front door and opens fire into the house. It’s unclear whether anyone was injured in the shooting, but a man who is presumed to be Myrtle’s husband comes out with a shotgun in retaliation.
1Maddie & Officer Ferdie Platt Sleep Together In Maddie’s Apartment
Maddie makes a bold move on the police officer
During the time of the assassination attempt on Myrtle Summers, Officer Ferdie decides to make a late-night visit to Maddie’s apartment to inform her of Stephen’s arrest. Maddie had been getting high with Judith when Ferdie arrived after Judith told Maddie she would ask her father to go easy on the rent payment if Maddie smoked weed with her. One thing quickly leads to another after Maddie invites Ferdie in for a beer and things become rashly intimate in the final scene ofLady in the Lakeepisode 2.
Lady in the Lake
Cast
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY LAURA LIPPMAN, LADY OF THE LAKE IS A FICTIONAL DRAMA MINISERIES BASED AROUND THE REAL DISAPPEARANCES OF A YOUNG GIRL AND A WOMAN, COMING TO APPLE TV+. THE STORY CENTERS AROUND MADELINE SCHWARTZ, A DISSATISFIED 1960S HOUSEWIFE OF TWENTY YEARS WHO ENDS HER MARRIAGE IN SEARCH OF A LIFE WITH MEANING. MADELINE, BETTER KNOWN AS MADDIE, SEEKS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD - TO DO SO, SHE HEADS DOWN THE PATH OF AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST AFTER SOMEHOW HELPING THE BALTIMORE POLICE FIND THE BODY OF A YOUNG GIRL IN THE LAKE, CLEO SHERWOOD. LADY IN THE LAKE HAS NOIR ELEMENTS AND EXPLORES STATUS AND RACE IN A MURDER MYSTERY IN A DIFFERENT PERIOD. THE SERIES HAS BEEN DELAYED DUE TO AN INCIDENT IN LATE 2022 BUT IS STILL SET TO COME TO APPLE TV+ IN THE FUTURE.
