Warning: Major spoilers for Harlan Coben Lazarus upcoming.
I hope you've already watched all six episodes. Harlan Coben Lazarus (if not, what are you doing) and your head is probably spinning from all the crazy drama.
Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy give excellent performances as Laz (aka Joel) and Dr. L (aka Jonathan), a father-son duo brought together in the most unexpected way after Dr. L's sudden and mysterious death.
In general, think Silence of the Lambs meets Sixth sensewith typical British grit and epic production design thrown in for good measure. It's hard to make sense of what's going on, but with so many twists and turns to digest, there's no time to think about it.
That's why new Prime Video The show probably needs some explaining, especially with the explosive ending that I definitely didn't see coming. If you, like me, still have questions about Harlan Coben's ending Lazarusread on.
Who killed Dr. L?
Now our first question is a double bluff: Dr. L did commit suicide as suggested in episode 1. However, his reasons are the ones you won't see until the last minute.
Instead of simply committing suicide, Dr. L took his own life, succumbing to pressure from Brown (Kate Ashfield). Why? She was going to tell Laz that Dr. L had been giving false statements to the police, hiding the fact that he had killed clients and others had been wrongly imprisoned in order to accept responsibility.
Brown was the lead detective on the cases of Cassandra Rhodes (Sianad Gregory), Harry Nash (Jauhar Ben Ayed) and Imogen Carswood (Virge Gilchrist), knowing the real cause of their deaths. Instead, she wrongly imprisoned Arlo Jones (Jack Deem) and Franklin's father Barnway (Keith Bartlett) based on information provided to her by Dr. L, getting caught in his growing web of corruption in the process.
She also destroyed pages of Dr. L's suicide note to destroy any evidence that might incriminate her. Dr. L secretly recorded all the sessions he conducted in his office, including those that came without an appointment, including the day Brown confronted him.
Ironically, Laz still learned the inevitable: his perception of his father was forever changed (not that they had the best track record).
What other characters have died in the series?
I'm going to break this down case by case, so stay with me:
Laz's sister and daughter of Dr. L. Sutton (Eloise Little) died in 1998 before Lazarus begins with him being killed by an intruder, Olsen (Edward Hogg), a man who has been obsessed with her for years.
Neil Croft (Leon Ockendon) was murdered by his girlfriend Cassandra Rhodes. Dr. L. knew about this and helped her hide the body in the attic.
Dr. L.'s secretary Margot (Amanda Root) was murdered before her body was dumped on a city park trail. This happened after the death of Dr. L in the present day.
Harry Nash, Cassandra Rhodes and Imogen Carswood were killed by Dr. L while they were working with him as his clients. Shortly before her death, Imogen and Dr L had an affair. Dr. L is revealed to be a serial killer only after his death.
Brown is killed by a passing truck after trying to escape from Laz when he learns the truth.
Laura (Roisin Gallagher) is left for dead in the final minutes of episode six, although we're not entirely sure if she's actually dead.
What will happen to Laz?
As you can imagine, Laz is forever changed as a result of what happened in six episodes. He will have to come to terms with the fact that his dead father was a serial killer and had an affair, his sister was killed by a local stalker, he has a son who is also a killer (more on that later), and, to paraphrase, Sixth sensehe can see dead people.
While it appears that Laz may be able to move forward with her life and reconnect with her sister Jenna (Alexandra Roache) and friend McGovern (David Finn), there are still some things to think about.
In the final moments of episode 6, it is revealed that Laz has been listening to tape recordings of all of Dr. L's old patients the whole time, instead of actually experiencing the ghostly vision moments as they are shown on screen.
We're left with the question: Was this in Laz's head all along? Should we really trust any of the information we've been given the entire time we've been watching? I don't have a definitive answer to this question, but it was very clear that Dr. L's office was not, in fact, a TARDIS for ghosts.
There's clearly a lot of unresolved trauma here, so it's likely that Laz put his own pain and memories into a version of the truth that may or may not be as radical as it seems.
Why is Aiden so important?
Yes, Aiden (Curtis Tennant) is Laz and Bella's (Karla Krom) biological son, but he's much more significant when it comes to the final moments of the finale.
At this point, we already know that Margot was killed after Laz found her dead in the woods, but it wasn't until the end of episode 6 that it was revealed that Aiden killed her.
Moreover, Aiden shows up on Laura's doorstep without any warning. When she invites him to talk to her, Aiden attacks her, leaving her for dead.
We're guessing so, considering how much blood is covered in the room and on Aiden himself. This is our big cliffhanger leading into a potential second season.
It's a clever connection to the larger moral question at the heart of the show. Laz is so worried about following in Dr. L's footsteps that it only later dawns on him that Aiden may very well be in their shadow. “Like father, like son,” as they say, and we really have no idea what Aiden is capable of.
Will there be a season 2 of Harlan Coben's Lazarus?
At the time of writing, Lazarus by Harlan Coben wasn't renewed for a second season, but considering this is the acclaimed writer's first original script, we could see a departure from his usual limited series.
Aiden's actions open the door for more episodes, but that's what the creative teams are most focused on.
“We think the ending was very satisfying for the story,” producer Nicola Schindler tells me. “We answer all the questions in the latest episode. So there shouldn't be anything that you have to hear.
“They're great characters and it's a great production. If you want more, that's great, but the episodes have to work on their own.”
“We never do a show with a second season in mind, so we never do a second season,” Coben adds. “If it's called for and we come up with a storyline that's as good or better, we'll do it. If not, we'd love to create a new, original story.”
For star Alexandra Roach, the possibility of more episodes is much more encouraging. “I'd love to play Jenna again and go back to that fancy house and put on those fancy clothes and pick up the story where we left it,” she tells me.
“I think it’s so open. And I'd love to see Jenna's reaction to [the cliffhanger]. I love Harlan and Danny's creativity and I love how challenging it is to bring it to life. I'll definitely be open to more.”
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