As the fourth episode of The Lazarus Project begins, we’re taken to 1981 as Shiv’s parents put him in his crib. She walks in and notices that he isn’t in the crib anymore. He is surprisingly standing so she begins yelling for Suresh to come and see. She calls Dr. Anand to tell him something is off with Shiv who is walking and talking now. She suggests he has developed six months overnight. In 1987, Shiv wakes up after a bad dream and tells his mom that the man on the TV said there was a war. There was a bomb where granny and grandpa live. His mom tells him it isn’t real, but Shiv insists it is real. As time passes and bombs are dropped, Shiv begins writing down things he can remember. In 1994, Shiv decides to use this to his benefit.

He goes to his uncle’s store and learns someone wrote racist graffiti on the wall. His cousin blames the skinheads again. The uncle refuses to let Shiv put a snack on his tab because he is experiencing financial troubles. Shiv tells his cousin that their money problems are going to be okay since he has a plan. Back at home, Shiv begins keeping track of the horse racing winners. He memorizes the names of the winners before learning that a missile strike is imminent. Once he wakes up on the checkpoint day, he realizes that time has gone back again. He bets on the horses and wins repeatedly. After he leaves with a stack of money, he stops at a store to buy a Super Nintendo. However, it soon likes like he has used most of his winnings.

Shiv goes outside where he learns that his uncle’s shop is on fire. His dad claims the bloody fascists have burned the place down. His uncle and cousin are gone. Shiv returns to the checkpoint day. He rushes to the store and is happy to see his cousin alive again. On the day of the store burning, Shiv goes to the store in hopes of stopping it. When he goes inside, he finds his cousin with a gasoline can pouring gas near the counter. His cousin says his mom and dad are in debt. Although they think they can keep this place, they can’t. He wants to torch the store and make it look like the National Front did it for the insurance money. He claims he can take his family out of the back before the fire spreads, but Shiv knows otherwise.

Shiv says he came to save him as the police arrive outside. His cousin is taken away. As Shiv returns home, Wes (Caroline Quentin) introduces herself as his new boss and says he did a good thing tonight. She has been watching him for a while and knows he is ready now. In the present day, Shiv (Rudi Dharmalingam) shows Dennis (Tom Burke) the images they found at the hideout because he wants to know what it means. Rebrov suggests asking the Lost Glory even though he knows they can’t. Dennis doesn’t know where the bomb is because they picked him up before it was delivered. Shiv warns him he is going to stay in his cell until he tells them the truth. The others haven’t been able to identify the locations of the maps.

Archie (Anjli Mohindra) believes there is a code that they’ll need to crack first. Wes says there is evidence that the Lost Glory was communicating with a splinter cell out of Romania. After Greta (Salome Gunnarsdottir) asks about Dennis, Shiv confirms he isn’t giving them anything. George (Paapa Essiedu) approaches Shiv in private to ask him what he means when he says he interrogated Dennis. Shiv asks if he needs a dictionary before George asks if he needs a copy of the Geneva Convention. Shiv insists he isn’t torturing him, but George thinks Dennis’s appearance suggests otherwise. Shiv wants to know when George saw him. George claims he just wanted to talk to him although he wasn’t in the mood for a chat. Shiv says he got some bad intel once, things went bad, and they’re still paying for it.

All because the guy whose job it was to get the truth didn’t do his job. Shiv makes it clear that you cannot make a mistake when working here. He remembers shooting the wrong man and blaming an intel screw-up. Then, he chases Rebrov out of the building. There is a brief car pursuit until Rebrov is stopped. Shiv tries to convince Rebrov to come back and talk about it. He asks if he is going to leave Janet and the baby. Dennis asks if he has ever considered that they’re not the good guys.

Shiv is convinced they are the good guys. Rebrov asks what that makes him. Shiv believes that depends on the next few minutes. Dennis puts the gun on the top of the car, blames Shiv for everything, and begins walking in the other direction. All he had to do was shoot the right man. Shiv fires his gun. Once they’re in the car together, Shiv says he is going to take him to the hospital. He calls Janet (Vinette Robinson) to tell her that Dennis is injured on the leg. He wants her to come to the office. He will drop Rebrov off at the hospital and come pick her up in an hour. At the hospital, Shiv tells the guard that nobody can come in or out until his people come and get him. Shiv goes to Janet’s place only to find it empty.

Then, he gets a call from Archie who reveals they’ve lost him after he broke a guard’s neck and fled. In the present, George looks over the images they found before Archie interrupts and invites him to get a pint with her. Although he doesn’t want to go, she forces him to do so. Once they reach the pub, George asks whether Lazarus tortures people. She confesses that it has happened before. George believes that Shiv is beating up Rebrov right now, but Archie says she hit him. She had tried everything else. Archie reminds him that there are thousands of lives in the balance right now. Although she doesn’t support torture, she isn’t going to cry herself to sleep because the guy who could stop all this got slapped around a little. She doesn’t seem to care that they were once friends and doesn’t believe that Shiv is waterboarding people.

George wants to know where the line of moral certainty starts to blue for her. She reminds him that he didn’t join the boy scouts because they deal with big stuff here. Archie recommends learning to ignore that nagging feeling of doubt in the back of his head, but hope it never goes away. Later, George talks to Sarah’s dad Ian about organizing a funeral for Sarah. Ian asks whether he is talking to anyone. George hangs up after finding out something with the images. It may point out the highest point for each map. He gets a sequence of five numbers before learning it is an IP address. It points to a location in Romania. George uses Sarah’s card to book tickets to Romania. Next, George calls Archie to tell her he isn’t feeling well and won’t be coming in. When Shiv picks up the phone, he tells him instead.

After the call, it looks like George removes the SIM from the phone. While George leaves home, Shiv tells Ryan that he needs to look at an individual’s bank account. He manages to talk Ryan into accessing Agent Addo’s bank account information. Then, he asks him to find the account belonging to George’s partner. Shiv tells Ryan what he knows about Sarah. He receives her bank account details moments later and finds out about the booking to Bucharest. Archie asks him what he is looking at, but Shiv refuses to tell her. Shiv tells her about George not coming and says he is heading out as well. He asks Ryan to give him live updates on those accounts even if George is only buying bog roll and milk. George rides on a train. In Bucharest, Romania, George arrives and gets off the train.

Shiv learns that he bought a train ticket in Bucharest. He calls Ryan to ask him to see what destinations he can reach by spending 57 Romanian Leu. Ryan agrees to send him the options and provide any updates. Shiv gets off the plane while George buys a snack and gets on a train. Ryan helps Shiv by telling him which destination starts at platform one. Shiv runs for a taxi to see if he can catch up with George since there is work being done on the line. While riding in a taxi, Shiv places a gun in his pocket. Ryan tells him that George just bought an in-game upgrade on his phone. Shiv manages to get onto George’s train as George goes to the buffet.

George confronts Shiv in the hallway and quickly knocks him down. After getting Shiv’s gun, George pulls the emergency brake to stop the train. He bursts out the window before jumping through and running away. When Shiv gets up, he realizes that the gun in his jacket pocket is missing. Once he sees George running away from the train, he jumps out and follows him. The chase continues through a small village and market as George ducks into a side building. Before long, George jumps from a window and lands on a van. He crashes to the ground. George continues with the detonator in a bag around his shoulder. He steals a motorcycle while Shiv beats up two guys to take their car. Both crash when they run into a blocked road. George asks him what’s up as Shiv calls him an idiot.

Shiv wants to know where Big Boy is and warns George that he doesn’t want to go down this path. George thinks he is already down it. Shiv reminds him that he is going through something other people never will since he lost someone and has a chance to bring her back. He can’t do it because it would put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk. Shiv asks him to come back so they can sort this out together. He doesn’t think George is like Rebrov or will do the things he has done. George shoots him in the chest. Shiv says no one else knows about this. George argues he is going to bring her back and he’ll bring Shiv back too. Shiv warns him that the first thing he’ll do is come for him. George says he knows before shooting Shiv again. With Shiv dead, his phone pings. It is a message from Ryan so George tells him that he has him.

He also asks Ryan to do something for him. Ryan goes down to the cell to see Rebrov. He tells him that big plans are afoot. Dennis acts like he can’t hear him to make Ryan move closer. The guard bringing food hears a struggle as Dennis grabs Ryan and snaps his neck. Rebrov stops fighting and puts his hands up. George puts Shiv’s body in the trunk with the detonator. He drives away as the episode ends.

 

The Lazarus Project Review

The fourth episode of The Lazarus Project was certainly better than the first three although it may be too little too late. After watching more about Shiv’s backstory, it feels like a wasted opportunity that so little time was actually dedicated to it. The character is more compelling than George at this stage in the story. The chase scenes were decent without any hiccups.

Overall, the episode was more entertaining than the others so there is still time for this to transform into a worthwhile, time-jumping journey. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Lazarus Project are available on Reel Mockery here. Those interested in learning how to support our work can find out how to do so at this link.