The Lazarus Project Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Episode Five

Things go off the rails as George continues his mission and Archie searches for answers on somewhat frustrating The Lazarus Project Season 1 Episode 5, “Episode Five.”

The dual timelines continue as we glimpse Archie’s formal introduction to covert government agencies straight out of school, thanks to a meeting set up by her Cambridge professor. Though MI-5 initially recruits her, Shiv reads her into a different kind of covert agency—The Lazarus Project.

In the aftermath of Ryan’s death at the hands of Dennis, the Project flies into a flurry to figure out why it happened and, more importantly, who this alleged mole is, according to Rebrov.  

While we see Shiv and Archie’s dynamic shape up to become the one, we see in the present as she fiercely refuses to believe that Shiv would be a mole given their history. Seeing that Shiv is the one to read her in also adds depth and believability to the confusion and shock Archie is working through as she spends most of the hour trying to figure out what is happening, whether Shiv is the mole, as George claims.

George is playing rogue agent elsewhere as he continues his trek through Romania after shooting Shiv in the chest. There isn’t much time for rumination as George hits the road again, heading towards the coordinates that belong to the compound housing “Big Boy.”

George knows that Shiv will come for him but despite all that and a solid guarantee that the Project will hunt him down. And yet, he’s still willing to try to bring Sarah back. While an oddly heartwarming gesture, I can’t imagine the Sarah we were briefly introduced to would appreciate knowing how far-gone George is now.

What are the odds this irrevocably changes their relationship should George succeed?

Rebrov’s elusive answers in his conversation with Archie are intriguing because, to the viewer, it’s almost as if he is making it so that George is the mole. Are there more layers to this story than what we see, or are the answers as cut and dry as they seem?

Blackbird and how these agents and former agents are connected points to the former. But again, kind of hard to tell.

The way George reacts to everything happening to him, from the car chase to pushing the cop in front of the garbage truck –which feels remarkably pointed given how Sarah died—is disproportionate to what’s being set in front of him. I get shocked, but the way there is a hint of the dark comedy feels out of place, given what we’ve seen.

George is terrible at this undercover thing. Staring at a weapon of mass destruction with the kind of awe that leaves the viewer with a justifiable amount of concern. But the way he decides to move forward with his detonation plan, despite what he’s learned and what’s at stake with no guarantee it will work, is a choice.

Since my first review, I’ve gone back and forth on this aspect of the show’s premise. But with George holding the button and being so close to instigating the beginning of the end, the morally grey parts of his choice begin to feel worryingly selfish.

So, I will say that I tip my hat off to the writers as they put viewers in the middle of this moral quandary with no extensive explanation for motivations beyond George, Rebrov, and Janet.

But I will need more information about The Project’s intentions beyond what’s on the proverbial brochure. Are we looking at an Alias SD-6 situation? Or is this meant to play like a realistic, shady, and extremely covert agency that works best in the grey?

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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