Harlan Coben’s creation, Lazarus, is a fresh series streaming on Prime Video, featuring Sam Claflin in the role of Joel “Laz” Lazarus and portraying his father, Dr. Jonathan Lazarus. This six-part series depicts Joel’s journey home following his father’s demise, where he stumbles upon a complex array of unsolved killings, familial enigmas, and inexplicable visions spanning many decades. Across the show, Joel contends with his father’s previous deeds, alongside the sorrowful killing of his sister Sutton, which happened a quarter-century earlier.

Right from its premiere, the audience is immersed in Joel’s viewpoint as he confronts sorrow, distrust, and the disquieting sense that his father’s passing may not be as simple as it appears. A message, purportedly penned by Jonathan, features a sketch of a three-legged table and the phrase “It’s not over,” indicating that elements from the past remain unresolved. Joel’s disbelief regarding the note—doubting if his father possessed a firearm—propels him into an inquiry that slowly exposes the hidden truths of the Lazarus lineage.

Joel Arrives Home and Encounters Visions

Upon Joel’s return to his father’s residence, he is instantly met with recollections and apparitions that direct him towards solutions. Initially, he perceives images of his father encouraging him to look into dormant cases, such as the vanishing of Cassandra, a previous patient. These spectral insights eventually guide Joel to discover the remains of Cassandra’s partner, Neil, concealed behind a hidden partition in her former flat, thereby revealing a pattern of obscured fatalities linked to Jonathan’s psychiatric work.

As the program unfolds, Joel’s spectral encounters become more vivid, encompassing recurrent sightings of Sutton prior to her demise. He makes strenuous efforts to alter the past, striving to avert her fatal mishap, yet fails. Such otherworldly occurrences obscure the distinction between actuality and Joel’s apprehension, simultaneously prompting him to scrutinize the authentic circumstances of his father’s end and the likelihood that another individual orchestrated the killings.

The Symbol of the Three-Legged Table

The three-legged table, initially depicted in Jonathan’s supposed suicide letter, becomes a pivotal emblem across the entire series. Joel observes it consistently—among his father’s belongings, within messages, and even during visions—denoting both instability and a persistent motif within the Lazarus lineage. When questioned, Billy, Sutton’s former boyfriend, clarifies that the table denotes a passage to the afterlife, illustrating Jonathan’s preoccupation with mortality, cyclical events, and human ethical principles.

During the concluding episode, Jonathan elucidates to Joel that the emblem signifies life’s recurring pattern: offspring eventually mirror their progenitors, and historical events will recur unless deliberately halted. This disclosure emphasizes a primary message of the series, stressing that Joel’s difficulties extend beyond resolving homicides to confronting the ancestral cycles of sorrow, aggression, and ethical concessions within his immediate family.

Solving the Homicides

Joel’s inquiry reveals a sequence of linked fatalities. Initially, suspicion gravitates towards Sutton’s former partner, Billy, particularly after Joel discovers that Billy kissed Jenna, his sister, on the evening of Sutton’s passing to incite envy. Nevertheless, with further information surfacing, it becomes evident that Billy could not have murdered Jonathan, as he was undergoing rehabilitation when Jonathan died. He likewise did not murder Sutton. 

Joel subsequently redirects his attention to his childhood companion, Sam Olsen. Proof, encompassing home videos and unusual personal effects, suggests Sam’s participation in Sutton’s slaying. When challenged, Sam confesses to taking her life, driven by obsession and mental instability. A physical altercation ensues, yet Joel is interrupted by his son, Aiden, thereby averting additional catastrophe.

The Astonishing Revelation Regarding Jonathan Lazarus

The climactic disclosure stuns both Joel and the audience: Jonathan Lazarus is the orchestrator behind numerous homicides. He coerced Detective Alison Brown to conceal his misdeeds and implicate others, justifying the killings as deserved retribution for his patients. Residual recordings expose his ruthless planning, absence of contrition, and conviction that culpability is a destructive feeling that ought not to govern human conduct. Jonathan even engineered the events of his own demise, adhering to Alison’s counsel prior to her unforeseen death.

Joel comprehends that a multitude of the visions he underwent were actualizations of therapy cassettes left by his father. These audio documents obfuscate the boundaries separating recollection, psychological distress, and paranormal occurrences, mirroring the persistent impact of Jonathan’s deeds. This discovery not only resolves the cold cases but compels Joel to face the actuality of his father’s ethical decay and the burden of his heritage.

Joel’s Son and the Subsequent Generation

Joel’s inquiry leads to a further significant finding: Aiden is his biological offspring, conceived during a fleeting reconciliation with his former spouse, Bella. This revelation underscores the program’s core premise: the recurring cycle of familial trauma. Aiden’s existence acts as a testament that the decisions of one generation invariably affect the subsequent one, and that sequences of aggression, concealment, and sorrow will persist if not confronted.

In the concluding sequence, Joel visits Laura, who was scheduled to receive treatment from Dr. Jonathan Lazarus but instead encountered Joel following his father’s demise. Upon his arrival, the dwelling is in disarray, with furnishings overturned and items strewn about. Aiden stands in the entrance, gripping a bloodied blade. He softly utters, “I’m sorry,” prompting Joel to ponder if the cycle of gloom within the Lazarus household is recommencing with the ensuing generation.