Sumith Prasad
The eighth episode of TNT’s science-fiction series ‘The Lazarus Project,’ titled ‘Episode 8,’ revolves around the aftermath of the explosion George witnesses. After dealing with the dead body of Shiv, he goes to the base of the Lazarus Project seeking answers concerning the explosion, only to learn that the same was an emission of gravitational radiation, caused by two black holes merging together, which creates a time loop. Archie sets out to put an end to the loop by trying to find a former Lazarus agent while George tries to do the same by rescuing Shiv from death. The highly engrossing episode 8 ends with ambiguous developments one after the other. If you are trying to make sense of the same, you are at the right place! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Lazarus Project Episode 8 Recap
‘Episode 8’ begins with a flashback scene that depicts Rebrov asking Janet out in 2012. While he did the same, he received an unrevealed text message from an anonymous sender. In the present time, George tries to read the note Shiv has in his jacket pocket. Since the same gets drenched in blood, he fails to read what’s written on the piece of paper. He then goes to the base of the Lazarus Project to know who is behind the explosion. Elisabeth “Wes” Wesley lets him know that it wasn’t a bomb but an emission of gravitational radiation, caused by two black holes merging together. She adds that they are in a loop that lasts three weeks, which starts at the last checkpoint.
Wes tells George that a black hole singularity cannot appear overnight, which makes her suspect that Janet is involved in the same. She adds to him that Archie is in Shanghai to find her. Archie finds Zhang Rhui, who was with Archie before she disappeared. The time loop continues to renew every three weeks. In one loop, George gets together with Sarah. In another, he kills her. Archie learns that Zhang can remember things that get undone when the time gets restored to the last checkpoint. Zhang tells her that her people developed the serum on their own to remember time loops. She also adds that she handed Janet over to her handler, who disappeared along with her.
Archie learns from Zhang that George met Janet. She then confronts him about detonating the Big Boy for the sake of reuniting with Sarah. Wes decides to give the serum to world leaders and influential rulers, hoping that they will team up to put an end to the time loop. George gives Sarah the serum so that she can remember everything that happened between them.
The Lazarus Project Ending: How Does Janet Travel Back in Time?
Ever since the black hole singularity happens, Wes and other agents of the Lazarus Project suspect Janet’s involvement in the same. Janet is one of the most brilliant operatives who had worked for Project with immense knowledge about their systems, which explains why Archie sets out to find her. She manages to find Janet’s location and goes to the place, only to find no one. However, the episode does show Janet in the same location while the 2012 London Olympics was underway, indicating that she somehow managed to travel beyond the last checkpoint to end up in 2012.
Janet’s time travel can be the result of the machinery she seemingly built for the Chinese. From Zhang, Archie learns that her people have been trying to build what the Lazarus Project has. The Chinese must have forced Janet to use her knowledge of the Project’s systems to build a time machine. While the Project only needs time to restart from the last checkpoint, the Chinese may have wanted the realm of the past open for them to travel to any year they want. They must have forced Janet to configure the system according to their wants, only for her to get trapped in the same.
That can be the reason why Janet seeks Rebrov’s help by sending him a message that means, “I am in trouble. I need you. Come and get me.” Janet doesn’t time travel willingly. She can be the victim of the Chinese’s greed to conquer time. If that’s not the case, she must have traveled back in time as the unforeseen result of a mistake she committed while making the machinery for the Chinese.
How is Rebrov the Key? Will the Lazarus Project Bring Janet Back?
After killing Shiv, George tries to save him at the start of every loop, only to fail. Upon coming to know that his neighbor Reggie is a paramedic, he seeks his help to make Shiv stay alive. Reggie finds a way to save Shiv from dying, only for the latter to inform George that Rebrov is the “key.” Rebrov is the key because he is the only one who knows Janet has traveled back in time to the past, especially when Archie and her team are pointlessly looking for her in the present time. Rebrov is the only one who can explain the significance of the note Shiv has, which reads, “It’ll be worth the wait.”
Rebrov first read the message in 2012 in a text message he received from an anonymous individual. Years later, Janet conceived it as a code that means, “I am in trouble. I need you. Come and get me.” He connects the dots and realizes that the text message was from Janet, who sent the same upon traveling back to 2012. Rebrov then goes to the Lazarus Project to let Wes and others know that he knows exactly where Janet is and that they need his help to find her. First of all, as Janet’s partner, Rebrov may know her location or any clue that can lead him to the same. Along with the meaning of the code, Janet might have told him how to “get her” upon framing the message.
If that’s the case, Wes may need Rebrov’s help to get Janet to put an end to the time loop. But it cannot be ignored that Rebrov goes to the Lazarus Project, the same organization that destroyed his family, upon figuring out that Janet is in the past. If he knows the location and can find her on his own, he doesn’t have any reason to go to Wes. Therefore, Rebrov may need the Project’s help as much as the Project needs his help to locate Janet. By “offering” his “help,” Rebrov must be trying to strike a deal with the Project to retrieve his partner.
Rebrov may need the Lazarus Project’s systems to go back in time and save Janet from the past. If that’s the case, Wes may think twice about giving a former agent, who went rogue, access to the Project’s systems. There is a possibility of Rebrov taking advantage of the same to exact his vengeance on Wes and others after finding Janet. Therefore, the Lazarus Project may only find Janet if Wes is certain that there is no other way to put an end to the time loop.
Does Shiv Die or Stay Alive? Will the Time Loop End?
Ever since killing Shiv, George tries several ways to save him. Although he manages to save him with the help of Reggie, he will be dead again in three weeks. Thus, the only way to save Shiv is to put an end to the time loop. He knows that Janet is the most realistic option they have to put an end to the loop and that can be why he says to George that Rebrov is the key to the resolution of their concerns. Wes may try to end the loop with the help of world leaders by giving them the serum to remember the loops. However, it may not solve her issues right away.
If Wes involves powerful countries and governments in the predicament, hoping that they will team up against China to stop the latter from using the time machine, the Third World War may break out. The consequences of such an international conflict can be more dangerous than the loop and it may not even resolve any of her problems. If that’s the case, she may get forced to strike a deal with the devil and accept Rebrov’s offer to help her find Janet. The Project may get forced to grant Rebrov whatever he needs in return for his help and his demands may not be ones Wes can easily accept.
Read More: Where is The Lazarus Project Filmed?
