Nocturne Episode 1, “Lazarus, Come Forth,” begins with Jurek Walter inside Riverside Psychiatric Hospital before a missing child suddenly reappears three years after his disappearance. Michael Frost is alive, but his sister Felicia is still missing, reopening a case that leads directly back to Jurek.
Apple TV+’s crime thriller Nocturne is adapted from Lars Kepler’s bestselling novels The Sandman and Lazarus. Lars Kepler is the pen name of Swedish authors Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril.
Nocturne Episode 1 Recap: Jurek Walter Finds an Ally
The episode opens with two prisoners. One man is calm as he speaks to the other, who is much more emotional. His attempts to encourage the other prisoner do not calm him, and the man eventually takes his own life.
Six months later, the story returns to Riverside Psychiatric Hospital.
Karl, a young orderly who has shown an ability to connect with patients, is offered a promotion to the hospital’s restricted level. His new assignment is a particularly difficult patient: Jurek Walter, the man from the opening scene.
Karl is soon put in a dangerous position. After giving Jurek medication that knocks him out, Karl is asked to enter his cell and search for a hidden weapon. He finds it, but Jurek wakes up earlier than expected and grabs him.
Jurek does not attack Karl. Instead, he gives him a note and asks him to deliver it to his lawyer. Karl follows through and passes the message along, beginning a connection between the two men.
Far away from Riverside, a disappearance that has remained unresolved for three years suddenly takes an unexpected turn.
Michael Frost Returns After Three Years
Michael Frost is found walking on a bridge in Fairhaven, Pennsylvania.
He has been missing for three years and is in poor condition when he is recovered. Michael is taken to the hospital, where he is reunited with his mother, Ida. His return only solves part of the mystery.
Michael disappeared with his sister, Felicia, and she has not returned. With one child suddenly back after three years, the search for Felicia begins again.
Police Chief Ellison initially leads the investigation and sends Nathan to inform people connected to the original case. One of those people is Saga Bauer.
Saga is an undercover agent, and when Nathan arrives at her home in Pittsburgh with the news that Michael has been found, her attention immediately turns to Jonah.
Jonah was once the partner of Saga’s father and was involved in the investigation into Michael and Felicia’s disappearance. He is also a surrogate father to Saga. She finds him in the country, where he is building a treehouse. His family is gone, and working on the treehouse brings him some peace.
Michael’s return brings Jonah back to the case he was never able to solve.
Jonah Returns to the Frost Investigation
Jonah travels to Fairhaven, where he speaks with Ida and Michael before beginning his own search for evidence.
The FBI is already involved, with Agent Quinn leading a briefing on the case. Jonah interrupts it with his own assessment, which Quinn initially does not welcome. He continues investigating anyway.
Jonah finds clues that the FBI missed, and together with Nathan, he locates the place where Michael was being held.
That discovery changes Quinn’s position on having Jonah involved. Although he is retired, she asks him to return and join the investigation.
Jonah already has someone in mind. He has long suspected that Jurek Walter was responsible for Michael and Felicia’s disappearance, but he was never able to prove it. Now one of the missing children has returned alive.
Why Does Jonah Visit Jurek Walter?
Jonah and Quinn go to Riverside Psychiatric Hospital to see Jurek.
For Jonah, Michael’s return has brought him back to the man he previously suspected in the disappearance. The problem remains the same: suspicion is not proof.
The visit also raises another question. If Jurek is confined inside Riverside, Jonah wants to know who could be helping him outside the hospital.
After meeting Jurek, Jonah decides to come out of retirement and return to the investigation.
Michael Frost has given the authorities their first major new lead in three years, but Felicia is still missing. Finding her now means working out where Michael was kept, what Jurek may know about the disappearances, and whether someone outside Riverside is connected to him.
