Lady in the Lake Season 1 Episode 1-2 Review: Did you know Seahorses are fish? / It has to do with the search for marvelous

The classic saying goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” but what happens when she’s betrayed by society and life itself? That’s the question asked in Lady in the Lake. In Lady in the Lake Season 1 Episode 1, “Did you know Seahorses are fish?” and Lady in the Lake Season 1 Episode 2, “It has to do with the search for marvelous,” we meet Maddie and Cleo.

These two leads may seem different but they share their journeys of change. One has left her husband and child for a new beginning. The other attempts to advance her life but it brings her in the middle of trouble.

We see Maddie and Cleo’s paths cross but we already know that it will begin to intersect even more when Cleo dies. As an introduction, the first two episodes of Lady in the Lake work well.

The world begins to establish itself as we start to understand these complex women, but the Apple TV+ original doesn’t give too much away too soon.

We do, however, know that both have major secrets. Maddie’s ones seem to live in the past while Cleo’s trouble infests her present.

As the women embark on their new lives and the changes that come with them, a murder already begins to haunt their worlds.

The murder almost feels like an irrelevant detail that the viewers are occasionally reminded about, but book readers, and those who pay enough attention to the series’s hints, know that the murder becomes a major focal point in Maddie’s life.

We begin to see this unfold as she finds the body of the child. Her motherly instincts naturally make her empathetic about this loss. To complicate things more, Maddie has ties to the child’s father.

This murder will shake up her life…viewers just aren’t getting the full picture yet. The clues are starting to lead us down the path to the truth.

Lady in the Lake has begun to weave an interesting web of connections, crimes, and desires. Maddie and Cleo live different lives but crave the same things: independence, respect, and freedom.

The series puts them in juxtaposition with one another as women and minorities during an era that’s not as oppressive as the decades before it but still nowhere near ready to allow women to truly thrive.

You feel this in small and big ways in Lady in the Lake. Maddie is constantly hounded because she’s almost considered property to her husband by others. Cleo isn’t taken seriously because she’s just a woman and a Black woman at that.

The series isn’t a perfect depiction of the era but it gets enough right to transport you to this time and feel the struggle and oppression of these women. The music also helps bring the era and world alive.

Music should enhance a viewing experience, and Lady in the Lake takes that duty seriously.

In just two episodes, the music moments have been memorable and potentially iconic.

Lady in the Lake’s use of music, so far, has been one of the most exciting elements. It helps tell this story by conveying emotions, setting the scene, and just bringing an extra layer of cool to the show.

It helps ground the era.

Lady in the Lake’s first two episodes do a good job of introducing this world but it may not do enough to fully convince people to stick around.

It’s missing some urgency. Viewers may not tune in each week, but they may be interested enough to let episodes build and binge-watch them.

It starts the series with a soft punch when it may have needed to go full power. With so many shows streaming and airing, Lady in the Lake may not grab the audience it needs. However, it shows enough potential that it’s worth continuing to stream.

Whether it joins the list of prestigious miniseries depends on how it uses its next few episodes. 

What did you think of the premiere episodes of Lady in the Lake? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Lady in the Lake streams Fridays on Apple TV+.

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