The Lazarus Project Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Episode Four
Shiv gets suspicious of George’s movements culminating in a stand-off on The Lazarus Project Season 1 Episode 4, “Episode Four.”
After the heartbreaking reveal of Rebrov and Janet’s story of their growing family, George is even more resolute in his decision to travel back and save Sarah. Though he thinks he’s flying far enough under the radar, he’s caught the eye of Shiv, who is willing to do anything to get to the bottom of what George is planning.
Interwoven into the hour is more context for the Shiv we see now. Though not as gut-wrenching as Rebrov and Janet’s story, Shiv’s agency origins go further back and offer an intriguing insight into why he is the way he is.
The fact that Shiv understood from an incredibly early age that something is off but was unable to rely on anyone for answers as to why is rough. It’s only made worse because his parents have no idea how to deal with it either.
We eventually see how he takes his ability and makes it lucrative for himself, leading to his first meeting with Wes and his introduction to The Lazarus Project.
There are moments when they try to reach deeper and lead viewers to the more emotional aspects of Shiv’s story, much like the other agents’ stories have played out. Seeing Shiv try to change things at his uncle’s corner store almost gets to it, having his cousin get arrested for arson as opposed to seeing the store go up in flames.
It ultimately leaves you wanting to feel more for it than you do. A lot of these stories we’re getting just don’t seem to get as much space to breathe as I would hope to gain a deeper connection to these characters and what they’re giving up for the agency, with Shiv’s story seemingly sacrificed for the sake of getting to the final act and Rebrov’s moment.
Getting another perspective of Shiv and Rebrov’s stand-off that we glimpse in Episode Three is exciting and leaves you sitting with the questions, and answers posed at the moment.
One of the biggest questions looming over the entirety of the Project’s purpose and reason for being: Are they the good guys?
It’s a great question posed, and though we get Shiv’s assurance that the Project really are the good guys, a lot of the costs to their agents leaves that answer in some level of doubt. Paired with George’s questions about the Project’s interrogation tactics in the present, there is plenty of potential for murky explanations and unclear answers to them.
Meanwhile, in the present, Shiv is chasing down leads to understand what George is doing, making for some action-packed fun sequences. The fact that we see George pull the trigger is a surprising move and has me wondering how much farther George will go to get Sarah back.
With George crossing that line and the questions posed in the hour, the only clear thing is that whatever justifications come about will be as ethically clear as mud.
What did you think of this episode of The Lazarus Project? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Lazarus Project airs Sundays at 9/8c on TNT.
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Brianna Martinez
Brianna spends her time away from briefs, legal research, and pleadings, watching TV and writing about it. She generally has a lot of feelings about TV, which you can read about here and on Twitter.