Warning: major spoilers for Harlan Coben’s Lazarus ahead.
Hopefully, you’ve already watched all six episodes of Harlan Coben’s Lazarus (if not, what are you doing), and your head is likely scrambled from all of its unhinged drama.
Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy are stellar 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.
Basically, think The Silence of the Lambs meets The Sixth Sense, with some typical British grit and epic production design thrown in for good measure. It’s difficult to make head or tail 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 the new Prime Video show probably needs some explaining, particularly given that explosive finale cliffhanger I definitely didn’t see coming. If, like me, you still have questions about the ending of Harlan Coben’s Lazarus, read on.
Who killed Dr. L?
Now, our first question is a double bluff – Dr. L did kill himself, as it’s suggested in episode 1. However, his reasons why are ones you won’t have seen coming until the last minute.
Instead of this being a straightforward suicide, Dr. L took his own life after succumbing to pressure from Brown (Kate Ashfield). Why? She was about to reveal to Laz that Dr. L had been supplying false evidence to the police, covering up the fact he had killed clients, having others wrongly imprisoned to take the fall.
Brown was the managing detective of Cassandra Rhodes (Sianad Gregory), Harry Nash (Jaouhar Ben Ayed) and Imogen Carswood (Virge Gilschrist) cases, knowing the real reason for their deaths. Instead, she wrongly imprisoned Arlo Jones (Jack Deam) and Father Franklin Barnway (Keith Bartlett) based on information given to her by Dr. L, getting caught up in his growing web of corruption in the process.
She also destroyed pages of Dr. L’s suicide note in order to eliminate any evidence that might incriminate her. Dr. L used to secretly record every session he held in his office, including those who wandered in without an appointment, which included the day Brown confronted him.
Ironically, Laz found out the inevitable anyway, with his perceptions of his father forever changed (not that they had the best track record as it was).
Which other characters died across the series?
I’m going to break this one down case by case, so stay with me:
Laz’s sister and Dr. L’s daughter Sutton (Eloise Little) died in 1998, before Lazarus begins, having been killed by intruder Olsen (Edward Hogg), a man who had been obsessed with her for years.
Neil Croft (Leon Ockendon) was killed by girlfriend Cassandra Rhodes. Dr. L knew about this and helped her to hide the body in her attic.
Dr. L’s secretary Margot (Amanda Root) was murdered before having her body dumped on the City Park Trail. This happened after Dr. L’s death in the present day.
Harry Nash, Cassandra Rhodes and Imogen Carswood were all killed by Dr. L while working with him as his clients. Imogen and Dr. L were having an affair shortly before her death. Dr. L is only revealed to be a serial killer after his death.
Brown is killed by a passing truck after trying to run away from Laz once he learns the truth.
Laura (Roisin Gallagher) is left for dead in episode 6’s final moments, though we aren’t completely sure if she actually is dead.
What happens to Laz?
As you can imagine, Laz is left forever changed by what happens across the six episodes. He’s got to deal with the fact his dead dad was a serial killer and was having an affair, his sister was killed by a local stalker, he’s got a son who is also a murderer (more on that later), and to paraphrase The Sixth Sense, he can see dead people.
Just as it appears Laz can move forward with his life and repair his relationships with sister Jenna (Alexandra Roach) and friend McGovern (David Fynn), there’s something else to consider.
In the final moments of episode 6, it’s revealed that Laz has been listening to tape recordings of all Dr. L’s old patients the entire time, rather than actually having his ghostly apparition moments as they’re shown onscreen.
We’re left with the question: was this in Laz’s head all along? Should we actually trust any of the information we’ve been fed the entire time we’ve been watching? I don’t have a finite answer for this, but it was pretty clear Dr. L’s office wasn’t actually a TARDIS for ghosts.
There’s clearly a lot of unresolved trauma here, so it’s likely Laz has infused his own pain and memories into a version of the truth, which may or may not be as extreme as it seems.
Why is Aiden so significant?
Yes, Aiden (Curtis Tennant) is Laz’s biological son with Bella (Karla Crome), but he’s a lot more significant than that when it comes to the finale’s closing moments.
So far, we already know Margot has been killed after Laz found her dead in the forest, but it isn’t until the end of episode 6 that it’s revealed that Aiden killed her.
What’s more, Aiden shows up on Laura’s doorstep without any warning. When she invites him in to talk to her, Aiden attacks her, leaving her for dead.
We’ll assume she is, given how much blood is over the room and Aiden himself. It acts our big cliffhanger moment leading into a potential second season.
It’s a clever tie-in to the big moral question at the underbelly of the entire show. Laz is so worried that he’s following in the footsteps of Dr. L, it only dawns on him later that Aiden could well be in both of their shadows. ‘Like father, like son’ as the saying goes, and we’ve truly got no idea just how much Aiden is capable of.
Will there be a Harlan Coben’s Lazarus season 2?
As of writing, Harlan Coben’s Lazarus hasn’t been renewed for a second season, but given it’s the first original script from the acclaimed author, we could see a deviation from his usual limited series.
Aiden’s actions leave a door open to more episodes, but that’s more at the forefront of the creative teams’ minds.
“We think that the ending is very satisfying to the story,” producer Nicola Schindler tells me. “We do give all the answers in that final episode. So there should be nothing that you’re left waiting to hear.
“They’re great characters, and it’s a great setup. If you want more, that’s great but episodes should work in their own right.”
“We never do a show aiming for season two, which is why we never do season twos,” Coben adds. “If it’s demanded, and we come up with a storyline that’s as good or better, we’ll do it. If not, we’re happy to do a new, original story.”
For star Alexandra Roach, the possibility of more episodes is a lot more hopeful. “I’d love to play Jenna again, and go back to that fancy house and wear those fancy clothes and pick up the story from where we where we leave it,” she tells me.
“I think it’s, it’s so open. And I’d love to see Jenna’s reaction to [the cliffhanger]. I love Harlan and Danny’s writing, and the challenge of bringing that to life. I’d definitely be open to more.”
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