Lady in the Lake follows the stories of two women, connected by ambition and murder, who both desire freedom. All episodes are now streaming on Apple TV+.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
When a young girl, Tessie Durst, goes missing in 1960s Baltimore, a homemaker named Maddie feels frustrated by the indifference of her husband, Milton, and her son, Seth.
This frustration pushes Maddie to leave her husband, rent her own apartment, and pursue her dream of becoming a writer—a dream she had given up after marriage.
Maddie successfully finds Tessie’s body and begins a secret relationship with a Black policeman, Ferdie Platt, despite interracial relationships being illegal.
Her son, Seth, disapproves of her choices and refuses to live with her. Seth is not Milton’s son. He was conceived during a night Maddie spent with her high-school boyfriend, Alan, Tessie’s father.
Seth reveals that he learned this secret from Maddie’s diaries years ago but never confronted her about it. He considers Milton his father and chooses to stay with him.
While Maddie struggles to mend her relationship with her son, she secures a job at a newspaper by co-writing a story with journalist Bob Bauer about Stephan Zawadzkie, a man arrested for Tessie’s murder.
Stephan reveals to her that he was subjected to military experiments, and this story helps Maddie get a job, albeit as an assistant in the Helpline column.
The show also follows Cleo Johnson, a mother of two working multiple jobs to provide for her sons. Her husband, Slappy, an aspiring stand-up comedian, is little help.
After being denied a job by Black politician Myrtle Summer, despite all the unpaid work Cleo does for her, Cleo decides to become more involved in the illegal businesses of a powerful man, Shell Gordon.
Cleo works as an accountant for Gordon. Reggie, Gordon’s right-hand man and Cleo’s best friend Dora’s boyfriend, sends Cleo on a job to prove her loyalty to get more work.
The job turns out to be paying the men hired to assassinate Myrtle Summer. Cleo is forced into driving the assassins to Myrtle’s house, making her an accessory to the crime.
Platt discovers Cleo’s involvement but, as he likes her, he gives her the chance to flee town before her name surfaces in the investigation.
Cleo must not only evade the police but also Gordon, as she is the only link that probes his connection to the assassination attempt.
Before Gordon learns that Reggie had sent Cleo to pay the assassins instead of going himself, Cleo strikes a deal with Reggie. She promises to leave town if he helps her.
She knows that Gordon’s numbers game is rigged. She asks Reggie for the winning number and has a hairdresser place the bet on that number, promising her a share of the winnings.
With Reggie’s help, Cleo wins a substantial amount of money. It is then that Gordon finds out about her involvement in the assassination attempt.
He leaves Reggie with no choice but to kill Cleo. Reggie follows his orders and kills Cleo. He disposes of her body in a lake. Dora, meanwhile, leaves for Paris.
A few days later, Maddie receives a Helpline complaint about lights not working in a park, leading to the discovery of Cleo’s body.
Stephan, who had broken out of prison the night Cleo died, is suspected of killing Cleo, but Maddie knows that he is innocent because he was with her that night.
Determined to advance her career, Maddie becomes obsessed with finding Cleo’s murderer. She attends Cleo’s funeral, where Slappy creates a scene.
Slappy tells Maddie about Gordon’s motives for killing Cleo, and Maddie begins to suspect Reggie and Gordon. She ignores Platt’s warnings and continues investigating Cleo’s murder.
Maddie meets Gordon and also visits Stephan’s mother, who stabs Maddie before killing herself. Stephan then confesses that his mother killed Tessie after he kidnapped her to sexually assault her.
Maddie gains recognition as a journalist for her contribution to solving the case. However, she is now more interested in pursuing Cleo’s story than Tessie’s.
Ending explained:
A murder that never happened
As Slappy was the last person seen with Cleo, he is arrested for her murder, but Maddie is convinced that Slappy did not kill her.
While Maddie is still in the hospital, she is visited by Cleo. It turns out that Reggie never killed Cleo. The body found in the lake was actually Dora’s.
Dora overdosed that night, and Reggie decided to dress her in Cleo’s clothes to make it look like he followed Gordon’s orders and killed Cleo. Cleo has been in hiding all this time.
Cleo comes to meet Maddie because she wants Maddie to give up on the case, as digging into it will threaten her and Reggie’s well-kept secret.
Cleo promises to give Maddie dirt on Gordon in exchange for not investigating her murder. She asks Maddie to meet her beside the lake at a specific time and day.
Maddie’s pursuit of Cleo’s story
As soon as Maddie gets discharged, she decides to interview Slappy and asks Platt about his whereabouts, only to find out that Platt has been forced to resign for being in a relationship with her.
Platt wants a future with Maddie and asks her to move to Virginia with him, but Maddie, unwilling to be anyone’s wife, refuses, and their relationship ends.
Maddie then convinces her boss to let her write about her encounter with Stephan’s mother and Cleo’s murder, but she must work with Bob.
Additionally, she needs Slappy to go on record about all the information he gave her regarding Gordon’s motives for killing Cleo to publish her story on Cleo’s death.
Despite Cleo’s request to keep her survival a secret, Maddie reveals the truth to Slappy, trying to turn him against Cleo, but she fails.
Even though Slappy is in prison for Cleo’s murder, he remains loyal to her, understanding that Cleo must have had her reasons for not coming forward to get him released.
Exposing Gordon’s crimes
Cleo and Reggie join forces to take Gordon down. Reggie approaches Cleo’s son and asks him to distract Gordon, allowing Cleo to sneak into Gordon’s hotel.
Cleo steals the records of his illegal activities and sets fire to the rest. For Slappy’s sake, Cleo plans to turn herself in after exposing Gordon.
However, Reggie, regretting his failure to save Dora, decides to sacrifice himself for Cleo and Slappy. He does not escape with Cleo but stays behind to take the blame for Cleo’s murder.
He reveals to the police that Gordon ordered hits on both Cleo and Myrtle Summer, leading to the arrests of both Reggie and Gordon and the release of Slappy.
Maddie tells Cleo’s story
Maddie’s failure to interview Slappy and Reggie’s confession leads to Maddie losing the opportunity to cover Cleo’s story, which is given to Bob.
Maddie’s focus on Cleo’s story leads to Seth tearing apart her diary, fearing that someday his mother might reveal the story of his birth, which is also his story.
Maddie then meets Cleo as planned. Cleo keeps her promise and gives her all the evidence needed for her story on Gordon’s crimes.
Cleo leaves Baltimore with her children and moves to Paris. Soon after, Slappy joins her. Cleo changes her name to Dora and becomes a performer like her late friend, something she never got to do in Baltimore.
This time, Maddie respects Cleo’s wishes and keeps the fact that Cleo is alive to herself; she writes Cleo’s story as Cleo wanted it to be written.
In 1976, Maddie, now an award-winning writer, has a book called Lady in the Lake published under her name. Like Cleo, she gets to be free.
Maddie and Cleo have turned their dreams into reality against all odds. The show ends with them living the lives they always wanted.
Also Read: Mayor of Kingstown season 3 summary and ending explained