As this episode of The Lazarus Project begins, George (Paapa Essiedu) shoots Shiv (Rudi Dharmalingam) before yelling for Reggie’s help. Sarah (Charly Clive) is shocked to learn that George can time travel. She tells him about an experience when she woke up three weeks earlier. Shiv shoots Reggie in the chest. He tells George that Janet left Rebrov a message. He believes he’ll know where to find her and she will know how to fix the loop. Shiv tells George to speak to Wes and tell her everything. In the car, George and Sarah talk about the serum and why she took it. George stops before saying he needs to go inside to speak to some people. He tells Sarah he is going to admit to a handful of crimes that he did for a good reason.

They go inside where George tells Wes (Caroline Quentin) what happened. Wes says he caused a war so destructive that they had no choice but to turn back time itself. After all that, Sarah dumped George anyway. Wes tells Sarah that she likes her. She would put George in jail for the rest of his life if time was moving in a linear fashion. Wes explains that Rebrov was there and he believes Janet has been sent back to 2012. He also believes someone has built a true time machine. Wes reminds George he is no longer an agent of the Lazarus Project. George wants to stay and help, but Wes can’t work with someone she can’t trust. Wes tells George to get out and asks for Sarah to stay. Once they’re alone, Wes how much of the serum Sarah received.

Sarah says five mils. Wes thinks she is stuck like this. She explains that Sarah is stuck in an infinite time loop of three weeks. The world is destroyed on July 21st. The machine automatically takes them back to one second past midnight on July 1st. They keep going back and the world will keep being destroyed for infinity. Wes tells Sarah that she is going to help them. She welcomes Sarah to the Lazarus Project. Sarah walks out and slaps George across the face. They jump back in time. George calls for Reggie’s help again. Shiv tells George he needs to shoot him in the heart. Otherwise, he is going to keep getting brains on his floor. Sarah begins practicing her shooting skills. Then, the team is told about the Time Break Initiative which has been trying to create their own time machine.

Archie (Anjli Mohindra) tells the others about the group. The six individuals involved are wanted dead. Zhang (Elaine Tan) worked for the Time Break Initiative and went where they sent her. She admits she goes where the money is. Zhang goes on to reveal the initiative was watching each of them. If Janet was sent back to 2012, they were successful in building a time machine. Zhang recommends starting with these guys if they want to build a time machine to fix the loop. Later, George approaches Sarah. They talk about Sarah’s job. George asks how they’re doing figuring out the loop. They argue about how George forgot she was going to get run over. Sarah shows him pictures of the scientists of the Time Break Initiative. She admits they’re still mad at him and it might take a while for that to change.

As for Sarah, she says she is there. When she gets a call, she nearly says it is her fiancé before saying it’s Michael. George takes the pictures of the scientists and tries to find out more about them. He notices that one of them is wearing distinct shoes. George tries to identify the origins of the shoes. In Berlin, Hans (Paul Boche) is approached by George who asks about Dr. Trent Wheeler. After the guy dies once and shoots George once, George decides to shoot him in the leg before interrogating him. In Morocco, George fights with another man and demands to know where Dr. Wheeler is. After fighting with the guy, George goes to Trent Wheeler’s gravestone. They go back in time again. Michael wakes up next to Sarah. Later, Sarah continues training and gets better at shooting.

George goes to the Lazarus Project headquarters to tell Wes that Wheeler is dead. Wes claims he has proven he is selfish and untrustworthy because he waited so long to tell them. She eventually agrees to let him return although she puts him on desk duty. Wes tells the others that three of the Time Break Initiative scientists are confirmed to be permanently deceased. They are left with Dr. Samson, Dr. Li, and Dr. Morgenstein. In Tokyo, Archie and Zhang talk about finding Morgenstein and Samson alive. They go inside a restaurant where a man confirms he knows Dr. Li. Zhang gets rough with the man and forces him to give up what he knows. When they go to the residence, they find Dr. Li dead on the floor. Archie finds a stack of papers hidden under a floorboard.

Someone has written a letter to Dr. Li saying the force that once bound them is now hunting them. The letter is signed by Dr. Henry Samson. They find a picture. Wes tells everyone they have a lead on Samson, but she isn’t eager to let George help. She eventually relents and orders Sarah and George to go. On the plane, Sarah is given a gun and told she has this. Greta refuses to give George a gun because she doesn’t trust him. She asks George not to stab her in the back. In the Alps, they find Samson but he is already dead. When George is alone, he takes Samson’s ring which has a unique symbol on it. At headquarters, Greta suggests Samon was killed right after the checkpoint. He should still be alive when they go back. They try to figure out how to reach Samson before someone kills him.

At the pub, Archie and George discuss whether they think Samson will be alive long enough for him to save him. George just wants to prove to everyone that they still need him. Archie isn’t sure whether she can trust him again. If she were him, she wouldn’t have gotten caught though. When George researches the symbol on the ring, he learns about Dr. Kitty Gray’s book called “Tempus Edax Rerum – Exploring the Theory”. Then, he finds out that she was a controversial scientist who was killed in a laboratory blaze. He finds her book in the library with a URL inside. George watches a video of Dr. Gray talking about time travel. He looks at the people in the audience and notices someone familiar. It looks like Wes. George texts someone to say they need to talk.

On July 21, George and the others wait to go back. On checkpoint day, Greta and the Dane rush to get to Samson before he is killed. Shiv complains when George shoots Reggie in the head again. Moments later, they learn that Samson is already dead. George tells Shiv that they’re screwed. Shiv explains why he is angry at him. Later, Sarah insists they will forgive George eventually. George tells her about all the people he has killed and how he just can’t shoot Reggie in the heart. Sarah suggests he shoots Reggie in the head because he doesn’t want him to be scared. When they go back, Rebrov (Tom Burke) is waiting for George who tells them about Dr. Kitty Gray. He explains she was the mentor for the Time Break Initiative scientists.

George says Wes already knew about Dr. Gray. He thinks Janet was sent back before Gray was killed to help her finish her research. They might’ve created the black hole that caused the time loop because they didn’t know what they were doing. Shiv argues they shouldn’t do anything until they know what they’re dealing with. Rebrov asks who else they can talk to. Sarah tells Rebrov about Samson. He believes he can save Rebrov because he is in Geneva at the checkpoint. Rebrov leaves to get ready for a fight. After they go back, Rebrov makes it to Samson who learns he is there to keep him alive. Samson admits they’re trying to wipe out everyone who worked on the machine. When the assassins arrive, Rebrov kills many of them before taking Samson outside.

Rebrov gets shot before killing the last assassin. They flee in a car as Rebrov calls Wes to ask her to track the call and send the team after them. Samson worries that Rebrov is dying, but Rebrov says it doesn’t last. Dr. Gray speaks about the cost of time travel. Janet (Vinette Robinson) is sent back in time to help Samson and Dr. Gray. Wes has the doctor’s book in her desk drawer.

 

The Lazarus Project Review

I wasn’t a big fan of the first series of The Lazarus Project and was a little surprised to see it coming back. Nevertheless, some aspects of the show are good, but many more are mediocre or just plain bad. Due to the nature of the show, the story often feels disjointed since it quickly jumps from time period to time period. The premise is very interesting, but the series has never been able to fully capitalize on that unique idea.

Instead, we regularly get scenes that are repeated in rapid succession. For instance, George fought the same guy multiple times before finally shooting him in the leg to get the information he needed. Some of the characters are more interesting than others while some are being underutilized. Rebrov is probably the most interesting of the bunch while Shiv comes a close second.

Unfortunately, these two characters were barely present in this episode and the same can be said for Archie and the Dane. George isn’t a particularly strong protagonist because of the way the character has been built. Even then, it’d take a lot of effort to care about the characters. Another issue is the regular mumbling from many of the characters so subtitles are highly recommended.

The opening episode of series two wasn’t as frustrating as some of the past episodes, but it was dry and corny at times. The series could be a lot better. This episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Lazarus Project are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery at this link. Discuss this series and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.