Gettin' My Eps In: Lazarus S1E12

With one episode to go, the table has hopefully been set for a big finale.

Lazarus
Season 1, Episode 12: “Close to the Edge”
Written by Shinichiro Watanabe
Directed by Eiji Abiko
Streaming on (HBO) Max

Are anime series really meant to be watched episodically, with one installment being released each week? Or do creators expect that people will binge-watch entire seasons or watch several episodes in a row? Throughout this season of Lazarus, I’ve been complaining about the uneven pacing, with some episodes being full of action and excitement and others seeing little happen as they set up future events. As we get close to the end of the season, I’m wondering if it would have made more sense to wait until the whole thing had been released so that it would be easier to immediately watch the next installment after an episode that was clearly all setup.

We’ll get to what happens in this episode in a moment, but first, I wanted to explore this idea a bit. I haven’t watched a whole lot of anime series that have been released in the last 10 years or so, so I’m wondering if this is a trend that I’ve missed. Many of the series that I’ve watched in the past have taken a more episodic approach, with each episode (or two-parter) standing on its own and delivering a satisfying experience. Even series that are more heavily serialized have tended to make sure each individual episode has enough going on to keep viewers interested and engaged. But now that people are more likely to stream entire seasons online or watch them on DVD sets, are shows more likely to be like Lazarus, interspersing exciting, event-heavy episodes with quieter, less consequential ones?

If that’s the approach that’s common in modern anime, I might have to shift my viewing patterns and wait until seasons are complete rather than watching episodes on a weekly basis. That will help me avoid disappointment like I experienced in this episode, which was yet another one where little seemed to happen, even though I can tell it’s putting the pieces in place for the big finale in the next installment.

So: Axel was grievously wounded during his fight with an assassin last episode, but it seems like he’s going to recover. Eleina has met up with the hacker Popcorn Wizard, who conveniently provides the last clue to the whereabouts of Dr. Skinner, and it looks like she and Doug are going to be able to race back to meet up with the rest of the team just in time to achieve their goals in their long-running quest. Abel, the guy from the NSA who is a sort of government liaison for the Lazarus team, is working to rescue Hersch, who is being held by the U.S. Army officials who are involved in schemes of some sort, and he convinces the president to issue an executive order allowing him to raid Army headquarters. There’s also some intrigue related to the aforementioned assassin, who is revealed to have dissociative identity disorder and who is linked to some sort of secretive program that might be part of what the Army is trying to keep secret.

That’s a lot of information, but it’s doled out at a pretty leisurely pace for a series that seems like it should be racing to a dramatic conclusion as the deadline for when most of the people in the world are going to die approaches. There should be a sense of extreme urgency at this point in the season, but the episode spends most of its time with characters sitting around and talking. Popcorn Wizard and Eleina bond over their mutual respect for each other’s hacking skills, and the former reveals why she is devoted to helping Dr. Skinner. Axel has a heart-to-heart with Chris in the hospital, revealing that all of his friends have died and he’s been a loner for a long time, so he’s been happy to get to know his fellow teammates. While taking the time for character development is understandable, especially if there’s not going to be much time for it in the finale, it sure seems like everyone has forgotten about the clock ticking toward doomsday.

The episode isn’t wholly without excitement. Before Eleina and Doug can head home from Pakistan, the latter has to be rescued from a hospital where he’s being held by the U.S. Army, and Popcorn Wizard does so by taking control of his robotic bed and sending it zooming through the hallways. There’s a standoff between Abel’s men and some Army soldiers when he initiates his raid to rescue Hersch. One especially villainous Army official murders another as part of his ongoing scheme to cover up secrets or something, although that whole portion of the plot seems especially pointless, since in a few days, nobody is going to be left alive to care about whatever scandals they’ve participated in.

But whatever intrigue we get here, it’s only barely enough to sustain interest, and with the lackadaisical pace of the episode, it really does seem like we’re killing time before we can get to whatever big events are going to happen in the finale. Hopefully I’ll get the big action and excitement I’ve been waiting for, but even if the ending is satisfying, I’ll still be left with the memory of far too many episodes that did little more than fill a slot in the schedule.