Lazarus
(2025)Type: tvshow
Overview: In 2052, a Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist develops a drug called Hapuna — a cure-all that has the unexpected side-effect of causing death three years later. In response to this threat, a special force of agents—nicknamed "Lazarus"— is assembled to take on the malevolent Skinner.
Language: en
Genres:
Questions
What is the plot?
"Lazarus," set in the year 2052, begins in a world of unprecedented peace and prosperity. This peace is thanks to a miracle cure called Hapuna, developed by the Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Dr. Skinner. Hapuna eradicates sickness and pain, becoming essential and ubiquitous worldwide. However, shortly after its introduction, Dr. Skinner mysteriously disappears.
Three years later, the world has become complacent with Hapuna's benefits. Suddenly, Dr. Skinner returns with a grim announcement: Hapuna has a short half-life, and everyone who took the drug will die in about 30 days. Skinner ominously declares that death is coming for the sinful world. This warning sparks a crisis that leads to the assembling of a special emergency task force known as Lazarus—a group of five agents gathered globally to stop Skinner’s deadly plan and find a vaccine before the countdown ends.
As the story unfolds, the Lazarus team races against the clock. The narrative scene-by-scene reveals the tense operations of this ragtag group navigating futuristic landscapes, intelligence networks, and moral quandaries. Early scenes show the assembling of the team and their desperate search for Skinner, who is elusive. The pace initially feels measured despite the urgency, focusing on the characters’ interactions and their growing determination in the looming shadow of mass death.
Key events include missions to track down clues about Skinner’s whereabouts and the underlying technology behind Hapuna. The team learns of a brain scan used by an AI called Naga, developed secretly by former MIT researchers in a commune that worships Naga as a deity. We see Eleina, a Lazarus member raised in this commune, infiltrate it with Leland posing as a convert. Their infiltration leads to tension and near execution when they are caught trying to hack into Naga, only saved by a planned rescue and FBI raid during the mass-suicide ceremony of the commune members. These moments are tense and visceral, featuring smoke bombs, fires, and desperate escapes.
Meanwhile, another plot thread shows Chris, a former spy, being taken prisoner by the Russian spy team she once belonged to, led by agent Inga, adding layers of espionage and moral conflict.
Throughout the series, character arcs deepen as members of Lazarus confront their pasts, ethical boundaries, and the profound meaning of sacrifice. Eleina faces the trauma and complexity of her roots and current loyalty; Chris wrestles with betrayal and survival; and the team collectively confronts the shrinking timeline and impossible stakes.
The climax centers on Lazarus securing the AI memory banks and racing to formulate a vaccine as the 30-day countdown reaches its final moments. The series ends on a note of uncertain hope: while the fate of humanity hangs by a thread, Lazarus’s efforts represent a defiant stand against inevitable doom.
This narrative is delivered with a futuristic yet gritty tone, immersing the viewer in vivid scenes of high-tech chases, cult rituals, espionage hideouts, and moments of human vulnerability. The emotional weight and gradual unveiling of the apocalypse create a compelling, suspenseful progression from first warning to final confrontation.
What is the ending?
⚠ Spoiler – click to reveal
The TV show Lazarus (2025) ends with the special task force, Lazarus, successfully disrupting a dangerous cult commune centered around Naga, an AI powered by the brain scan of Dr. Skinner, the scientist behind the fatal miracle drug Hapuna. The task force rescues the cult members, except for the commune's leader Billy, who dies when the AI malfunctions and causes a fire. Lazarus then secures Naga's memory bank for analysis, while the world braces for the consequences of Hapuna's hidden deadly effect.
Expanded narrative description of the ending of Lazarus (2025):
The finale begins with Lazarus infiltrating a remote religious commune known as "The Tower of the Truth," where followers worship Naga, an AI developed from a brain scan of Dr. Skinner, the original creator of the Hapuna drug. This AI is isolated from the rest of the world yet holds crucial secrets. Eleina, a member of Lazarus who was raised at the commune, uses her history and connections there to pose with Leland as a new convert to gain access.
While Eleina and Leland try to hack into Naga's systems, the commune, led by Billy—a former MIT researcher who stole the AI—catches them. The commune's members are preparing for a mass suicide ceremony, intending to die by fire as part of their cult beliefs. Eleina and Leland are sentenced to be burned alive the following day for their intrusion.
As the execution ceremony starts, tension thickens. Hanna, an old friend of Eleina, unexpectedly sets off a smoke bomb, signaling the rest of Lazarus waiting nearby. This explosion triggers a dual intervention — the Lazarus team storms in to save the hostages while the FBI simultaneously raids the commune.
In the resulting chaos, most commune members are rescued alive, but tragedy strikes when Billy appears to perish as Naga collapses on him during the destructive fire. The scene blends despair with relief — the imminent death of Billy contrasts with the salvation of the others.
With the immediate danger quelled, Lazarus recovers the memory bank of the AI, crucial for understanding and possibly reversing the deadly effect of Hapuna. The team has bought valuable time, but the broader threat—the looming expiration of the drug's safety—remains.
This ending encapsulates the show's climactic convergence: the confrontation with Skinner's dangerous legacy through Naga, the rescue of innocent lives trapped by dogma, and the pivotal technological mystery still unresolved.
The closing moments are framed by hope tempered with urgency, underscoring the narrative’s tension between salvation and destruction, faith and technology, as well as human fallibility and resilience.
Is this family friendly?
The 2025 TV series Lazarus produced by MAPPA and Sola Entertainment is not family friendly and contains content that may be upsetting or objectionable to children and sensitive viewers. The series deals with mature themes such as personal loss, disturbing experiences, and a dystopian future involving a deadly drug that causes widespread mortality. Given its dark and intense subject matter as described in synopsis and production notes, it is targeted more toward adult audiences.
Although a detailed breakdown of specific objectionable scenes is not extensively documented, viewers can expect:
- Themes of death, existential crisis, and medical mystery related to a drug with fatal consequences.
- Dark and potentially violent or disturbing sequences, consistent with adult anime thrillers.
- Complex psychological and emotional challenges faced by characters, which could be unsettling for children or sensitive viewers.
If you are looking for a family-friendly show, this one does not fit that category, and caution is advised around younger audiences or those sensitive to dark and disturbing subject matter.
This assessment is distinct from a different show titled The Lazarus Project (2023) which contains explicit sexual content and adult themes and is also not suitable for children. For the 2025 Lazarus anime series in question, the key concern is psychological and thematic intensity rather than explicit sex scenes.
Therefore, it’s recommended that parental discretion be exercised when considering Lazarus (2025) for children or sensitive viewers due to its mature and potentially upsetting content.
Does the dog die?
⚠ Spoiler – click to reveal
In the TV show Lazarus produced in 2025, there is no direct or explicit mention that a dog specifically dies as part of the story or plot. The show follows a task force addressing the catastrophic consequences of a miracle drug, Hapuna, which eventually causes death to those who took it, but this plot does not seem to involve the death of a dog as a key event.
However, there is information from a similarly named show, The Lazarus Project (2022), where a dog is involved in a time travel experiment and is implied to have been killed due to a malfunction of the machine, but this is a different show altogether.
Therefore, based on available information about Lazarus (2025), no dog death is reported or depicted in the series.