Prime Video Lazarus ending explained as Harlan Coben thriller debuts

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from Lazarus.

Prime Video's Lazarus has left fans reeling with its dark and twisted narrative, answering many of the drama's burning questions by the end of its shocking finale.

Best-selling author Harlan Coben, who is known for his mystery dramas adapted from his books, has this time co-written an original story, Lazarus, with award-winning writer Danny Brocklehurst.

Forensic psychiatrist Joel Lazarus (portrayed by Sam Claflin) learns of his father Dr Jonathan Lazarus's (Bill Nighy) suicide during a visit to a criminal patient. The news is delivered by his sister Jenna Lazarus, played by Alexandra Roach.

Joel begins to receive visits from his deceased father and Jonathan's murdered psychiatric patients after he visits his father's office.

Determined to uncover the truth, Joel investigates what happened to all of them, which also leads him to discover that his sister Sutton's killer was Sam Olsen, the original suspect in the case.

The Prime Video series then takes a surprising twist when Arlo Jones (Jack Deam), the killer Joel visited at the mental hospital at the beginning, attacks him in Jonathan's office.

However, when Joel contacts the hospital, he finds out that Arlo is still very much alive and incarcerated, prompting him to visit the criminal again.

During Lazarus's prison visit to Arlo, the prisoner claims that it was actually his father who murdered Imogen Carswood and that he was framed for the crime.

He highlighted that DS Alison Brown (Kate Ashfield) was grinning in court when he was convicted for her murder, prompting Joel to delve into the case.

The psychiatrist discovered that Alison was the presiding officer in Arlo's case and had a significant role in many of Jonathan's patients' cases including Cassandra Rhodes, Neil Croft, Harry Nash and Father Frank.

Joel suspected she was involved in each of their deaths and Arlo's incarceration as well as his own father's murder.

He confronted Alison in a public setting but she managed to escape, tasered Seth McGovern (David Fynn) and fled on foot.

Joel pursued her through the streets until she tripped and was shockingly run over by a double-decker bus.

Before fleeing, Alison warned Joel to stop investigating, and briefly showed him a recording of a conversation she had with Jonathan before his death which would alter everything.

Joel retrieved this tape from Alison's coat after she was fatally run over and went to Jonathan's office to listen to it but he was stunned by what he heard.

His father admitted to being a serial killer, something inside of him snapped when his daughter Sutton passed away.

Cassandra had murdered Neil in front of him and Jonathan assisted in disposing of the body but fearing she might disclose his involvement, Jonathan killed her.

He also murdered Harry and Imogen, claiming he was liberating them from their suffering as he believed they were beyond help.

With the assistance of Alison, he managed to frame plausible suspects for his crimes, leading to her receiving promotions and accolades for what seemed like exceptional detective work.

However, she was oblivious to the fact that it was actually Jonathan committing these murders.

Alison had been taking Jonathan's "professional" advice at face value, but after viewing Father Frank's suicide video, she realised her friend was setting others up for his crimes.

Consequently, Alison presented him with two options: surrender himself to the police or end his life with a gun she provided.

Jonathan's personal assistant, Margot Macintyre, had been killed, but her murderer remained at large, leaving behind only a chilling sickle as the murder weapon.

Aidan (Curtis Tennant), who was revealed to be Joel's son, was oddly present at the scene when Margot's death was discovered, but this detail was largely overlooked.

In the finale, Aidan sought out Joel's love interest Laura, expressing his desire to consult a therapist about discovering his father's true identity.

However, when Joel arrived at Laura's office, she was nowhere to be found.

More alarmingly, upon turning around, Joel found Aidan standing there with a blood-stained sickle, apologising for his actions, suggesting he had just killed Laura.

Jonathan confided in Joel, expressing his belief that they were alike, but it appears the lethal genes bypassed him and went directly to his grandson.

Lazarus is available to watch on Prime Video.