by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Nowadays, it’s easier than ever for a streaming service to pick up the rights to a book and turn it into a limited series. It’s worked out for many streamers, but it’s also saturating the marketing with some okay-to-subpar adaptations.
Apple TV+ in particular has had a so-so track record of doing this, and another one has just wrapped up.
Lady in the Lake, based on the book by Laura Lippman, chronicles the investigation surrounding Cleo Johnson’s (Moses Ingram) disappearance and murder. An aspiring journalist named Maddie Morgenstern (Natalie Portman) is investigating this crime, along with the death of 11-year-old Tessie Durst (Bianca Belle). Maddie’s investigation will shake the city of Baltimore to its core once the story is published.
The show tries to weave the two murders together, but fails to make an impact and does them both a disservice, particularly in Tessie’s case. Her death instigates the entire series, but it doesn’t get much done for justice, nor does it make the impact of her death matter in the end. Cleo’s death, and the days before it, at least matter because it helps reshape the city of Baltimore.
The corruption of Baltimore is on full display, with police officers, local leaders, and the press looking to make their mark any chance they get. For the police, the only noteworthy officer that we get to know is Detective Ferdie Platt (Y’lan Noel), a Black officer who is in the middle of several plotl ines. His foil is Officer Bosco (Ronnie Gene Blevins), a racist white cop who is angry about other people “waiting their turn” for promotions.
Two local leaders are showcased. The first is Myrtle Summer (Angela Robinson), a local politician who gets into the crosshairs of local gangster Shell Gordon (Wood Harris, in a slightly typecast role). Maddie joins the Baltimore newspaper, but comes face-to-face with Bob Bauer (Pruitt Taylor Vince), a veteran reporter who wants to have all the articles and stories under his name. These contrasting characters represent the duality in all these institutions and how difficult it is to balance them in the face of crime.
The time period of the 1960s presents some challenges for the characters. For instance, both Maddie (a white Jewish woman) and Cleo (a Black woman) do not garner the respect that they truly deserve. Both are alike in the way they are treated poorly as women, but their race exposes the double standards and misogyny that they deal with. Maddie, who recently left her husband, cannot do anything without her husband’s consent. On the other hand, Cleo is doing everything she can to break away from her less-than-ambitious husband, Slappy (Byron Bowers).
There are a ton of exciting things that happen throughout the series to help illustrate some of its themes. For instance, Shell takes over the local lottery with the Black community to keep a cut while helping certain people pursue their dreams. The series then talks about how if the government takes over, then it will only help the rich white people. Lady in the Lake is trying to say a lot, but in the end, it struggles to get its message across because there’s so much happening. It wants to say something about the Black community, the Jewish community, women, city corruption, and the gentrification of urban life. There isn’t enough baked into these stories to make an impact that will leave viewers satisfied with the story or the message it’s trying to convey.
The other issue the series deals with is the need for more character development, particularly with Maddie. Portman is excellent as always, but the series does her few favors in helping us empathize with, or support her on, her journey. Her son Seth (Noah Jupe) is merely a pawn in the story and has little agency for what Maddie is going through. The connection between her and Cleo is flimsy at best, and there’s a moment where we get to know something traumatic about Maddie’s past that doesn’t make much sense for the overall story.
On top of all this, while the ending will be a bit of a letdown for some, I found it an exciting twist that offers redemption for one of the characters we believe could be a suspect. It paints the whole situation differently, and this timeframe is tailor-made for something like this to happen. It won’t be for everyone, but I appreciated something different for a TV mystery.
Lady in the Lake is a whiff for Apple TV+, and it squanders the potential it has with its lead performers. The story and messaging get muddled, with too much going on and too many spinning plates to balance into a cohesive story. Baltimore is a great city to set this mystery in, and the ending will be divisive, but the series should be placed pretty low on the watchlist.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
Lady in the Lake is currently streaming on Apple TV+
You can read more from Mike Hilty and follow him on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Serializd.