Lazarus Season 2 Unlikely Despite Cliffhanger Ending, Says Creators

Warning: Some SPOILERS lie ahead for Lazarus!Harlan Coben’s new twist-filled series Lazarus may end on a major cliffhanger, but it’s not likely to get a season 2. Co-created by the author and frequent collaborator Danny Brocklehurst, but not based on any of Coben’s novels, the series centers on troubled forensic psychologist Joel “Laz” Lazarus as he begins seeing the spirits of various cold case victims, as well as his recently deceased father.

Led by Oscar nominee Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin, Lazarus begins to come to a close after the titular character learns that Kate Ashfield’s Detective Alison Brown wasn’t actually the one behind the murders Laz was investigating, but instead was actually his father, who suggests he was freeing them from pain. Choosing to move on from the trauma of his past, Laz goes to spend another night with his love interest, Roisin Gallagher’s Laura, only to find that his son Aidan has murdered her with the same sickle that killed his father’s assistant, Margot.

In honor of the show’s release, ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan interviewed Harlan Coben, Danny Brocklehurst, Nicola Shindler, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy and Alexandra Roach to discuss Lazarus. When asked about the show’s cliffhanger ending and potential season 2 plans, Shindler was quick to shut down the likelihood of more episodes, saying that “all the answers are in those six episodes” and feeling that viewers “should leave feeling really satisfied“:

If they want more from those characters, then that’s a different conversation. And if there’s a story that we think works for those characters, that’s another conversation. But it should feel like, “I get it now. I understand all those different beats, and who was where and when, and who did what when.” We always want people to leave feeling really satisfied.

Coben went on to expound on the thought process behind not committing to a Lazarus season 2, as he and his team decided “from day one” that the series was not going to be one that “just sets up one season so you could sell another season“. Pointing out that none of the shows he’s been involved with thus far, original or adaptations, have gotten a second season, as the teams always “feel it’s a complete story“:

We open a door at the end that you could go into if we want to, but we don’t ever want to write a season that’s just setting up a season 2. So, we don’t know. We also agreed that we’re not going to do a season 2 unless we think it could be as good, if not better, than season 1. We’re not just going to have a show on the air for the paycheck. It has to be that we think it’s going to be as good. If not, we are lucky enough that we can do a new story. But I’m glad you’re still intrigued and want to know more.

The Team Have Different Opinions About Whether The Ghosts Were Real

One of the other big points of curiosity in Lazarus‘ story, alongside the murders, is whether Laz is actually seeing and speaking with ghostly spirits, or if he was simply manifesting them while listening to the tapes of their sessions. Interestingly, even the creative team behind the show don’t fully agree on whether he was actually communing with the dead.

For Shindler, she says that Coben mentioned early in the show’s development that “If the audience says they can’t decide” which is ultimately the truth, “then we’ve done okay“, agreeing that “it should be up to you to decide“. The executive producer did, however, go on to reveal that “we have really strong opinions” and that she knows “exactly what happened at the end“.

Brocklehurst and Coben went on to point out the positive of not sharing a specific answer with viewers, with the former feeling it “creates a talking point” for audiences to carry onward after Lazarus‘ ending. Coben even went on to laugh as he pointed out that, despite the interview having the three people with answers, we “still don’t know” the truth.

Bill Nighy Was A Big Harlan Coben Fan Before Lazarus

ScreenRant: What an amazing, gripping show that I watched without getting up one time. What to you was the most appealing part about coming onto this show?

Bill Nighy: Everything about it was quite attractive. I suppose the biggest thing that hooked me right from the start was Harlan Coben, because I’m a big fan and I’ve read all his books. I know that everything he does works. I only got the first two scripts originally, so I had to wait for the rest of the story, and it was kind of drip-fed to me. I didn’t know what happened in the end until months later. But I accepted the job on the strength of the first two episodes. Also, I’ve been in a film with Sam Claflin before, but we’ve never acted together. I knew that I was doing most of my scenes with him, and the other scenes I was doing with Kate Ashfield, whom I’ve also worked with before. But I never really got to act with either of them before, so that was satisfying.

ScreenRant: Did you have a favorite day on set?

Bill Nighy: Did I have a favorite day? Well, let me think. I can’t really think of one, to be honest. They were all pretty good days. When I got to Manchester — little anecdotal fact — it had rained in Manchester every day to some degree for the 81 days prior to my arrival. And it wasn’t even wintertime! But it was a very, very nice gig. One of the great pleasures was getting to know Harlan Coben because he turned out to be a really charming, funny, good companion. We had many dinners in Manchester, and we had a very nice time.

ScreenRant: You said you’ve read all his novels, but when this show was announced, I was going crazy trying to find the novel. But this is an original work, right?

Bill Nighy: This is an original story, and it’s not from a book. But he has got a new book out. He’s always got a new book out. He’s written 37 novels, and they’re all bestsellers. I dunno if anybody sells more books than Harlan. He’s a really substantial person and very good company.

ScreenRant: The show is a whodunnit, and I’m really trying to figure it out along the way, but you guys have to tow that line for the audience of, “Am I good or bad?” What was that like for you?

Bill Nighy: Yeah, it was quite a delicate line to trace because, and it’s a big responsibility in the show. It’s difficult to talk about it without spoiling anything, but you just have to be aware all the time of which part of the story you’re at, and what the audience knows or thinks they know at any given point. It’s quite satisfying to try and send them up blind alleys when you’re talking about other characters, to give the idea that possibly maybe they could be… Who knows? That kind of thing. Yeah, it’s a very delicate line and a big responsibility.

Sam Claflin Reuniting With Bill Nighy Was A “Rollercoaster Of Emotions”

ScreenRant: My favorite part about watching the show is the whodunnit aspect, where you’re trying to figure it out along the way. What was that like for you, toeing the line as an actor to keep the audience from knowing if you’re reliable or not?

Sam Claflin: Even I was questioning my own sanity, I think, at the time. I think that’s why Harlan is as successful as he is, because he has this incredible ability to really draw the audience in. We all turn into mini detectives, and we love trying to figure out who’s done it. The wonderful thing about this particular story and the complexity of it is that there’s more than one “whodunnit.” I think that allowed for me to be on the edge of my seat as we were going. I didn’t have all six episodes from the very beginning, so I was going on the ride as we were filming. All I could do was play every moment truthfully and honestly. He genuinely believes what he’s saying at every point. The psychiatrist within him is saying, “This is what I think. This must be true. I know that I sound insane, but this is what’s happening.” So, all I could do was play everything very honestly. Obviously, the twists and turns came and surprised and shocked. I was as excited as you may have been!

ScreenRant: I think this was your second time working with Bill, right?

Sam Claflin: Yeah! I mean, he was in Pirates, but not in my particular film. But we did a film called Their Finest. We had a bit of screen time together, but not much, so this felt like a brand-new experience in a wonderful way.

ScreenRant: I’d love to know just a little bit about your experience. What was unique about working with Bill?

Sam Claflin: Well, they crammed all of his scenes within a two-week window, though maybe it was a bit longer. Honestly, it felt like a stage play. It felt like every day was mental gymnastics. The two of us were just sort of going at it, head to head. We were crying one day, laughing the next, screaming at each other the next; fighting. It was just a real roller coaster of emotions. But he is an absolute professional. He’s the most generous actor out there. He comes prepared, knows his lines, and will mentally push you to just step up your game. But he’s also incredibly playful and brings such a positive energy to the film set. He’s also the smartest, most dapper man you’ll ever meet. He’s the epitome of a gentleman, like an old school gent. He’s just a real, real gem. Honestly, for me, it was like a dream come true. Working with an actor that gifted and that willing to get his hands dirty and throw himself in was just a joy.

ScreenRant: I always wonder, when actors are yelling at each other, are you ever sorry afterward?

Sam Claflin: Yeah. I think often what happens when you’re screaming at someone is you get that one bit of spit that comes out, and you have no control over it. So, I think there was, definitely more than once, a moment where the two of us were screaming and shouting, and that happened. And neither of us are method actors in the sense that we stay in character. We might stay in the mood of a scene sometimes, depending on whether it requires that. But, equally, I think the two of us were incredibly supportive of one another. Even if we were off camera, the two of us would continue to give a hundred percent. There was no point where we’d sort of let up, and that’s what I mean by him being so generous. Not everyone does that, but the two of us gave it our all. And you can’t ask for anything more than that, really.

ScreenRant: What hooked you most about this story?

Alexandra Roach: I think it was how surprising the script was. I thought it was one type of story, and then the hook at the end of episode 1 really took me by surprise. Then I was like, “What is this?” The mystery around the tone of the show and what we were doing just felt really interesting to me, and how many twists and turns there were. It really drew me in, and I think I did exactly what you did, but with reading it. I was like, “Okay, I need to read the next one. What happens? What happens?”

ScreenRant: I’m playing along with the whodunnit the whole time, trying to figure out if I know what’s going on. But for you, acting-wise, you have to toe this line between, “Am I good? Am I evil? Am I in on this or not?” What was that experience like for you?

Alexandra Roach: Yeah, sometimes when you are in a thriller like this, you have to play with a form being a red herring, or being so mysterious that the audience at home think, “Oh, it’s her! I don’t trust her.” You have to be aware of that. If a character is in this world, I find it really playful in different takes to be like, “I might do this one a bit more suspiciously,” because then it might garner some doubt at home when people are watching it. It adds another layer to it, for sure.

ScreenRant: How did you tap into this character? What were some of the key elements about her that you found fascinating?

Alexandra Roach: I’ve always been a low-key, spiritual person, or someone who’s curious about that world. With Jenna, I got to call it research and really dive into the spirituality that she has. I think I got so much joy from doing that, and I learned so much. I went, and I got my angel cards read. I got my tarot read, and I had Reiki, and all of these things. It’s kind of stayed with me, in a way. I now have the same deck of tarot that I use in the show. I took that home with me, and I keep that by the side of my bed. Sometimes I lean on that, and that’s a new thing and that’s something that this character taught me. But I think she feels energetically quite different from me, so it was really fun as an actor to transform into this other person and become her. She’s quite still, and her energy feels different to mine, which was interesting to play.

ScreenRant: I know I have tarot cards near me somewhere, but it’s fun to get into. Even if you don’t buy into it, it’s very introspective sometimes.

Alexandra Roach: Exactly, yeah. It’s just what you need. Sometimes I think people can roll their eyes at it, but as human beings, we’ve been doing this for thousands of years to get some clarity around different aspects of our lives.

The Show’s Concept Came From A Deeply Personal Place For Coben

ScreenRant: I went insane yesterday because I watched the show in one sitting without getting up. I loved it so much, so I went to try to find the book, and I couldn’t find it! Can you talk about the nexus of the idea and how it started?

Harlan Coben: First of all, this is one time I can say the show’s definitely better than the book! (Laughs) There’s no argument here. This is an original idea that I came up with, and it came in two different ways. One is the more serious way. I had a lot of loss in my life when I was young, including my father when he was 59. I miss him greatly, and I think we all have that wish of, “I wish I could hug him one more time. I wish I could be in a room with him one more time. I wish I could talk to him one more time.” And that’s really a lot of what this story is about. It’s about grief, about generational suffering and that sort of thing. That trauma and those scenes between Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy, that’s the genesis of those.

The idea for the story came when I was playing tennis, and I was leaving the court. I looked across the street, and there was a doctor’s office. I’d taken my father-in-law when he had severe depression there, and I was thinking about the psychiatrist’s office and all the misery that you hear there, day after day, week after week, month after month. You reveal your darkest secrets, your darkest things, in that room. And where does that energy go? Does it seep into the walls? Eventually, when the psychiatrist dies, can it maybe get out and escape? That was the genesis for the idea that I then brought to these guys, and we started to develop it.

ScreenRant: For Nicola and Danny, what appealed to you most about the story, and what excited you most about this project?

Nicola Shindler: I loved that relationship between father and son from the beginning, and the journey that young Laz goes on is exceptional and so intriguing. I was fascinated by the idea of someone who’s questioning their own sanity at times, who is experiencing grief, and who has come back to a group of people he hasn’t lived with for some time. I just think all those things coming together make such a good story.

Danny Brocklehurst: I know it has obviously been done before, but I do love stories about people coming back to where they’re from and re-engaging with siblings and friends and ex-lovers. There was that whole thing that just drew me to it straight away. But obviously, on top of that, there’s the whole thematic stuff about grief. There are quite a lot of themes in this thing, but I think there’s something about memory as well. There’s this incident from the past, and everybody’s got different memories of it that we are really leaning into throughout the six parts.

Lazarus is now streaming on Prime Video.