WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lady in the Lake season 5.
Summary
The murky relationship between Maddie and Hal in Apple’s thriller seriesLady in the Lakehas been one of the biggest mysteries of the series.Lady in the Lakepremiered on Friday, July 01, 2025, andopened to positive reviews, earning a 76% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.Based on the 2019 bestselling novel by Laura Lippman,Lady in the Lakestars Oscar winnerNatalie Portman in her first-ever leading rolein a television series. With only two episodes remaining after the shockingLady in the Lakeepisode 5, more of Maddie’s traumatic past with Hal Durst, the father of her ex-boyfriend Allan Durst, is explored in gruesome detail.
Portman leads an exceptionalcast inLady in the Lakewhich also includes Moses Ingram as Cleo Johnson, future Superman David Corenswet as Allan Durst, and Mikey Madison, the star of this year’s Palme d’Or winnerAnoraas Judith Weinstein. Thefirst two episodes ofLady in the Lakeintroduce Ingram’s character, a mother, hard-working model, and bartender who leaves her political aspirations behind to work for the ambiguous club owner Shell Gordon full-time.Lady in the Lakeepisode 4picks up whereLady in the Lakeepisode 3left off, depicting Cleo’s murder at the hands of Shell’s right-hand man, Reggie.
Maddie & Hal Durst Were Having An Affair While She Was Dating Allan
Hal took Maddie’s virginity and got Maddie pregnant
One of the biggest reveals inLady in the Lakeepisode 5, titled “Every time someone turns up dead in that lake, it does seem to lead to you”, was the nature of Hal and Maddie’s relationship when she was a teenager. In previous episodes,Hal appeared to be an innocently supportive figure of Maddie’s budding writing and journalism careerbut his interest in the teenage Maddie stems much deeper to the point of inappropriate attraction and lust. Maddie discovered as a teen back in 1947 that Hal had been fantasizing about her and drawing Maddie naked in his study.
As suggested in previous episodes ofLady in the Lake, it’s confirmed that Hal and Maddie had an affair while Maddie was dating Allan, Hal’s son, in episode 5. It’s revealed in several flashbacks that Hal took Maddie’s virginity but refused to have sex with Allan opting to save herself for marriage. While the complete timeline still remains a bit murky, Hal is shown sneaking Maddie to his place of work in the opening scene ofLady in the Lakeepisode 5 where he is spotted by an employee. Hal owns the business and knows that the worker will remain silent asMaddie reveals to Hal that she is pregnant with his baby.
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Why Hal Made Maddie Get An Abortion After She Got Pregnant As A Teenager
He didn’t want Allan to find out & told Maddie to focus on her career
Not only did Hal take Maddie’s virginity, but he also impregnated her. After he found out that she was pregnant with his baby, Hal lied to her and said he wanted to keep it and desperately wanted to have a child with Maddie. However, he ultimately forced her to have a painful and illegal abortion with the hope that his son, Allan, would never know of their affair.Hal told Maddie that she should be focused on her writing career as an excuseto convince her to get the abortion. It’s unclear through five episodes ofLady in the Lakewhether Allan was aware of any of this, but he likely found out eventually.
InLady in the Lakeepisode 5, Maddie discovers that she had purchased the dress off of Cleo’s back on the Thanksgiving Day that Tessie disappeared. She returns back to her home to find the dress in her closet, which had the blood stain from the lamb she bought for her family, which triggered memories of the traumatic experience she had with Hal. Several flashback scenes reveal that Maddie is clearly overwhelmed and seemingly remorseful of ever having the affair with Hal.Maddie interprets this as another strange overlap between her and Cleo’s storiesand there is plenty ofsymbolism of lambs and blood.
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Does Allan Know About Maddie & Hal’s Relationship In Lady In The Lake?
It has yet to be confirmed through five episodes but most likely
Through five episodes ofLady in the Lake, it has yet to be revealed whether Allan Durst knew about the affair that Maddie had with his father. In the grand scheme of things, it makes sense that he eventually found out. Allan’s mother had told Maddie when she was younger that Allan adored Maddie and had plans to spend his life with her. This strongly implies that despite Hal’s efforts to keep the affair a secret by forcing Maddie to get an abortion, Allan learned the truth in time. Given that there have only been two scenes between Maddie and Allan thus far, further flashbacks or another confrontation between Maddie and Allan as adults should reveal more about Allan’s awareness of the affair inLady in the Lake.
Lady in the Lake
Cast
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY LAURA LIPPMAN, LADY OF THE LAKE IS A FICTIONAL DRAMA MINISERIES BASED AROUND THE REAL DISAPPEARANCES OF A YOUNG GIRL AND A WOMAN, COMING TO APPLE TV+. THE STORY CENTERS AROUND MADELINE SCHWARTZ, A DISSATISFIED 1960S HOUSEWIFE OF TWENTY YEARS WHO ENDS HER MARRIAGE IN SEARCH OF A LIFE WITH MEANING. MADELINE, BETTER KNOWN AS MADDIE, SEEKS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD - TO DO SO, SHE HEADS DOWN THE PATH OF AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST AFTER SOMEHOW HELPING THE BALTIMORE POLICE FIND THE BODY OF A YOUNG GIRL IN THE LAKE, CLEO SHERWOOD. LADY IN THE LAKE HAS NOIR ELEMENTS AND EXPLORES STATUS AND RACE IN A MURDER MYSTERY IN A DIFFERENT PERIOD. THE SERIES HAS BEEN DELAYED DUE TO AN INCIDENT IN LATE 2022 BUT IS STILL SET TO COME TO APPLE TV+ IN THE FUTURE.
