Lazarus – Episode 02

Episode Synopsis:

With the Lazarus team assembled, the hunt for Dr. Skinner begins in earnest. Eleina picks up a lead that their target had purchased a survival shelter, so Alex and Chris set out to case the facility while Doug and Leland investigate the company that built it. The investigation turns violent when both parties encounter armed attackers who are also interested in the owner of the shelter – though perhaps for different reasons.

Review:

Despite being the kickoff to our manhunt, episode 2 of Lazarus starts off with an relatively tempered introduction to the titular team’s base of operations and gives us a bit of time to feel out each character’s vibe. We get to tour with Doug and Alex, getting a peek at everyone’s living quarters and the kinds of hardware, vehicles, and security measures at their disposal.

While they seem to be well-outfitted for a small team, I do have some concerns that their briefing material seems to be entirely built around Wikipedia. That said, I adore the detail that Skinner played ice hockey in college – there was no need to include that, but he already feels like so much more of a real person than many elusive antagonists.

The opening third offers an efficient reintroduction to our setting and cast with minimal exposition – most of the dialog is about Skinner and Doug’s hostility towards Alex, while the background scenes fill us in on the chaotic nature of this ragtag band and the ongoing reactions to the Hapna revelation. It definitely follows Watanabe’s style of letting the world largely speak for itself while the characters focus on the plot.

As Su observed in episode 1, the world of Lazarus feels very grounded, and there’s a clear contrast between the shining architecture of the wealthy high rises and the decaying slums around the hideout. The class commentary here is pretty hard to miss, even if it isn’t made explicit by the script, and the rows upon rows of survival shelters we come across later demonstrate that even before the Hapna crisis, a lot of rich folks were already investing in ways to ride out civil unrest and environmental disasters.

Once the team splits up to pursue their leads, we get a fun moment where Chris learns just how long Alex’s prison sentence was and kicks him to the curb in a hurry.

He explains that his original term was only 3 years, but the system doubles your time for each escape attempt. That means that by this point, he tried to escape about 8 times before he succeeded, which is NUTS. Great way to show that whatever he was in for, it likely wasn’t worth keeping him locked up for multiple life sentences.

Once the duo reaches the shelter connected to Skinner, they find a seemingly random unresponsive dude there. Almost immediately, they’re surrounded by cartel members and gangsters, resulting in a close-quarters gun battle through the narrow halls and tunnels. In a cool contrast to the wide open spaces Alex parkoured his way through previously, these fights are claustrophobic and chaotic. I love to see them exploring that variety of scenes from the get-go, and the John Wick influence remains strong here.

Meanwhile, Doug and Leland find the office of the company Skinner supposedly purchased the shelter from, only to find it abandoned and ransacked. They’re set upon by two different armed thugs, but once everyone explains themselves, it turns out that these are debt collectors coming after the owner of the company who had skipped out on his liabilities.

It’s another example of the world being filled out without getting bogged down in explanations – any culture where heavily-armed debt collectors are seen as more of a nuisance than a shock is one that’s falling apart. It also leaves Doug and Leland with nothing to show for their investigation.

Back in the shelter, the gunfight becomes a massive standoff as the DEA and FBI arrive for their own case, arresting the gangsters and clarifying the situation for our second team.

It seems like this whole thing was a goose chase, and we’re now another day closer to the first Hapna deaths.

Despite being pretty light on story, this is a pretty grim start to our adventure. The first episode had the introduction of our big ticking clock, and gave the sense of a world on the brink, but with the team coming together and Alex’s constant escape shenanigans, it felt breezier and more fun than that would imply. This one actually feels like a real downer, but I say that in the most positive way. It establishes that this will not be easy, and not all leads will pan out. A lot can happen in a month, but we’re still no closer to finding Skinner or his cure.

Summary:

A strong second episode keeps the story moving while giving us time to get to know our cast and immerse ourselves in the world. The action still looks solid, and the worldbuilding keeps on delivering, so there’s honestly not much more to say. I’m having a blast so far, and while I expect to be pretty bummed out by some of the commentary, as long as it keeps being delivered with this level of quality, I’ll call it a win.

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