Apple TV+ has steadily cemented itself as the most reliable home for ambitious, prestige science fiction. From genre-defining hits to riskier high-concept swings, Apple’s track record for sci-fi TV keeps improving. Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus is its latest success, exceeding expectations and quickly earning a reputation as one of the strongest sci-fi shows released in years.
Unfortunately, that success comes with a downside. With production timelines growing longer and Apple favoring quality over speed, Pluribus season 2 may be a long way off. That gap has left fans searching for another series that can scratch the same itch while maintaining similar thematic depth and narrative ambition.
That makes The Lazarus Project the ideal stopgap. The British sci-fi thriller boasts a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score and explores strikingly similar ideas through a tense, character-driven lens. For fans still reeling from the jaw-dropping Pluribus season 1 finale, The Lazarus Project should be considered essential viewing while waiting for season 2.
What Is The Lazarus Project About?
A High-Concept Time Loop Thriller Grounded In Human Consequences
The Lazarus Project may not include a Pluribus-like hive mind, but its central hero has a lot in common with Carol. The Lazarus Project centers on George (Paapa Essiedu), a seemingly ordinary man whose life changes overnight when he discovers time has jumped backward six months. What’s more, nobody but George seems to be aware of what’s happened.
It eventually emerges that George is one of only 0.000001% of people with the genetic anomaly needed to remember the past prior to the temporal resets. Before long, he is recruited into a covert organization, the titular Lazarus Project, tasked with preventing extinction-level events by resetting time whenever catastrophe strikes.
Much like Carol being immune to the hive mind virus in Pluribus, George’s ability to remember the past in The Lazarus Project is a deceptively simple premise but powerfully executed. Time can only rewind to a fixed point, meaning every reset erases relationships, personal growth, and hard-won progress. George must continue living in a world that no longer remembers the same experiences, creating a disconnect from those around him.
The Lazarus Project organization in the show adds another compelling layer. Led by the coldly pragmatic Archie (Anjli Mohindra), the team operates with strict rules designed to preserve timelines at any cost. Personal attachments are discouraged, moral compromises are routine, and disobedience can be fatal. The series thrives in the tension between duty and humanity.
The Lazarus Project stands out from other time-loop-based sci-fi shows thanks to its refusal to treat resets as consequence-free. Every rewind deepens the psychological toll on its characters, especially George, whose growing awareness turns him into both an asset and a liability. Knowledge becomes power, but also isolation.
Visually grounded and narratively sharp, The Lazarus Project avoids spectacle for spectacle’s sake, much like Pluribus. Instead, it uses its sci-fi premise to interrogate grief, agency, and the ethical limits of control. That focus on character ensures the stakes never feel abstract, even when the world is literally ending.
Why The Lazarus Project Is Perfect For Pluribus Fans
Both Shows Turn Secret Knowledge Into A Psychological Burden
At their core, both Pluribus and The Lazarus Project are about isolation through awareness. It’s this thematic kinship that makes The Lazarus Project a perfect Pluribus follow-up. Carol in Pluribus, being one of the few people immune to the hive-mind virus, must hide her desire to return the world to the way it used to be. The Lazarus Project places George in an almost identical position of enforced secrecy.
Both exist outside shared reality. Carol watches society bend under collective control, while George experiences repeated versions of the same world that no longer align with his memories. In each case, knowing the truth becomes a curse, cutting them off from authentic relationships and stability.
The shows also share a focus on institutions and groups manipulating humanity. In Pluribus, this takes the shape of the Others, while The Lazarus Project features a rigid organization convinced it knows what’s best for everyone. Neither series presents authority as comforting or trustworthy.
Paranoia is another connective tissue. Carol can never be certain who is truly themselves, just as George can never fully trust a timeline that might vanish without warning. Both stories mine suspense from everyday interactions, turning ordinary conversations into potential threats.
Most importantly, both shows treat their sci-fi concepts as tools for exploring identity. They ask how much of a person survives when reality shifts beneath them, and whether preserving the world is worth sacrificing the self. For Pluribus fans craving something equally unsettling and intelligent, The Lazarus Project is a natural next watch.
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