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The Worst Episodes of Serial Experiments Lain

Every episode of Serial Experiments Lain ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Serial Experiments Lain!

Binge this in 5h 12m•Peaking at 8.6/10

Lain—driven by the abrupt suicide of a classmate—logs on to the Wired and promptly loses herself in a twisted mass of hallucinations, memories, and interconnected-psyches.

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 3 - Layer:03 – PSYCHE
    7.5/10(717 votes)

    #1 - Layer:03 – PSYCHE

    S1:E3

    Alice, Julie, and Reika are minor celebrities in their class after they witness a shooting at The Cyberia. Lain is given a black-market chip for her computer, but it seems she is also being followed.

    Director:Yuichi Tanaka
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  2. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 6 - Layer:06 – KIDS
    7.5/10(656 votes)

    #2 - Layer:06 – KIDS

    S1:E6

    Young children are acting strangely, arms outstretched and silently staring at the sky. A shocking vision suddenly appears in the skies; it looks like Lain! Determined to get to the bottom of this, Lain's investigations finally bring her to the creator of KIDS -- but what she discovers is not what she hoped for.

    Director:Ryutaro Nakamura
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  3. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 11 - Layer:11 – INFORNOGRAPHY
    7.5/10(605 votes)

    #3 - Layer:11 – INFORNOGRAPHY

    S1:E11

    Alone and frightened, Lain immerses herself in the WIRED, processing the events of the past few weeks and searching for the truth of who she is.

    Director:Johei Matsuura
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  4. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 1 - Layer:01 – WEIRD
    7.6/10(895 votes)

    #4 - Layer:01 – WEIRD

    S1:E1

    Lain Iwakura, a shy, 13-year-old schoolgirl, receives an email from a schoolmate after her suicide. Is it a prank? Lain doesn't feel horror, but curiosity.

    Director:Ryutaro Nakamura
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  5. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 4 - Layer:04 – RELIGION
    7.7/10(698 votes)

    #5 - Layer:04 – RELIGION

    S1:E4

    Some players of a Wired game called PHANTOMa are dying suspicious deaths. Lain investigates, but her growing interest in the Wired worries her father, as well as classmates Mika and Alice.

    Director:Akihiko Nishiyama
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  6. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 2 - Layer:02 – GIRLS
    7.8/10(780 votes)

    #6 - Layer:02 – GIRLS

    S1:E2

    Classmates Alice, Julie, and Reika wonder if that was Lain they saw at the nightclub Cyberia. To find out, they invite Lain to go with them to the club.

    Director:Ryutaro Nakamura
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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    The 20 BEST Episodes of Serial Experiments Lain

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  7. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 5 - Layer:05 – DISTORTION
    7.8/10(691 votes)

    #7 - Layer:05 – DISTORTION

    S1:E5

    Lain receives cryptic messages about existence, God, and a coming prophecy. Meanwhile, Mika's world changes in ways both surreal and hyperreal.

    Director:Masahiko Murata
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  8. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 7 - Layer:07 – SOCIETY
    7.8/10(639 votes)

    #8 - Layer:07 – SOCIETY

    S1:E7

    As the Knights activities make the evening news, a strange man named Nazumi wanders the city with machines strapped to his body. People on the WIRED are asking: ""Who is Lain"". Meanwhile, the two MIB agents take Lain to the Techibana offices where Lain's identity is challenged by a man; how well does she know her parents, her sister, herself? Can Lain answer him?

    Director:Johei Matsuura
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  9. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 9 - Layer:09 – PROTOCOL
    7.8/10(603 votes)

    #9 - Layer:09 – PROTOCOL

    S1:E9

    A documentary about Roswell gives Lain some valuable information about the pioneers of the WIRED. Later, at the Cyberia, J.J. tells Lain that she left something the day before and hands her an envelop with the Knight's logo on it. The envelop contains a chip. Believing this was the other 'Lain's' doing again, she decides to call Taro's bluff and go on a 'date'. Taking him to her room, Lain demands that he tell her what he knows. Together, with Taro's information and the mysterious chip, Lain finds out more then she expected.

    Director:Akihiko Nishiyama
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  10. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 8 - Layer:08 – RUMORS
    8.3/10(650 votes)

    #10 - Layer:08 – RUMORS

    S1:E8

    Still shaken by the information she received from the Men In Black, Lain discovers that she is being blamed for spreading an ugly rumor in the WIRED. Is what the MIB said is true; is she another person in the WIRED? Or is she doing it herself? Lain must find out or risk losing the one true friend she has.

    Directors:Shigeru Ueda, Yuichi Tanaka
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  11. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 10 - Layer:10 – LOVE
    8.4/10(655 votes)

    #11 - Layer:10 – LOVE

    S1:E10

    Lain struggles with her identity. Is she a human being, or just a hologram? And are the Knights responsible for the Evil Lain? Lain decides to deal with the Knights once and for all.

    Director:Masahiko Murata
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  12. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 12 - Layer:12 – LANDSCAPE
    8.4/10(656 votes)

    #12 - Layer:12 – LANDSCAPE

    S1:E12

    Troubled by what she saw, Alice decides to visit Lain at home and find out what is going on. Meanwhile, the two MIB agents receive a terrible shock and Eiri reveals his real motive for removing the barrier between the real world and the WIRED.

    Director:Ryutaro Nakamura
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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  13. Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episode 13 - Layer:13 – EGO
    8.6/10(717 votes)

    #13 - Layer:13 – EGO

    S1:E13

    The world is crumbling, people are dying and Alice's sanity is threatened. To save humanity, there is only one thing Lain can do; she must make the ultimate personal sacrifice.

    Director:Ryutaro Nakamura
    Writer:Chiaki J. Konaka

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Layer:03 – PSYCHE" is the worst rated episode of "Serial Experiments Lain". It scored 7.5/10 based on 717 votes. Directed by Yuichi Tanaka and written by Chiaki J. Konaka, it aired on 7/20/1998. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Layer:06 – KIDS".