Lady In The Lake Episode 3 Recap: Cleo's Threat To Reggie & 9 Other Story Reveals

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lady in the Lake episode 3.

Lady in the Lake episode 3 explores the aftermath of the shocking ending of episode 2 for both Cleo and Maddie. Based on the 2019 bestselling novel by Laura Lippman, Lady in the Lake stars Oscar winner Natalie Portman in her first-ever leading role in a television series. Portman leads an exceptional cast in Lady in the Lake which also includes rising star actress Moses Ingram, future Superman David Corenswet, and Mikey Madison, the star of this year’s Palme d’Or winner Anora by Sean Baker. Lady in the Lake has opened to positive reviews, earning a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The first two episodes of Lady in the Lake introduce 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.

Episode 3, titled “I was the first to see her dead. You were the last to see her alive.” focuses more intently on how the worlds of Maddie and Cleo are fatally gravitating towards an inevitable collision course. Cleo finds herself getting deeper into hot water with Reggie after fully committing to work for the shady yet powerful racketeer and club owner Shell Gordon. Meanwhile, Maddie has gone completely off the rails as she digs deeper into the tragic murder of 11-year-old Tessie Durst as she reveals the truth to her son Seth about his true father. New episodes of Lady in the Lake stream on Fridays exclusively on Apple TV+.

10 Reggie Tells Cleo To Stay Quiet After Myrtle Summer’s Assassination Attempt

Reggie got her into the mess but won’t help her get out of it

Lady in the Lake episode 3 picks up immediately after Cleo involuntarily takes part in the assassination attempt of Myrtle Summer, a Senator living in Baltimore who Cleo previously volunteered for. Rather than looking into why Reggie and Shell want Myrtle Summer dead, Cleo is quickly silenced by the dangerous Reggie after she calls him at a payphone to discuss what went down on that night.

Reggie advises Cleo to lay low and stay out of sight for a while, mostly to protect his own neck. Having no other options and realizing she’s already in too deep with Shell and Reggie, Cleo reluctantly agrees to keep a low profile until things blow over, which they most likely will not considering Myrtle Summer’s prominent political status.

9 Maddie Gets Her Ears Pierced & Tries To Convince Bob Bauer To Hire Her

A man dressed as Santa in the background may be linked to Tessie’s murder

Interestingly, Maddie decides to get her ears pierced at the department store where she had previously purchased the yellow dress that Cleo was wearing in an earlier episode. It appears that in her vulnerable state, Maddie is being influenced by the rambunctious activities and sentiments of the much younger Judith, who had already convinced her to smoke weed and now seems to be in full support of Maddie going against her religion by piercing her ears.

Since it’s around Christmas, someone dressed in a Santa costume can be seen in front of a Christmas tree in the background, which is notable since there was a man dressed as Santa who was involved in Tessie’s kidnapping. Maddie boldly meets with Bob Bauer unannounced to ask him for a job at the newspaper and is quickly brushed off.

8 Cleo’s Son Lionel’s Health Declines & She Goes To The Reverend For Help

Lionel has sickle cell amenia which can cause yellow eyes

Cleo wakes up from a nightmare to discover that her youngest son Lionel’s health is declining from his sickle cell amenia. His eyes have a subdued but noticeable yellow tint, which is a common symptom of the chronic illness. Cleo calls for help from her mother who suggests that since the doctors have done all they can do, she should turn to her faith. A reverend comes over to perform a religious blessing and prayer on Lionel but also asks for a donation from Cleo in return, which makes Cleo think she is being taken advantage of. It’s clear that Cleo doesn’t believe much in God, which aligns with Maddie going against her religion to get her ears pierced.

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7 Cleo Gets Too Drunk At Gordon’s Club & Causes A Scene By Breaking A Glass

Cleo goes against Reggie’s advice and draws attention from Shell Gordon

Rather than take Reggie’s advice, Cleo shows up to Gordon’s club fully dressed up and ready to party. She takes to the dance floor and tries to dance all of her troubles away as her friend Dora Carter sings a powerful tune. Cleo drinks to no avail and goes way past her limit, grabbing somebody’s drink off of Shell Gordon’s table and causing a scene by dropping the glass, making it shatter. Shell doesn’t really know what to make of Cleo’s outburst as his handler Reggie comes over and tries to get Cleo to compose herself. Cleo is unconcerned, saying she’ll know Reggie will clean up. Slappy later takes Cleo home, who wants to keep the party going and ends up getting emotional about her son’s illness.

6 Maddie Is Late To Meet Seth For His College Fair & Forces Him To Come To Her Apartment

Maddie and Seth are still at odds over her abandoning their family

Maddie has another sexual encounter with Officer Ferdie and oversleeps the next morning. She ends up being late to her son Seth’s college fair at his high school where he doesn’t seem particularly happy to see her. Seth is excited to go off to college and hopefully avoid the Vietnam War draft while the newfound rebel in Maddie suggests that he should be out of the streets with the rest of the activists. Later, Seth thinks his mom is driving him home when really she’s forcing him to come over to her apartment in The Bottom. Seth is reluctant to go inside but seeing as he has no other choice and is alone in a dangerous neighborhood, he has no choice but to go in.

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5 Maddie Shockingly Tells Seth That Milton Is Not His Actual Father

Seth already knew this for years because he read Maddie’s diary

While she has him in her apartment, Maddie and Seth get into an argument about Milton, Maddie’s husband. Maddie continues to call Seth selfish for not being sympathetic to what she’s going through despite her essentially abandoning him and Milton to live by herself in an apartment and have an extramarital affair. In a burst of anger, Maddie reveals that Milton is not Seth’s real father.

This revelation does not come as a surprise to Seth, who admits that he’s known the truth about Milton for years because he had read Maddie’s diary and has been silently struggling with it. Surprisingly, Seth doesn’t think to ask Maddie who his father is at that moment, but all signs point to Allan Durst, who Maddie had a relationship with many years ago.

4 Officer Ferdie Platt Questions Cleo About The Myrtle Summer Shooting

Cleo gives Platt the information on the car she drove

It doesn’t take long for the sharp Officer Ferdie Platt to figure out that Cleo was the one who was driving the red car the night of Myrtle Summer’s assassination attempt. Rather than arrest her on the spot, Officer Platt offers Cleo a chance to buy her some time even though her options are quite limited. Platt suggests that he can keep Cleo’s name out of the whole ordeal if she agrees to help him get more information on who ordered the assassination attempt. Cleo takes his officer and gives Platt the information about the specific type of car, a Buick, and also gives him the license plate. She reminds Platt that she also has dirt on him since his partner takes bribes from Gordon regularly.

3 Bob Bauer Agrees To Collaborate With Maddie On Article About Tessie Durst’s Killer

Maddie gives Bauer a letter she received from Tessie’s presumed killer

Local journalist Bob Bauer finally agrees to work with Maddie on her story about Tessie Durst’s presumed killer, Stephen Zawadzkie, after she wrote him a letter in prison and he wrote back. Together they discover from the coroner that there were also skin cells found under Tessie Durst’s fingernails which shows signs of a struggle against an assaulter. Bauer agrees to let Maddie come on his story as a contributor even though he ridiculed her lack of education and qualifications for the job previously. With Bauer’s resources and experience, Maddie could finally accomplish her childhood dream of being a legitimate journalist.

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2 Cleo Threatens Reggie That If She Goes Down, He’s Coming With Her

Cleo makes an offer to rig a bet and get out of town

Cleo comes up with a scheme to win a gambling game that Shell had rigged with Reggie, claiming she can win $30,000 off a $50 bet if they do it right. She tries to convince Reggie to give up the rigged number that she’ll bet on and in turn, give him 10%. Cleo says she’ll take the money and disappear since she knows that she’s basically all out of options for sticking around. Reggie refuses due to his loyalty to Shell Gordon, which makes Cleo snap at him. She threatens Reggie that if she goes down, he’ll go down with her. She also tells an inebriated Dora that if anything happens to her, it was Reggie who did it.

1 Maddie Schedules A Meeting With Stephen Zawadzkie In Prison

He may have information that points Maddie closer to Reggie

Lady in the Lake episode 3 concludes with Maddie learning about Spethan Zawadzkie’s request to meet with her while he’s in prison awaiting trial. Maddie gets a phone call and promptly visits Stephen shortly after, which is where the episode leaves off and where Lady in the Lake episode 4 is most likely to begin. While Stephen is the most obvious choice as Tessie Durst’s killer, he may have other information that points Maddie closer to Reggie, who was also in the fish store the day that Tessie disappeared. Lady in the Lake episode 4 will likely determine whether Stephen is guilty or not and just how much danger Cleo is in with Reggie.

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Lady in the Lake

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.
 

Release Date

July 19, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

Laura Lippman

Production Company

Crazyrose, Bad Wolf America, Zusa, MountainA, Endeavor Content

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