Sumith Prasad
Created by Joe Barton, TNT’s science-fiction series ‘The Lazarus Project’ revolves around George, who gets stuck in a time loop as he lives for six months and returns to the starting point of July 1 at the end of the same period. George tries to convince the people around him, including his girlfriend Sarah, that he can dream of the future, only for them to disbelieve him. The first episode of the series, titled ‘Episode 1,’ follows George’s efforts to make sense of the time loop, which leads him to the Lazarus Project. The captivating film ends with a personal tragedy that will turn George’s life around. Let us share our detailed take on the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Lazarus Project Episode 1 Recap
‘Episode 1’ begins with George cherishing an intimate time with his girlfriend Sarah. He goes to a bank seeking a loan to develop an app titled “Hazard Lights,” which will use data to analyze any phenomenon on Earth. He receives the loan, comes to know that Sarah is pregnant, marries her, and deals with the MERS-22 pandemic in a short period. At the end of the same, he wakes up six months before on July 1, thinking that he has been dreaming about the future. He tries to convince Sarah and the people around him that he can predict the future, only for them to question his sanity. George loses his partner, who eventually gets together with Karl.
At the end of a certain period, George wakes up again on July 1 with Sarah on his side. He realizes that he regained the love of his life upon losing her to Karl. As he tries to unravel the mystery behind the time loop, he meets Archie, who introduces him to the “Lazarus Project,” a multinational organization that uses time jumps to deal with apocalyptic events. Whenever an event causes the end of the world, the Lazarus Project jumps the time back to the last July 1 and tries to prevent the catastrophic event. Archie also explains to George that he is a mutant, who is aware of time jumps while ordinary people are unaware of the same.
George then joins the Lazarus Project to save the world. He becomes a part of a team of highly potent agents from renowned intelligence and security agencies with multinational connections to make sure that the world doesn’t end anytime soon. One of the first assignments he becomes a part of deals with Dennis Rebrov, a former member of the Lazarus Project. He detonates a nuclear warhead upon killing Archie and Erik “The Dane” Eriksen, forcing the Lazarus Project head Elisabeth “Wes” Wesley to jump the time backward to July 1. Archie and Dane regain their lives and the team tries to find a way to stop Rebrov.
The Lazarus Project Episode 1 Ending: Is Sarah Dead?
After the time jump to save the world upon the explosion of the nuclear warhead, Archie gives George a day off. He takes Sarah to her work as usual but gets asked to join the team unexpectedly to follow a lead concerning Rebrov. The change in plans makes George unavailable to save Sarah from hitting a truck, as he does in the previous loop, which most likely kills her. Sarah is expected to die due to the accident, forcing George to find a way to bring her back. Since he works for a team that focuses on jumping time backward, he may want the Lazarus Project to do the same and save his beloved from dying for good.
Sarah may live if the Lazarus Project restores time to the last checkpoint, which is the start of July 1. However, if there is one thing the team of world-savers is clear about, it is that they won’t alter the time unless there is an apocalyptic event forcing them to do the same. After Archie gets killed in pursuit of Rebrov, George talks to her about how she would have remained dead if Rebrov hadn’t detonated the nuclear warhead. She makes it clear that the rules of the Project are more important than her life. Such clarity governs George’s team members and they most likely will not help him retrieve Sarah from dead using a time jump.
Therefore, George may get forced to rely on an apocalyptic event, which will force the Lazarus Project to jump time backward. He has one year to make sure that the world ends once again if he wants to reunite with Sarah. Rather than abandoning the team and fighting against it like Rebrov, George may try to remain a part of the Project to ensure that an event that causes the ends of the world happens. If he succeeds in doing the same within one year, Sarah is expected to live again.
Will the Lazarus Project Capture Rebrov?
After jumping the time backward to avoid the potential end of the world, that would have been caused by the nuclear warhead explosion, the Lazarus Project sets out to find Rebrov before he detonates the warhead again. Archie and her team find a lead that can guide them to the location of the wanted criminal. However, capturing Rebrov isn’t an easy task. Since he was a member of the Lazarus Project, he is already aware of how the team works, which gives him enough advantage over the latter. Archie and her team have to be innovative in their approach to capture Rebrov and confiscate the nuclear warhead.
The Lazarus Project’s efforts to capture him may get sabotaged by George, who may want another time jump to retrieve his wife back from death. He may secretly come between his own team and Rebrov to buy the latter enough time to detonate the warhead again. It will not be a surprise if George and Rebrov form an alliance, especially considering how invaluable Sarah is to the former. If that’s the case, the Lazarus Project would need to fight one of their own before they bring down Rebrov.
Read More: Where is The Lazarus Project Filmed?
