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My Lazarus review verdict might make you think I’m being hypocritical about Harlan Coben’s new Prime Video show, but I stand by it. Lazarus is at once my favorite TV story in the ever-growing Harlan Coben collection, but it’s also the least effective so far.
So, why have I managed to get so much out of it? Two words: ambitious storytelling. It’s always much more satisfying to watch something that takes huge swings that don’t entirely land than to watch something that stays meek. Lazarus is anything but the latter.
Coben hasn’t exactly nailed his first original script (co-written with showrunner Danny Brocklehurst), but you can’t say it’s not dynamic. The story follows psychiatrist Joel Lazarus (Sam Claflin), who is forced to confront a series of cold cases after the death of his father Dr. Jonathan Lazarus (Bill Nighy) leads him to start having visions of his dad’s dead patients.
The best way I can sum up the series is to describe it as a cross between The Silence of the Lambs and The Sixth Sense, but neither the show’s synopsis nor nailing it to cultural references as well known as the famous line “I see dead people” does the experience justice.
Alongside The Girlfriend, I’d confidently say Harlan Coben’s Lazarus is Prime Video’s most fascinating crime or psychological thriller of the year. Given the fact that I’m still thinking about it nearly a month after first seeing it, I’m happy to let it be imperfect in its execution.
Harlan Coben’s Lazarus is a daringly ambitious Prime Video thriller, but it’s not perfect
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There’s a lot to like here. Lazarus is visually stunning, thanks to how the creative team has chosen to weave together two contrasting timelines into its production design. Indeed, the ‘best fictional psychologist’s office’ award is firmly won by Dr. Jonathan’s astonishing fortress.
It’s in his office that the bulk of exciting storytelling takes place. Joel encounters his father’s former clients behind closed doors, and that’s when reality and delusion begin to converge into one soupy mess. Claflin’s performance completely sells Joel’s inner turmoil, keeping a firm hand on the tiller when we’ve got no idea what’s going on.
The advantage of being kept in the dark is that we’ve got an abundance of twists and turns that genuinely shock us. Each episode is capped off with a mysterious question that made me want watch the next one, unable to tear myself away from the screen until I got some answer, any answer.
They do come, as well. The door has slyly been left open for a second season to be possible, but for the most part, our mysteries are wrapped up. This in itself is a rarity for 2020s television, which is often desperate to keep things open-ended in the hopes it’ll be picked up for more episodes. That’s not the way Coben has ever worked, and it’s to our advantage.
Being imperfect isn’t a sign of failure, actually
There is a big downside to the show, though – Harlan Coben’s Lazarus is a slew of conflicting storylines that don’t sit well together as a whole. There’s everything going on with Joel inside his dad’s office, alongside a present-day mystery surrounding how Dr. Johnathan actually died and whether it was more nefarious than first thought.
It goes without saying that both storylines are indeed linked, but it took me at least three to four episodes to figure out what was actually happening, bearing in mind Lazarus has six episodes in total. There are no clear markers for whether we’re in the past or present in any given moment, and so much happens at once that you need a breather (or a whiteboard thought mapping session) to digest what you’ve seen.
For me, that payoff comes a little too late, and it’s information overload up until that point. I can see viewers tuning out before the reveal, feeling as though they’re putting in a second shift at work just to watch a TV show in their downtime. It was hard enough for me watching it as my actual job.
On top of that, Prime Video’s marketing really oversells how much Nighy is actually in the series. His scenes are pivotal, that’s for sure, but blink and you’ll miss him. However, the names you’ll recognize in its ensemble are as formidable as you’d expect.
As I’ve said, I don’t mind that Coben’s first real shot at scriptwriting is chaotic and flawed, and I genuinely do feel enriched by watching Lazarus. In an age where crime procedurals fit a cookie-cutter mould that’s ripe for consumption, Coben is taking risks, going bold and giving audiences something he hasn’t shown them before.
If this is where Coben’s first original script gets him, imagine where the second or third will end up. Ultimately, he still nailed the things his books are renowned for – intelligent reveals, satisfying conclusions and well-thought out character dynamics.
Critically engaging with something that doesn’t quite work but leaves us with lots of questions isn’t a bad way for us to spend our free time.
All six episodes of Harlan Coben’s Lazarus are available to stream on Prime Video from October 22.
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