WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lady in the Lake episode 4.
Summary
Apple’s murder mystery seriesLady in the Laketakes a dark turn in episode 4 with Stephan’s escape from prison.Lady in the Lakepremiered on Friday, August 04, 2025, andopened to positive reviews, earning a 76% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.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 as Cleo Johnson, future Superman David Corenswet as Allan Durst, and Mikey Madison, the star of this year’s Palme d’Or winnerAnoraas Judith Weinstein.
Thefirst 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.
Lady in the Lakeepisode 4 titled “Innocence leaves when you discover cruelty. First in others, then in yourself” picks up whereLady in the Lakeepisode 3left off. Maddie pursues her ambition of becoming an investigative journalist by uncovering clues in the death of Tessie Durst, much to her father Allan’s disgust. She is able to meet with Stephan in prison after writing him a letter in an attempt to win his trust, which soon backfires on the amateurish Maddie. Meanwhile,Cleo finds herself in incredibly hot water with Reggie, who is adamant about doing whatever it takes to protect Shell Gordon’s enterprise and formidable reputation, including murder.
10Stephan Reveals To Maddie That He Was A Test Subject In Military Experiments
Maddie has an intense meeting with Stephan in a Baltimore prison
Maddie has an intense meeting with Stephan in a Baltimore prison at the start ofLady in the Lakeepisode 4. Stephan reveals to Maddie that he was one of many test subjects in biological warfare defense experiments conducted by United States military intelligence officials. Several flashbacks reveal that Stephan was explicitly targeted for going against the American grain andwas intentionally made sick by mysterious substances and poisons so that the United States could gather dataon certain medical effects to use against its enemies. Maddie unsuccessfully tries to record their conversation but ultimately gets enough information herself to write a bombshell piece for the Baltimore Star along with journalist Bob Bauer.
9Duke Shoots & Kills Officer Percy Davis Before Ferdie Platt Arrests Him
Platt is still able to take Duke into custody but suffers the loss of his partner
Officer Ferdie Platt uses the information that Cleo gave to him in a previous episode to track down Duke as the owner of the vehicle that was seen outside Myrtle Summer’s home the night of her assassination. Officer Platt sets up a sort of string operation in order to catch Duke when he least expects it but things don’t go according to plan. When Officer Platt and Officer Percy Davis appear before Duke, the culprit runs and forces the two police officers to chase after him.
Duke runs into a dark theater and tries to blend into the crowd as a live performance goes on. The officers eventually spot Duke and open fire on him butDuke is able to successfully shoot and kill Percy with a fatal bullet to the head. Platt is still able to take Duke into custody but has suffered the major loss of his partner.
8Maddie Gets An Official Position At The Baltimore Star
Maddie is able to make headlines and her dreams come true
Maddie’s research on Stephan gives her more than enough information to make one extraordinary debut article for the Baltimore Star. Her article opens up a giant conspiracy about the United States military’s involvement in a top-secret program that had not previously been brought to light. Flashback scenes depict Stephan getting a buzzcut and getting sick close to the point of death.Maddie’s exceptional article doesn’t give her a cushiony job at the Baltimore Star off the batbut she does have an official desk even though her role is restricted to the Helpline. In just a short amount of time, Maddie is able to make headlines and her dreams come true.
7Shell Gordon Tells Reggie To Take Out Cleo On Christmas Eve
Shell reaches a new low by telling Reggie to kill her
One of the darkest moments inLady in the Lakeepisode 4 is when Shell Gordon shows his true colors in a chilling scene with Reggie. It has been clear throughout the series that Reggie does whatever Shell Gordon wants him to do but Shell reaches a new low by telling Reggie to ensure that Cleo is no longer living by Christmas Day. This forces Reggie to go back on his plan with Cleo, which involves her winning big in a lottery that was rigged by Shell, and taking Cleo out once and for all.In a way, this was all Reggie’s doing since he used Cleoto take the heat off him for being in Stephan’s fish store the same day she disappeared.
6Allan Durst Forced Himself On Maddie When They Dated In The 1940s
Even though Stephan is clearly unstable, he may actually know who killed Tessie Durst
In a brief flashback scene from when Maddie and Allan Durst dated in the late 1940s, Allan is seen forcing himself onto Maddie in a remote area in the woods. Per her conversation with Stephan, Maddie realizes that this is the same exact location where she and Judith discovered Tessie’s body in the first place. This raises all sorts of questions, particularly,how could that possibly be a coincidence?Stephan eerily tells Maddie inLady in the Lakeepisode 4 that it was a common spot where guys would take girls to become intimate and he would often watch them. This hints that even though Stephan is clearly unstable, he may actually know who killed Tessie Durst, which he claims he never did.
5Officer Bosco Spots Officer Platt Leaving Maddie’s Apartment
This should have major repercussions for Platt in future episodes
Officer Platt’s frequent visits to Maddie’s apartment may end up getting him in hot water with other police officers. It was already briefly shown in a previous episode of Lady in the Lake that Officer Bosco dislikes Officer Platt and that he seemingly has a romantic interest in Maddie. It makes sense that he keeps tabs on Maddie and Platt for these reasons and is likely surprised to catch Platt exiting her apartment through the back window and fire escape. This should have major repercussions for Platt in future episodes ofLady in the Lake, asBosco’s hatred or jealousy is likely to cause some serious problemsfor both Platt and potentially Maddie as well.
4Stephan Lights A Prison Guard On Fire And Escapes
Stephan uses a lighter and sneaks out a door
In the most shocking scene ofLady in the Lakeepisode 4, Stephan somehow manages to get a lighter and uses it to light a prison guard on fire in the cafeteria of the prison.This creates a major distraction which allows him to escapethrough an open door unnoticed as other guards try to put out the fire and save the guard’s life. Stephan has a strange smile on his face as he catches the prison door before it closes with his foot, which presumably was close enough to the main exit for him to walk away without being intercepted. Stephan’s simple and violent plan works long enough so that he can confront Maddie in her apartment.
3Allan Durst Publicly Screams At Maddie Over Her Article About Tessie’s Killer
Allan approaches Maddie in a room full of people and publicly humiliates her
In the first interaction that Allan and Maddie have as adults in Lady in the Lake, Allan approaches Maddie in a room full of people and publicly humiliates her. He has taken great offense that Maddie has made a budding career for herself and a journalist off of Tessie’s death and refuses to see it any other way outside of blatant exploitation. Maddie tries to respond in her defense, saying thatshe wrote the article as if Tessie were her own child, which seems like a peculiar thing for a real journalist to say. Allan tells Maddie to leave but she refuses and quickly brushes it off, leaving a palpable awkward tension in the air.
2Stephan Confronts Maddie In Her Apartment But Leaves Her Unscathed
It’s quite unclear what exactly Stephan wants from Maddie
Stephan is sitting in Maddie’s apartment when she comes home still dressed in his prison clothes. Stephan explains that he only brought an iron so that he could break into Maddie’s apartment but didn’t have to use it because the window was unlocked. It’s quite unclear what exactly Stephan wants from Maddie in this moment but he does an excellent job at terrifying her and acting incredibly erratic and strange to the edge of violence. He keeps telling Maddie that he forgives her for some inexplicable reasonbefore getting right up into her face and rambling vague ideological idioms at her. Maddie gives him a cardigan and he leaves but not before kissing her hand in a wildly bizarre scene.
1Reggie Kills Cleo & Injures Himself While Dumping Her Body In A Lake
Reggie falls on his back in his rowboat and may have broken his leg
Without showing how Reggie kills Cleo, Reggie is shown carrying Cleo’s body and dumping it into a lake in Baltimore, presumably the same one where Tessie Durst’s body was found. Reggie loses his balance when he hears Stephan being chased by police in the woods and yelling some religious jargon knee-deep in water. Reggie falls on his back in his rowboat and appears to have either hit his head or broken his leg. Regardless, he is in severe pain as the cops simultaneously drag Stephan back into custody.Lady in the Lakeepisode 4 may hint that Stephan didn’t kill Tessie Durst after all, which then begs the question of who else could have been responsible.
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.
