Lady in the Lake Episode 6 Major Details & Ending Explained

“Lady in the Lake” returned to Apple TV+ with episode 6 on Friday, July 19, 2024, and received positive reviews, earning a 76% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Based on Laura Lippman’s 2019 best-selling novel, Lady in the Lake stars Oscar winner Natalie Portman in her first-ever lead role in a TV show.

Earlier, The show focused on Cleo’s death in the lake and its aftermath. After discovering Cleo’s body, Maddie, with her keen investigative skills, she has turned her attention to the case. She concluded that Shell Gordon and Reggie had a connection to Cleo’s disappearance. To confirm a detail, Maddie took the initiative to meet Stephan’s mother at her residence, all while the police were arresting Cleo’s husband.

However, their conversation quickly descended into violence. After losing emotional control, Ms. Zawadzkie stabbed Maddie and then cut her own throat. Maddie passed out while attempting to call the police. Now, as Maddie attempts to heal from Ms. Zawadzkie’s brutal attack, episode 6 follows her in a fever dream. She learns something new regarding Cleo’s situation as she considers her past and present.

The sixth and penultimate episode of the miniseries Lady in the Lake is titled “I know who killed Cleo Johnson.” When Maddie heals from her stabbed wound and eventually learns the truth about Cleo Johnson, the biggest plot twists of the show are unveiled.

1. Maddie’s Affair With Her Father

The sixth episode of Lady in the Lake opens with another backstory. Maddie’s “Million Dollar Mermaid” costume, which alludes to the 1952 film in which Esther Williams starred, suggests that the flashback scene featuring Maddie and Alan is set in the early 1950s, with the two of them inebriated at the party.

It is reasonable to estimate that they have been out of high school for about five years when Alan approaches Maddie very drunk and begins to talk about his father.

Maddie had already wed Milton by now, but she becomes interested in Alan after he clumsily remarks that his father wasn’t nice. Alan replies that he was aware of their affair a week before prom in high school when Maddie asked him what he learned. Another clue was the painting his father created of Maddie in her undies beside a lake.

2. Stephan is declared innocent

It has now come to light that Stephan, who was the main suspect in the killings of Tessie Durst and Cleo Johnson, is a murderer. Although Tessie Durst was killed and her body dumped in the lake, Stephan is still guilty of trying to assault her sexually.

This is especially unsettling because she went to Tessie’s funeral alone earlier in the series.

Stephan has been cleared of the murder of Cleo Johnson, but the hunt for her killer continues.

Stephan already admitted to Maddie that he didn’t know who Cleo Johnson was, even though he is still guilty of what he did to Tessie Durst and is probably not going to be seen outside of prison walls anytime soon. However, it was hard to believe anything he said.

3. Slappy is Taken into Custody for Being a Suspect in the Death of Cleo Johnson

After Stephan’s name is cleared, the police begin looking into other suspects, including Slappy Johnson, the carefree comedian husband of Cleo.

Even though Slappy is not the culprit, his outburst during Cleo’s funeral makes him an ideal scapegoat, and that’s precisely what happens.

Teddy gets suspicious when Reggie gives him some groceries and a large sum of money shortly after Slappy is arrested, but Reggie won’t talk to him.

Since her husband is now required to pay for Cleo’s elaborate plan to fake her death, it is unclear if Slappy or the rest of her family are aware of the truth about her whereabouts. This could pose a serious issue for Cleo.

Because Maddie wanted to share her story even though Cleo never wanted it shared, Cleo’s cover is now in jeopardy. The murder of Cleo Johnson was largely forgotten about until Maddie became involved.

4. Maddie Has Numerous Visions

This Lady in the Lake episode features almost entirely imaginary objects that Maddie perceives.

First, as she recovers from her wounds, Maddie observes Seth and Allan paying her visits to the hospital. A hideous-looking baby that she then gives birth to at random is taken by Cleo.

Walking down the hospital hallways in ankle-deep water is what she finds herself in when she gets out of bed to go after Cleo. It is through those very corridors that she witnesses an injured Reggie shadowboxing.

In an attempt to pursue him, she finds herself in a spacious hall crowded with Black women dressed in the coat that Cleo was purportedly wearing the night she passed away.

Maddie receives a coat in the style of those given to prisoners in concentration camps. Later, Maddie sees Cleo jump to her death, and as she gets closer to her corpse, she finds herself lying on the ground in a motionless state.

Eventually, Maddie finds herself sitting in front of Tessie in a morgue. Maddie replies quickly that the young child is outdated and that she would prefer to concentrate on Cleo at this point when Tessie inquiries about whether or not she will share her story with the public.

In the meantime, Steph’s doll-like body, a dead fetus, and the bodies of Hal Durst are discovered by Maddie. Then, for a brief moment, the episode turns into a musical, and we see Maddie, Platt, and a few other characters dancing to, I assume, Peggy Lee’s rendition of “Me and My Shadow.” The dancing hall transforms into Maddie’s funeral as the dancers disappear.

Maddie gives a speech in her memory because no one else wants to, so she does it herself after getting into a fight with the mental image of her mother.

5. Platt’s Affair With Maddie

One night, Ferdie was caught leaving Maddie’s apartment through the fire escape, caught by Officer Bosco, who had previously shown some romantic interest in Maddie.

Bosco leaks Ferdie’s information to the police captain rather than keeping it between them or handling it outside the station. Insinuating that Maddie would be embarrassed to be found sleeping with a black person, he advises him to step down discreetly or else he and Maddie will face legal repercussions.

Bosco has shown signs of racist discrimination against Ferdie, treating him unfairly due to the color of his skin. That day, there was a Klan demonstration in the town, and as Ferdie drove to the station, someone threw a bottle at the window of her car.

Bosco has several reasons, including racism and jealousy, for wanting Ferdie to leave the force, but in the end, Ferdie understands the dangers of dating Maddie and is now paying the price.

6. Cleo Johnson is discovered to be alive

The most surprising scene in Lady in the Lake season 6 occurs at the very end when Maddie awakens from a dream in her hospital bed and sees Cleo Johnson in real life.

Throughout the episode, which used interpretive dances and musical numbers to look at important characters like Reggie, Ferdie, and Cleo stylistically, Maddie had been having flashbacks. In Maddie’s dream, Cleo dressed in a nurse’s uniform and watched over her as she gave birth to a baby covered in newspapers, signifying how Maddie’s career as a journalist began with Cleo’s passing.

In a different dream, Maddie jumps into a lake and rescues Cleo without hesitation by pulling her to the surface. This is one of her final dreams before she meets the real Cleo, who is dressed as a nurse in her hospital room like in her earlier dreams.

But this time, it turns out that Maddie is not dreaming, and Cleo staged her disappearance and death to presumably use the money she won from Shell’s rigged lottery to escape Baltimore. It turns out that the body in Lady in the Lake was not Cleo’s, even though Reggie was depicted throwing it into a lake.

About Lady in the Lake

Lady in the Lake is an American drama thriller miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Laura Lippman. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on July 19, 2024. In 1960s Baltimore, an investigative journalist working on an unsolved murder clashes with a woman working to advance the agenda of the city’s Black community. She ditches her abusive, overbearing husband and Pikesville home to pursue a career as a newspaper reporter. She becomes obsessed with unraveling the mystery of two separate killings: eleven-year-old Tessie Durst and a bartender named Cleo Johnson.

The television series is based on the novel of the same name. Laura Lippman, the author, took inspiration from two real-life murders that happened in her youth.The first was the abduction and murder of 11-year-old Esther Lebowitz, a White Jewish girl whose death was heavily publicized.The second death was 33-year-old Shirley Parker, a Black woman who was found dead in the fountain of the Druid Hill Park Reservoir.Parker’s death was only given attention in African-American newspapers, specifically the Baltimore Afro-American.

The miniseries was given the greenlight in March 2021, with Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o set to star, and Alma Har’el set to direct all episodes of the series.In April 2022, Y’Lan Noel, Mikey Madison and Brett Gelman were added to the cast.In May 2022, Nyong’o exited the series.Moses Ingram would be cast to replace her in June.Noah Jupe, Mike Epps, Byron Bowers. Josiah Cross and Pruitt Taylor Vince would be added in July.