Lazarus Part 2 Episodes 4-6

The search for Doctor Skinner leads Team Lazarus along various avenues of investigation.  From skeezy stock brokers to a mysterious cult that abhors technology, no clue is too small and no suspect unimportant if it gets the team to their target and the cure for the drug that is set to kill billions in less than 30 days.  Luckily, the team might have a way to lure out the illusive Hapna creator with the promise of a cure, but will it be enough or is Skinners reach far greater than they realize?

Last week’s premiere look at Lazarus left a bad taste in my mouth.  Maybe I was being a little too harsh but at the same time, there’s a lot of potential with a series with the premise that it has and yet it’s not doing what I feel is enough with the materials given.  That said, it’s sophomore outing does improve things if only a little by allowing the ensemble cast to step out of Axel’s overimportant shadow and show us a bit more of how the world is reacting to the Hapna Doomsday scenario that’s been thrust upon it.  It doesn’t make me like the series 100% but improvements are better than just staying stagnant…for the most part.
 
Episode 4 might be the best episode of the six I’ve seen so far, though the bar is pretty low in that regard.  What makes it work for me is seeing all of team Lazarus actually do something as a combined unit rather than just split up Scooby Doo style to look for clues.  Ngl the club setting also helped, giving a more vibrant and downright gorgeous look to a show that looks pretty drab, at least to me.  Honestly, I don’t get why Leland had to get sent in dressed as a girl when Chris was capable of doing most of the seduction and ass kicking all by herself.  Besides being plenty gorgeous, Chris dealing with the sick and twisted scumbag who was about to let his cohorts have his way with inebriated girls was the most F Yeah moment of the series.  Doug was also allowed to kick some ass himself and in a much less flamboyant try hard manner as Axel.  Finally, Lazarus did some good even if it wasn’t the end goal of their actual mission…that I still have plenty of doubts on.
 
This second set of episodes also did more of what I was hoping to see from the shows get go: how is the world reacting to the impending doom via Hapna?  Well for some like the aforementioned stock broker scumbags, they’re plenty content thinking a cure is gonna be found and they’ll find some way to profit off of its success.  Furthermore, seeing their hedonistic ways almost befall Chris and the other girls is a definite sign of society hitting an all time low before the apocalypse is even in full swing.  Others, like the Doctors of Delta, are freaking the F out and losing sleep just trying to find some kind of cure.  Some want to atone, others just want to survive.  It’s a far cry from the “meh” reactions we were generally getting from the first three episodes from Skinners announcement and I hope as we get into the second half, this properly escalates.
 
As happy as I was to see Team Lazarus take down Dr. 909 and Sam Stephenson, they’re actual effectiveness in their main mission continues to kind of, well, suck.  They did change tactics to try and lure out Skinner with news of a fake cure but the whole thing was hijacked by an annoying hacker who couldn’t stop screaming “HARRRRRDCOOOOORRRRE!!!”.  Even their main hacker, Elaina, was totally outmatched.  In the end, Skinner didn’t have anything to do with the very trap set and now it’s got me wondering something about Skinner himself…but I should probably talk about Episode 6 before I take that on.  Anyway, Team Lazarus seems good at smaller scale missions like in EP4 and if they got more wins in like that, I might call them competent.  But overall, I do not.
 
So Episode 6, there’s a couple of things.  Firstly, the plot about a team member returning to a cultist commune they used to live in sounds eerily similar to the plot of a Season Three episode of NCIS Sydney.  In fact, that third season started a few months after Lazurus aired so who could have ripped off who?  There’s even a race to stop an act of mass murder of the entire cult at the end of the episode.  However, unlike the resident tech expert/hacker from NCIS Sydney, we still don’t know much about Elaina and how she became such a skilled hacker after living in a near tech-less commune for most of her life.  Heck, sending Leland with her was just an excuse to give him something to do (even he had to point out how he hasn’t done much other than get chased since joining this team).  What EP6 does make me ask now is this: Is Skinner still alive?  Given his brain could be used to create a terrible AI, is it possible he died forever ago after setting this plan into motion and took whatever cure for Hapna to his grave?  If Delta is to be believed, the Monkeys they tested Hapna on first are starting to die off, so the threat is real.  Idk, I think I’m both onto something but also giving the show a little too much credit.
 
Speaking of too much credit: Axel.  I really, really don’t like this guy and his “I can do anything without consequence or injury” attitude.  His infiltration Dr. Rahman’s place was supposed to be another example of how cool he was.  But it failed with me because the fight scene was so poorly staged and hard to follow…and honestly it was just ugly.  For a series that has the action scenes designed by John Wick director Chad Stehelski, none of them have even come close to matching the majesty and near perfection of any fight from that series.  And when he isnt the center of attention, Axel is off doing stretches and running around like a kid hopped up on way too much caffeine and maybe a few illegal drugs.  Like get the heck off my screen dude, I wanna see someone else do something on this show who isnt constantly begging for attention.  Sheesh.
 
Lazarus’ second week had its moments too be sure and they were good ones too.  The shows core team can work when everyone is allowed to contribute and not continuously fight for the spotlight with Axel and the worlds reaction to Hapna’s true nature was much needed and welcome.  But the show still feels like its dragging a lot and it detouring to follow dead end after dead end in the search for Skinner, instead replacing the ominous big bad with annoying hackers and crazy cultists.  Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo could get away with this because with both of them it’s about the journey, not the destination (also better characters).  Lazarus should be all about getting to the destination pronto but doesn’t seem to be in a rush to do so.  Maybe this shouldn’t be 13 episodes but who am I to say.  Maybe things will improve in the next set of episodes but I’m not keeping my hopes up there.  See ya Next Monday for more Lazarus right here over at the Gundam Anime Corner.