Lazarus Episode 13 Discussion

That was an anti-climactic ending to what was an awful show. So Hopna was made to expose the bioweapon development of the government. And there really was a cure, and only Skinner could figure it out. But there's no way they would've distributed the cure in time to save the first wave of people from dying considering they were less than 24 hours away from the Hopna doomsday.

Why exactly did we have the whole assassin subplot? It feels as though it was there to justify a final boss.

"Somehow" the main cast didn't die, but instead went under a molecular change? Why? Just because? I know why, it was to move the plot forward. And everyone lives happily ever after.

I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. First it has to be the writing, it was so painfully amateurish. It's as if they hired someone who just graduated college to be the head writer, because this show is as subtle as a baseball bat to the back of the head. It's messaging was on the nose, obnoxiously pretentious, and rife with modern messaging. "Humans are the disease", climate change, AI, economic inequality, and more. Not to mention the plot contrivances to help justify the ending. But the most glaring issue is how this desperately wants to be the next Cowboy Bebop. It just lacks the charm, writing, style, music, actual good characters, story, and everything else. You can actually point out the beats that it tried to copy from Bebop. Like the attempted Spike vs Vicious fight at the end, except it didn't have the stakes, set up, or anything else. It doesn't help that the first half of the season felt as if they were meandering with all of their eventual dead leads. This is something that likely needed 13 more episodes, as the ending felt anti-climactic, hollow, and rushed.

Another issue are the characters. Until this last episode, it made no sense why most of them were even there to begin with, as opposed to highly trained military agents or actual detectives. Doug and Leland being the main culprits. Was it just because Leland is rich? And what qualifications does Doug even have? Was it because someone was racist to him once? At least Elaina was a professional hacker, which makes some sense in this near future setting. Axel because he's good at escaping jail? And fighting I guess? My point is that there felt like no justification to bring this group together until the last 5 minutes of the show pulling that reason out of its ass. This group has absolutely nothing on the Bebop crew, that's for sure. They're bland, boring, and poorly developed.

Music is forgettable, the animation was above average, but it doesn't help the terrible plot. And English dub was atrocious.

Overall, this was Watanabe's desperate attempt to try and capture the magic and popularity of his best work, but it fell flat on its face in nearly every way. Time to hang it up, Watanabe.

3/10

Arise Team

Yay Lazarus will live on look for SM Team Lazarus coming soon.
The bane of the original series strikes again!

If they had just thought more about the story they had I think it would have worked better.
And had a sence of urgency like how the world reacted to COVID.

But even with its flaws the series was enjoyable and just makes my top ten of spring 2025.

Bro you're unhinged.

@17999 Why's that? Because I put forward valid criticisms and questions?

Don't play coy dude. You really think that's a valid critique? To say Doug was hired because "someone was racist to him once"?

@17999 My question I put forward was: Why were these people chosen for Lazarus? Why were these people, specifically, tasked with finding the man that has the cure to save humanity? The series did an incredibly poor job explaining and justifying their qualifications. Usually when a team is built, each person has something to bring to the table. What do Leland and Doug offer? Doug's first "big" character moment was him talking about some guy being racist to him once. Which rings even more hollow when, up until now, there have been 17 black Nobel Prize winners.

If his character is meant to be smart, why not make him the strategist of the group? It would've both improved his overall character while also giving him a purpose on the team. Instead, he's just a guy who drives the team around. My comment is meant to both mock the poor writing as well as Doug's underdeveloped character. Leland is just as bad though, if not worse.

So yeah, valid criticisms and questions.

Lazarus had so much potential, the worldbuilding? Or the lack of it? The world’s supposed to be ending in 24 hours and somehow everyone besides the main characters is just living their regular lives?? No panic, no chaos, just business as usual like it’s just another Tuesday. Final episode? Honestly a 5/10 for me. The whole show? Maybe a 7 because of the style and music. But it could’ve been so much more if they just paced it better and actually developed everyone properly. Kinda disappointed, not gonna lie.

@takkun_ Leland is a member of the Astor family, one of the most powerful old American families, did you forget? His connections end up being vital for when they need to figure out where Skinner went to the hospital to get his heart transplant. Leland also controls drones, is surprisingly tenacious and ends up in the center of the action very often, and is quite intelligent, always speaking up to help figure things out. Doug is pretty much the leader of the group, compiling the reports, constantly informing people of important details, and is the voice of reason. The guy Doug is talking about said that "There will never be a black Einstein.". Einstein won the Nobel prize in physics. A black person has never won the Nobel prize in physics. Doug was likely a science researcher. That's why the guy said what he said. Seems like you misunderstood.

@17999 Not at all, I previously questioned the reason as to why Leland was chosen was possibly because he was rich. The issue is, that's a really shallow reason. His drone work is also unimpressive compared to Eleina's hacking ability, for example. In fact, I think Eleina could've remotely controlled drones with her computer, which would make sense, but would take away from any kind of identity Leland had, at least at the start of the series. It took nearly half the series for Leland's addition to the team to be justified, and it was because of his sister being able to give the team information, not Leland himself. It felt like he was there simply for comedy relief and a more innocent outlook on things. Both also poor reasons for his character's existence.

While I agree Doug is like the leader, he didn't feel like a leader. At times he was more of a punching bag than anything. Hersch took over that role, and Doug was more like a Yes Man. This goes back to his lack of purpose and identity. If he's meant to be intelligent, he should've been given more authority, as well as a strategist role. Or perhaps instead he could've been a genius detective? Either option would have been better for his character. The line continues to say specifically "That it's impossible for people like us to win a Nobel Prize." I think for the line to be more effective, it should've stopped at the Einstein comment. Because the rest of it rings hollow as black people have won the Prize. Sure, it may not be for Physics, but economics and literature are nothing to sneeze at either. Ultimately it's a poor backstory and Doug feels underbaked as a result of the poor writing.

@17999 Not at all, I previously questioned the reason as to why Leland was chosen was possibly because he was rich. The issue is, that's a really shallow reason. His drone work is also unimpressive compared to Eleina's hacking ability, for example. In fact, I think Eleina could've remotely controlled drones with her computer, which would make sense, but would take away from any kind of identity Leland had, at least at the start of the series. It took nearly half the series for Leland's addition to the team to be justified, and it was because of his sister being able to give the team information, not Leland himself. It felt like he was there simply for comedy relief and a more innocent outlook on things. Both also poor reasons for his character's existence.

While I agree Doug is like the leader, he didn't feel like a leader. At times he was more of a punching bag than anything. Hersch took over that role, and Doug was more like a Yes Man. This goes back to his lack of purpose and identity. If he's meant to be intelligent, he should've been given more authority, as well as a strategist role. Or perhaps instead he could've been a genius detective? Either option would have been better for his character. The line continues to say specifically "That it's impossible for people like us to win a Nobel Prize." I think for the line to be more effective, it should've stopped at the Einstein comment. Because the rest of it rings hollow as black people have won the Prize. Sure, it may not be for Physics, but economics and literature are nothing to sneeze at either. Ultimately it's a poor backstory and Doug feels underbaked as a result of the poor writing.

@takkun_ It's just ridiculously contrived writing. The REAL reason they're part of Team Lazarus is because of that incident at the airport, where the mutation saved them from dying, resulting in them "rising like Lazarus." Then they just so happened to develop talents or had characteristics that made them complementary in a team setting.

@takkun_ Its not just that he was rich, its that he's a member of one of the most important American aristocratic families. Giving the team connections to things few people in the world had access to. His father was good friends with Abel as well, which pays off later in the show. He's also quite loyal, this being shown when he decides not to sell out the team during the senate hearing. Elaina is a hacker, not a drone pilot. Did you forget the episode where Leland goes off to the cult? The one where he donned the disguise? He's essential in quite a few of the episodes.

Totally disagree, Hersch was a pretty detached presence throughout much of the show, taking awhile to really establish a relationship with everybody (for reasons we see later on) and only really being there to give out the missions. And often off doing her own thing. Doug had a relationship with everyone and was the person always planning out the missions and keeping everybody informed.

Again, the racist guy was specifically saying that no black person will ever win a Nobel prize for physics. That there will never be a brilliant black scientific mind akin to a figure like Einstein. Not that there won't ever be a black person who will ever win a Nobel prize in general. It should be noted that less than 2% of all Nobel prizes have been awarded to black people. I do wish Doug got a backstory episode. But I totally disagree that he felt under baked or unimportant as a character. Everyone in Lazarus respected him and I think he comes across as an effective leader/brains of the group.

@17999 Again, that's a poor reason to have him on the team. They should have given him a special skill that sets him apart from the other members, with the rich and well connected aspect being a side trait. Just those traits alone are uncompelling and shallow.

Drones are technology, so it isn't out of the realm of possibly that they can be controlled by a computer 30 years in the future.

It would be hard to forget that episode considering it was pulled straight out of Bebop. Leland felt just as useless then as he does the rest of the show. My point is, being rich and loyal aren't good enough character traits to justify him being on a specialized secret government team leading a man hunt to save humanity.


Completely disagree. Hersch was always a prominent figure to the group, ultimately driving episodes, and by extension the team by giving them, leads, information, and more during meetings. She spoke with authority and the team listened. Doug was at times, ignored by the team, and lacked any real leadership qualities due to how bland he was. Maybe they wanted him to be seen as the leader, but they failed, which leads credence to my criticism of bad writing.

I simply quoted the remainder of the line that was spoken. They could've had him specifically mention physics, but instead had him say "a Nobel Prize". Perhaps it's just poor writing, but I still belive they should've just stopped at the Einstein comment. It would've been just as effective.

If you believe that, then we'll have to agree to disagree. Doug, and a majority of the other characters are all poorly written, bland, boring, and either have weak or non-existent backstories. He could've been a much more substantial character and leader in the hands of better writers.