Lady in the Lake episode 2 ending explained: Does Stephan get arrested?

Lady in the Lake premiered its first two episodes on Apple TV+ on July 19, 2024. While the first episode concludes with Maddie and Judith finding Tessie dead, the second episode starts with a sobbing note.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Lady in the Lake episode 2.

Maddie returns home and finds her mother who is unhappy about her leaving her husband and son and staying in a separate apartment. Maddie tells them how she needs her space to figure out what is happening, but everyone around her seems confused about why Tessie’s death has affected her so much.

Episode two of Lady in the Lake doesn’t reveal a lot about the murder. However, the prime suspect, Stephan (the man at the fish store) gets arrested for the murder of little Tessie.

The official synopsis of the series reads:

"When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore in 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course."

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Lady in the Lake episode 2 ends with Stephan's arrest

Flashbacks

The second episode of Lady in the Lake starts with a flashback. Maddie is seen with Alan during her college days. She soon meets Alan’s mother and they have a quick chat about realism. Alan’s mother doesn’t seem pretty impressed by Maddie and her knowledge.

The camera then shifts to Alan’s father Harl who flirts with Maddie. Before Maddie leaves the house, she sees multiple portraits. However, one of them strikes a chord in her. She sees a serene blue portrait of a lady in the lake.

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The funeral

A still from Lady in the Lake: The funeral of Tessie (Image by Apple TV+)

After Maddie goes home and convinces her son and family to join her and attend Tessie’s funeral, there is a slight disagreement between Maddie and her son. The family then attends the funeral and Tessie’s mother comes running to Maddie and sobs, asking her if she thinks Tessie called for her mother before she was killed.

Maddie gets flashbacks while attending the funeral, however, it is not made clear to the audience what those flashbacks mean and how they connect to the death of Tessie.

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Maddie fakes a burglary

After Maddie goes to sell her vehicle for some money but fails to do so. She goes home, fakes a burglary, and then reports it to the police. When the police reach the crime scene, Officer Platt figures out that it's a fraud.

He also reveals to Maddie how she and Judith were prime suspects after they found Tessie’s body by the lake. But Maddie reveals to him that she has nothing to do with it. Later in the episode, Maddie smokes pot with Judith and shares an intimate moment with Platt right after.

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Cleo tries to fix her family

A still from The Lady in the Lake: Cleo starts to work for Gordon full-time (Image by Apple TV+)

Cleo finally decides to work full-time for Gordon and his men after Myrtle doesn’t take her. Later in the episode, she gives up on her hope for a clean career and goes back to the corrupt yet powerful Gordon. She even invites her husband to Gordon’s bar for a standup performance, which he aces.

However, she goes to the gangsters to deliver money and they force her to drive them to Myrtle’s house. When they go in to assassinate Myrtle, her husband fires back. Viewers don’t get to know if Myrtle is dead or her husband has spotted Cleo. Cleo flees the scene immediately and panics.

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The police arrest Stephan

Stephan is seen torturing his mother while the police surround his store and ask him to surrender. Earlier in the episode, the officers had revealed how they found fish scales in Tessie’s nails, which made Stephan the suspected killer.

While the officers open fire pretty soon, Stephan’s mother comes out and tells them that her son will surrender. Before Stephan gets arrested for the murder, he gets a vision of Tessie, who comes with a fish in her hand, telling him to save it.

Even with this episode ending of Lady in the Lake, it has not been revealed whether it was Stephan who killed Tessie or someone else. Stephan can be a maniac as viewers witnessed him torturing his mother. However, Tessie could have been murdered by Reggie, who has now been asked to lay low for a while by the officers.

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The episode ends with multiple questions. While Maddie knows about Stephan’s arrest, will she dig deep into this investigation on her own? Also, who are Tessie’s mom and dad and what did Maddie do to Cleo? Viewers expect answers to these in the upcoming episodes.

Lady in the Lake episode 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.