As the episode of The Lazarus Project begins, we’re taken to the summer of 2018 as Archie (Anjli Mohindra) talks to Ross (Brian Gleeson) about his sister’s goldfish Fluffy. Ross admits they did almost everything wrong, but they’ll do better next time. They sit down together as a siren roars in the background. Archie reveals her porn-star name is Gary Appleyard. Missiles begin flying overhead. After watching a bomb drop, Archie calls George (Paapa Essiedu) to say they’ve got Rebrov (Tom Burke). She thought George might want to be there for it. A truck goes past George and eventually runs into Sarah (Charly Clive). While George comforts Sarah, Archie and the others watch the special forces prepare to take down Rebrov. Archie arrives at the hospital to see George. She promises it isn’t his fault before confirming they got Rebrov.

Although Sarah is out of surgery, she is still unconscious. George wants to make sure she is going to wake up, but the nurse isn’t sure yet. Once George visits her hospital room, he has a flashback to the summer 2018 party where he first met Sarah. His friend tells her about Sarah who they’re trying to track down. In the car, George tells Archie he is thinking about when he met Sarah. When he says they met in the summer of 2018, Archie says she was on a mission that didn’t go well. They return to George’s apartment to get booze although George read a study that said you shouldn’t drink after a trauma. George explains there were versions of his life that were undone by the time loop. He asks what happens to all the stuff he forgot.

When Archie got the jab, it all came back in a wave. As for mutants, it depends. He could begin recalling fragments slowly, remember it all at once, or may never remember it. George believes he might be starting to see things. Archie confirms she reset the clock in summer 2018 a lot. George says yesterday was the checkpoint and Sarah was okay yesterday. Archie suggests she still might be okay. Otherwise, the world will be a sadder place and Archie will be there to help him get through it. Rebrov did not say anything. He is taken in and placed in a box. In Summer 2018, Ross and Archie talk to a leader who believes the Modhin shot down one of their fighters. He is told it was General Zima’s men and they want him to retaliate. They want him to fire on the Modhin so they will fire on him.

Then, they’ll use that to push into the region. He is warned it will lead to NATO troops on his border, missiles being fired, and it’ll get even worse. He doesn’t want to believe that Zima is going to invade or NATO is going to put troops on the border. Later, Ross talks to Archie about the word diplomacy. He believes their problem is the fact that nobody listens to them. Ross worries this guy is going to start World War III if they don’t do something drastic. Archie suggests doing something drastic then. Ross confirms he spoke to Carol who was sad more than anything. He spoke to her before the checkpoint. Archie says she spoke to Jim after the checkpoint. Ross calls her a coward so she says she’ll tell him again. In the present, Archie tells George that he doesn’t need to come in today.

George wants to come in. Once he arrives, he is told this is a standard debrief and post-traumatic stress is common here. George admits he thought about the Dane getting shot until his girlfriend got hit by a rubbish truck. Archie reminds him that they only came back because the bomb went off. George believes that has to be upsetting for her that her friends would let her stay dead, but she knows that is part of the deal. Archie explains that four babies are born every second. By going back in time nine months and changing the course of the world, they’d lose many babies and a lot of progress. She has seen entire social movements disappear and world-changing events undone.

They only change things when the alternative is worse. George argues they’d still be babies although they’d be different babies. They’d just give them a chance and no one would know or care. Archie tells him about an agent named Janet who got pregnant and had a little boy just before the checkpoint. She was terrified because resetting time would take her before the conception. It happened and Janet lost her child. Although she got pregnant again, it was a different kid. Archie tells him that this has happened to billions of other women.

He can’t turn back time to stop what happened to Sarah. In 2018, Ross tells Archie that General Kasan has been paid off by Zima. Although he knows the missile strikes are set up, he doesn’t care. Ross believes diplomacy is still on the table without Kasan around. While blowing up a car that likely has Kasan in it, Ross asks Archie to move in with him. Archie isn’t sure if she is ready to do that. She agrees to think about it though. George sits with Sarah at the hospital while remembering the part from summer 2018. Another woman approaches George to see if he wants to play a game. He asks whether she is Sarah only to be told her name is Hayley. The television shows that General Kasan is retaliating. In 2018, Ross asks Sarah whether she has talked to Jim again.

She admits it breaks his heart every time. Ross suggests it might be a good idea to wait until they know they don’t have to go back again. She confirms she wants to move in if they stop WW3 from happening. George’s friend tells him about Sarah again while she dances nearby. Sarah goes over to George to ask whether he changed her song. Although he denies it, she sees the CD in his hands. Sarah put on the song intentionally because it is her song. They discuss whether the song is any good. Sarah says she doesn’t like Beethoven very much before they exchange names. Then, George learns Sarah is training to teach children. Everyone is told to get out because someone dropped a cigarette. George tells Sarah he’ll meet her outside. Once outside, George’s friend admits he dropped a joint in there.

George recommends not telling anyone before he watches Sarah leave in a taxi. At the hospital, George plays on his phone while waiting in the lobby. George walks outside where Shiv (Rudi Dharmalingam) asks if he wants to mess the guy up. As they drive away, George admits he thought Shiv was the sensible guy. Shiv drinks while saying that is him. He heard a man accidentally pushed George’s missus in front of a truck. George says he wants to mess him up. They arrive outside Karl’s house as George asks Shiv whether he’d help him beat up this guy for what he has done. George says it wouldn’t undo it. Shiv knows Archie gave him the baby talk. While walking toward Karl’s place, Shiv promises they won’t get into trouble because they have connections with law enforcement.

George would rather have it undone than revenge, but revenge is the best Shiv can offer. He says there is no point while Shiv says what is done is done. They leave. Meanwhile, Ross and Archie get into a gunfight. Ross is likely going to let Carol keep his place so he’ll need to look for another place. After they discuss getting a place together, Archie is shot and killed. She wakes up in bed after a time jump. Jim (Bally Gill) asks her whether she is okay. She receives a call from Ross who explains that a bullet bounced off a fire extinguisher. Ross didn’t get far although he did get an idea. They agree to meet at the airport tomorrow. She likes what they were talking about before. Archie goes back to Jim to tell him that she is not in love with him anymore. Shiv calls Rebrov a lunatic. George and Shiv agree to go talk to Rebrov now.

Rebrov remembers George from Paris. When told the Dane was angry that Rebrov shot him, he claims he was always sensitive. George says Paris was his first mission. Rebrov argues that he messed that one up. He reveals they used to call Shiv’s chuckles because it is a nonstop party when he is around. After he is asked about the warhead, Rebrov claims he doesn’t know where it is since it got delivered to him in Paris. He asks George if he knows that the Lazarus Project tortures people. It was Shiv who was the first to get into all of that. Shiv got a guy into a room and started going at him with a rag in the mouth and a jug of water.

Although Wes (Caroline Quentin) never liked it, she never stopped it either. Rebrov mentions the fact that the room doesn’t have any security cameras. Shiv isn’t going to be lectured by a guy who has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Rebrov says he has barely killed anyone because they always turn back the clock. Rebrov suggests they’ll let George have a go at him and buy him drinks afterward. He claims that they sacrifice life to destroy death here. Shiv thinks this is a waste of time as she leaves to get his booze from the car. Rebrov argues they’re just the kids you used to sit next to in school and not brighter than anyone else. They’ll happily play God when it suits them. Rebrov theorizes that the world wants to die, but they keep cheating the world out of it. Their time was up long ago, but they’re still refusing to let it go.

George asks if that is why he does what he does. Rebrov does it because there is no one else to hold them to account and they can’t hold back the inevitable forever. Once they leave, Shiv checks to make sure George is okay. He says he is. Archie complains about the whole government being corrupt. Ross asks about someone from the opposition party such as Alexander Puhvel who she calls a fascist. Ross admits he has some unappealing views on certain things. There isn’t a lot about him, but Alexander hates General Zima. Ross argues that Prime Minister Osiminov is weak and that is why he is about to start World War III. Archie realizes that he wants to do a coup. They or someone else can deal with it once the fascists are in charge. Ross explains that they’ll need to make the people doing the coup feel like it was their idea.

Nothing riles up the politically extreme opposition more than arrests or assassinations. They blow up a car and arrest a man to get them stirred up. When Alexander is shot, their plan is ruined. Ross tells Archie that they’ll try again. George gets high with his friend at the party before throwing up in a cup next to Sarah. A news report confirms that the coup was quashed. Everything happens again with George returning to the party. Ross tells Archie they need to try again. The process repeats multiple times. Archie complains that the security force cracks down on the opposition party every time they rise up. Ross says there was one time they didn’t and that was when Archie got shot. He reveals that the Prime Minister’s security chief died on the same day she did. He slipped on some ice and fell down the stairs.

Without him leading the security forces, Puhvel was put into power like they wanted. Ross reset to the checkpoint because it was the only way to bring back Archie. He admits he broke the rules because he loves her. She doesn’t have to give her life for this project as long as Ross is there for her. He thinks they can complete the mission if they kill the PM’s security chief. While they put their plan into action, George talks to Sarah outside the party house. Ross is killed when he tries to blow up the security chief. Archie watches it through the window from outside. Sarah feels like she has met George before. While riding with Shiv, George gets a call and says he needs to get to the hospital. Once he arrives, he is told they did everything they could, but they couldn’t save her.

Rebrov listens as Archie pleads with Wes to try again. Wes won’t because their plan worked despite Ross’s death. George visits Rebrov because he wants to go back in time and change what has happened. Rebrov asks whether he believes in fate. George doesn’t care about any of that. He knows they were together and that is the version that was real. Reb asks if he is willing to burn down everything to start again. George says before the episode ends.

 

The Lazarus Project Review

The opening episode of The Lazarus Project showed potential and a solid premise, but it was always going to be a difficult task due to the time jumps. Unfortunately, the episode was far too messy when attempting to cover so many time periods and events at once. Some of the characters were mumbling at points while another laughed after receiving tragic news.

The biggest problem is the messiness because the episode was very difficult to follow. At times, I was wondering whether I was supposed to read something before the episode since I didn’t know anything about Ross, the General, or anything that was going on with Archie. Although it helped to identify the past with a “summer 2018” title, it wasn’t enough to prevent these stories from blending together.

I’ll add one more time that the scenes are sometimes too dark, but that seems to be some type of hip trend that networks believe is making their projects more stylish. Lighting can be beautiful, dynamic, and add more emphasis to important details. This and so many other recent shows need more light. It is questionable whether Karl would’ve been charged with something after pushing Sarah in front of a truck leading to her death.

Regardless, this needs direction as the story is quickly spiraling out of control. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Lazarus Project can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.