The fourth episode of “The Lazarus Project” (LP) ended up being a decline from the previous one. The excessive attention to the relationship between George and Sarah was so disproportionate to the progress of the plot that it bogged down the story.
I find it fascinating that the LP writers think that anyone cares about whether or not George and Sarah get together again. Unless their pairing or un-pairing has any relevance to the ultimate fate of the world, their personal lives are boring. And if there is any relevance to their getting-together or not, the writers need to make it clear quickly.
Firstly, I want to say that George going to see 2018 Sarah in the grocery store amounted to stalking in the worse way. The same goes for Sarah going to see 2018 George at the party.
Secondly, it goes beyond stalking when George drugs 2018 George into unconsciousness. This is assault, pure and simple. George continues to show what a disreputable figure he is. If you want an audience to care about a character, then they have to be at least a little likeable.
Thirdly, when our George and Sarah see past-George and Sarah on the street, I was hoping that the past ones would see the future ones just to see what time paradox would occur. Instead Bryson shoots them to take the mystery out of the show.
Since George and Sarah seem to interact with their counterparts without causing the universe to implode, the question now becomes how much has their interference with the past versions of themselves going to affect the future. Of course one could argue that with a reset it won’t matter. But George remembers the resets. What then?
In any case, the creepy antics of our George and Sarah were so belabored that I wondered if I was watching a Hallmark Channel romance or a science-fiction show. From the discussion in the bed to the grocery store to the party to the alley where 2018 George is drugged, it just went on ad nauseum. I now officially beg the writers to end this arc.
On the other hand, I found Archie’s conversation with Ross about Operation Midnight to be insightful. It never dawned on me that Wes could have set up Ross’ death in the past to cover up her complicity in the murder of Dr. Gray and the scientists.
Equally fascinating was Ross’ complete acceptance of Wes’ directive to kill Dr. Gray and the scientists. The idea that time travel needed to be stopped seemed plausible when you listened to Ross. After all, if the LP singularity only backstopped to the previous July 1, then that is not full-on time travel like the Time Break Initiative. Or is it a distinction without a difference?
When Rebrov shot everybody to advance the next time-loop re-set, it brought to mind one of the topics which I discussed last season. If people die in a time loop, and spend any time waiting for the time loop to re-set, what do they experience in death?
It would seem that no one experiences anything as no one talks about their time, albeit brief, in the afterlife. Does this mean that the show posits the non-existence of personal consciousness once death occurs? Or do the revived subjects somehow forget what life was like in death, if it there was an afterlife with personal consciousness?
The fact that the show is unwilling to discuss this topic seems like a cop-out to me. It also speaks to the fact that this show should be more about being a science-fiction show and less time being a thriller/spy show. I also think that the characters should be subservient to the science-fiction themes, and not vice versa.
Predictably Becky stows away. This proves useful when the Dane survives the flight on the next go-round. We do discover that the Dane seems to be in on the Operation Midnight agenda.
I also liked the continuing romance between Archie and Zhang. The discussion of the maze was a nice touch.
So let’s hope that there is some progress in the next episode in preventing the kidnapping of Janet and Becky in 2012. Personally I would like to see 2024 Becky meet 2012 Janet and have Janet recognize her. As Rebrov says when confronted with time paradoxes, that is “scrambled eggs” to him. More scrambled eggs, please!
In the new season, resolute Lazarus agent George has been left in disgrace after betraying the organization in the name of love. He is determined to redeem himself and win back the trust of his friends, colleagues, and the love of his life. But when he discovers that the cause he is fighting for is more sinister than it appears, George suspects that the only person he can really trust is himself.
With regards to the whole death and reset thing, I just figured that from their perspective, they just instantly wake up at the next reset. A bit like what happens to Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, whenever he died in that movie.
But you’re right, they’ve never actually addressed it. I mean, if you are literally dead and rotting, then there aren’t exactly any memories to bring back with you via a reset (if anything, you should end up becoming brain-dead via a reset after dying), so the concept of a soul should exist in the universe of The Lazarus Project. The fact that haven’t brought this up, is quite disappointing now that I think about it.
And some people want the Archie Zheng story to end. As zero interest in a gay story line. I just fast forward over that waste of my time