It Has to Do With the Search for the Marvelous. is the second episode in the limited television series, Lady in the Lake. The episode premiered on July 19, 2024.
Synopsis[]
Maddie takes an interest in the Durst case as she starts a new chapter. Cleo's work for Shell takes a dangerous turn.
Plot Summary[]
In a flashback to 1947, a young Maddie is a budding journalist at her high school. She interviews Louise Durst, her boyfriend's mother, about her surrealist paintings. Mrs. Durst is irked by Maddie's definition of surrealism, hinting at her disapproval of Maddie's relationship with her son Allan.
Back in the present, after finding Tessie's body, Maddie and Judith are questioned at the station, facing antisemitic comments from the cops. There, officer Ferdie Platt notices Maddie.
Cleo finds that her boss, Shell Gordon, once financed Myrtle Summer’s campaign. Now, Summer opposes Gordon's illegal activities, putting Cleo in a difficult position as she believes in Summer's progressive ideas but relies on Gordon for her income. Cleo asks Summer for a job, but is rejected due to her association with Gordon. This request breaks Cleo, and she refuses to continue supporting Summer, leading her to seek more work from Gordon.
Maddie attends Tessie's funeral. She also finds herself struggling financially. Unable to sell her car without her husband's signature, she stages a robbery in her new apartment to get insurance money. Ferdie, suspicious of her claims, informs her that insurance payouts take months, frustrating her further.
Bob Bauer, a local columnist, seeks information about Maddie and the Tessie case. Maddie deflects him with a tip about the pet shop, leading to a standoff where Stephan Zawadzkie, who had spoken with Tessie, is revealed to be unstable. He ties up his mother and dances with a gas mask. Police surround the store, prepared to enter and shoot.
Cleo, needing to stay in Gordon's favor, convinces her husband Slappy to take a stand-up gig at Gordon's club. Despite his crude act, it ensures Gordon's control over them. Reggie, Gordon's right-hand man, learns that the police suspect him for Tessie's murder, so he asks Cleo to deliver cash for a hit on Myrtle Summer. Unaware of the plan, Cleo finds herself in the middle of a chaotic shootout.
As Cleo runs for her life, Maddie spirals further, getting high with Judith before Ferdie arrives. Maddie seduces Ferdie.
Cast & Characters[]
Main[]
- Natalie Portman as Maddie Schwartz
- Moses Ingram as Cleo Sherwood
- Y'lan Noel as Ferdie Platt
- Mikey Madison as Judith Weinstein
- Sean Ringgold as The Prophet
- Brett Gelman as Milton
- Noah Jupe as Seth
- Byron Bowers as Slappy
- Selema Masekela as Cedrick
- Josiah Cross as Reggie Robinson
- Pruitt Taylor Vince as Bob Bauer
Supporting[]
- Ronnie Gene Blevins as Officer Boško
- Angela Robinson as Myrtle Summer
- Katherine Winter as Ethel Cohen
- Samir Royal as Lionel Johnson
- Dylan Arnold as Stephen Zawadzkie
- Bianca Belle as Tessie Durst
- Charlie Hofheimer as Wallace White
- Wood Harris as Shell Gordon
Gallery[]
