*Warning: This article contains spoilers for the final episode of Lazarus.*
After receiving the tragic news that his father (Bill Nighy) had died by suicide, Joel “Laz” Lazarus (Sam Claflin) not only started to obsess over what really happened to his esteemed dad, but also started to literally live through his memories.
The six-part series follows Laz as he struggles to make sense of the events leading up to his father’s death, with all manner of supernatural happenings unfolding once Laz steps foot in his father’s office.
Getting a better idea of his father’s clients and his way of working with them, Laz thought he found the guy who could’ve murdered Dr L in the form of serial killer and former client Arlo Jones (Jack Deam). But one mention of another character by Arlo puts Laz further down the path for answers.
So, what happened to Joel’s father? Read on to find out what unfolded in the final episode of Prime Video’s Lazarus.
Lazarus ending explained: What does Laz find out about his father’s death?
Laz is convinced that something untoward had happened to his father, floating around the theory that he could’ve been murdered. When Laz thinks he’s found all the clues leading back to serial killer Arlo Jones, Arlo actually drops a name that Laz wasn’t expecting: Detective Alison Brown (Kate Ashfield).
Knowing that Alison is Seth’s (David Fynn) boss, Laz takes the information he’s gathered so far on her to him in confidence. He’s found clear lies that she’s told him, such as Alison lying that she knew anything about a cold-case that Laz had information about. In reality, she had actually been the lead detective on the case. Immediately suspicious of her, Laz tells Seth what he’s found and Seth is initially trepidatious to confront his boss, with the pair even getting into a physical altercation. But when he reads the files, the next thing we see is them both waiting to meet Alison.
Laz informs her that both cases of Arlo and murdered Imogen Carswood (Virge Gilchrist) have links to his father, with Arlo being a patient and Imogen being Dr L’s lover. They weren’t the only ones, with Laz explaining that Father Frank (Keith Bartlett) made a video before his death stating his innocence and said that the real killer is still at large. The very video was never released or seen by anyone but was apparently given to Alison.
Laz says that he thinks that Alison was seeking out vulnerable people at Dr L’s practice and scapegoating them for violent crimes, eventually getting into a heated confrontation with Dr L over it and killing him.
When Alison asks Seth to go and get her a glass of water, we don’t see the conversation that unfolds between her and Laz but we do see her knock Laz over then run over and tase Seth. Laz chases her in his car and then it turns to on-foot after she crashes her car. Alison runs out into a road and trips over a bike, but is then run over by an oncoming bus and killed.
Afterwards, we see Laz remembering his final interaction with Alison where she tells Laz to let everything go and presents a cassette tape. At the crime scene, he picked up said tape from her pocket and takes it for himself.
Elsewhere, we see Aidan going to visit Laura (Roisin Gallagher) to speak to her about his father, Laz. He talks about secrets and promises, but we don’t see the extent of their meeting.
Laz returns to his father’s office with the tape and starts to play it, surprised to hear Alison confronting Dr L on it. The scene plays out before us and we see a stressed Alison confronting Dr L about what they’ve done. She feels guilty but Dr L explains that there’s no need to feel guilty, labelling it as a “useless emotion”.
It becomes clear that for years, the pair of them played the system for their own benefits. Dr L believed these patients were violent individuals and as a way of imprisoning them, got Alison to link them to crimes they hadn’t committed.
Alison got lots of awards and acclaim but saw the light and no longer agrees with Dr L’s way of working. She confronts Dr L about his murder of Imogen, which he doesn’t deny and instead, says he loved her but killed her to “end her suffering”. Alison realises that the information that Dr L has been giving her is not only untrue, but only as a way of deflecting attention away from him and his own crimes.
Alison says that she can’t just let all of this go, with it becoming clear that Alison has already arrived with a plan in mind. She hands Dr L a gun, telling him what he could write a suicide note and offering it up as a solution where his secrets die with him. While he does hold up the gun and point it at Alison, he’s unable to pull the trigger and resolves himself to her proposed plan.
He has a vision of Sutton and wonders whether he’ll see her in an afterlife, appearing to make peace with the impromptu suicide plot. While Alison says that she wishes there was another way to end this, Dr L says that there isn’t and asks to be alone. He calls Joel but we see Joel reject the call whilst working so Dr L writes a note and then shoots himself.
In the present, Laz is visited by the ghost of his father and confronts him about his murders. Dr L states that Alison killed him and seems to double down on his own crimes, talking about the ways in which his violent crimes “saved” them. They then share a heart-to-heart about their love for each other, with Dr L saying that there’s always the fear that sons will end up like their fathers. He then says goodbye to Laz for what appears to be the final time.
In a montage of scenes, we see how things have ended up for all the characters who appear resolved but stony faced in their decisions. Laz shows his father’s suicide note to his sister Jenna (Alexandra Roach) and proclaims that it’s over, appearing somewhat lighter as he makes his way to go and see Laura.
Has Laz been imagining things all along?
Once Laz leaves the house, Jenna finds multiple boxes of tapes of their father’s in Laz’s room. It’s clear that he’s been listening to them all, with Jenna listening to the tapes of Arlo, Cassandra and more.
So, that begs the question of whether or not everything he had been experiencing had just been in his head all along.
While we know that Laz has obviously been imagining these meetings with his father and former patients, it becomes more apparent that perhaps he’s just been holed up in his room listening to the tapes rather than going to Dr L’s office.
What happens at the end with Laz and Aidan?
Making his way to Laura’s home, we then see Laz approaching her house and finding her door unlocked. Once inside, he doesn’t hear Laura after he calls out for her and looks for her.
When he reaches her living room, he sees things looking like an altercation has unfolded and it’s clear something has happened. When he turns around, he sees Aidan standing in the doorway with a curved knife in his hand, looking blankly back at Laz before saying “I’m sorry”.
So, it’s clear that Aidan has attacked Laura but in terms of whether she’s alive or not, that’s left on a cliffhanger.
Lazarus premieres on Prime Video on Wednesday 22nd October – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Plus, read our guides to the best Amazon Prime series and the best movies on Amazon Prime.
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