The second episode of "Lady in the Lake" rewinds us to the year 1947, where Maddie, a school paper journalist, conducts an interview with Mrs. Durst on the topic of art. However, the conversation subtly shifts as it becomes evident that her son has a profound admiration for his mother. Following the interview, Mr. Durst offers Maddie some valuable advice, convinced that she is destined for greater things. Intriguingly, his office is adorned with numerous paintings, one prominently featuring a lady in a lake.
Flashing forward to the present, the police arrive at the lakeside, their suspicions heightened by Maddie's knowledge of this specific location. Their xenophobic attitudes are evident as they question her relentlessly. After a round of interrogation, she is released and sent back to her new apartment.
The next morning, Maddie approaches Milton, seeking financial assistance to rent an apartment and seek some respite. The tension in the family is palpable, even spilling over to Tessie's funeral. At the graveyard, they stumble upon defaced tombstones, evoking distressing memories from the past.
Following the funeral, Maddie attempts to purchase a new car but encounters obstacles as none of the dealerships are willing to finalize the deal without Milton's approval. Understandably, as it's essentially his money, but Maddie isn't one to be deterred. She devises a plan, staging a break-in and claiming that her jewelry has been stolen, hoping to claim insurance money.
The investigating officer, Platt, suspects foul play but has to call in the burglary detectives. However, Maddie's cunning plan backfires as she still has residue from her diamonds on her fingers, despite hiding them in plant pots. Platt confronts her downstairs, revealing that she was initially a suspect alongside Judith. However, they arrested a man from the fish store after discovering aquarium gravel under Judith's fingernails.
Reggie, with a knowing glance, reminds Maddie that the insurance money could take months to arrive and that her apartment will undergo a thorough inspection. Despite Reggie's suspicions, by the end of the episode, it seems that Maddie has managed to slip through the cracks and will indeed receive her insurance check.
Elsewhere, Cleo lends a helping hand to Dora, guiding her upstairs to her cozy abode. As they ascend, their voices merge in a soft murmur, discussing aspirations of personal growth and liberation from Shell's club. They share a vision of Paris, a distant dreamland, yet Dora scoffs at Summer's notion of honest toil for Mrs. Summer. She reveals Summer's imperfections, contradicting the pristine image she's been painted.
Delving into the financial records, a task Cleo excels in due to her credentials at the club, she detects an enigmatic sum of money sent as a donation to Myrtle Summer. With a determined stride, Cleo approaches Myrtle in her office, proposing a full-time commitment. However, Myrtle's ties to Mr. Gordon, the face of their aspirations, pose a challenge. It would tarnish her campaign and Myrtle declines, brushing off Cleo's mention of the money, claiming she no longer accepts donations. "We all have to wait our turn, Cleo," she says, leaving Cleo disillusioned and less eager to serve under her.
Cleo's situation now finds her in a precarious position. She approaches Gordon, desperate for more work and ready to go all-in. But Gordon, wary of her, makes her strive to regain his trust. When she spots Teddy indulging in the Numbers game at the entrance, her patience snaps. In a flurry of reprimands, she chastises him in front of everyone and rushes after him outside.
With Teddy out of sight, she turns to Slap, instructing him to fulfill his cleaning duties at Pharaoh for the boys. She implores him to step up alongside her as they carve their path to success and rise from the rubble.
Meanwhile, across the town, Stephan stands in the fish store, bruised and battered after a confrontation with his mother. Found in the bath with a horde of fish and a gas mask, he's subjected to her wrath. She lashes out at him, demanding explanations for his absence from the store, her screams echoing through the store's aisles.
The "mysterious figure" mentioned by the officers at the fishmonger's shop was revealed to be Stephan himself. As police cars encircled the store, he could be seen dancing erratically with a mop in hand. The authorities suspected he was holding his mother hostage, but it was clear that he wasn't of sound mind. Eventually, he emerged and was promptly taken into custody by the police.
As Slappy performed his set outside, Reggie engaged in a conversation with one of the officers. It transpired that the captain was on Gordon's payroll, and after exchanging an envelope, the officer imparted some words of caution to Reggie. Stephan's mother had given a statement implicating a "black man with a black eye" in Tessie's death, which naturally pointed the finger at Reggie. Therefore, he was advised to remain inconspicuous until the situation was resolved.
Behind the bar, Reggie entrusted Cleo with a new assignment: delivering a package on behalf of Mr. Gordon. She found her way to Duke's apartment, who oddly kept a flock of birds within. Unfortunately for her, she was thrust into the deep end and coerced into driving Duke around.
Meanwhile, Maddie indulged in a smoke session with Judith in her apartment. Judith reminisced about her youthful aspirations of becoming a writer, echoing the same surrealist art quote that Maddie had uttered at the episode's beginning. It was, in fact, the title of the episode itself - "It has to do with the search for the marvelous."
In the midst of their conversation, Officer Platt arrived to check on Maddie, just as Judith departed. There was an undeniable spark between them, and Maddie invited him in for a beer, off the record of course.
As they engaged in conversation, Cleo's fateful drive culminated in a terrifying turn of events. She was driven all the way to Myrtle Summer's house, where a man appeared at the door and unleashed a barrage of gunshots. But just as suddenly, another man emerged with a shotgun and retaliated. Chaos reigned, and in the blink of an eye, Cleo was fleeing down the street, her heart pounding.
