Spoilers ahead for the Season 1 finale of La Brea, called “Topanga.”
The first season of La Brea has come to an end, and the finale raised more questions than it answered in the span of an hour, although it did at least guarantee that Isaiah made it to and through the portal to guarantee that as Gavin, he’ll go on to marry Eve and father Izzie and Josh, but not much else is very certain. Gavin ended the season quite literally making a leap of faith along with Izzie and Ella through a portal to try and reach their loved ones, which was a bold and heroic move… that may backfire on them in Season 2 of the blockbuster hit.
The 2021 trio landed on a beach after jumping through a portal in the woods, luckily at the edge of the water instead of out to sea. They got the confirmation that they were at some point in the distant past when a woolly mammoth strode out of the forest for a dip in the water, and they think that it’s just a matter of trekking from 10,000 B.C.-era Seattle to 10,000 B.C.-era Los Angeles before they find their lost loved ones.
I initially thought that this was a good sign for their goal, it really seems like it'll backfire once they realize they jumped through the portal to the past without so much as a water bottle, let alone some supplies to help three 21st-century people survive thousands of years away from their own time without the technology and shelter and grocery stores they're used to. (Or even Lost-esque bunkers of convenient supplies.) According to La Brea creator and co-showrunner David Appelbaum to TVLine, is going to be a “fun” story, but that doesn’t mean the trek will be fun for the characters. He said:
Well, the adventure of their journey to Los Angeles is going to be a fun story point. I don’t want to give away how they get there or how that journey exactly goes, but it’s going to be one of the big pleasures of Season 2, taking these characters who had been in the modern world this whole time and seeing how they survive in the world down there. There is no clearing, and there are no other people that they’ve fallen down there with, so it’s going to be an interesting thing to see what they do — and if they can get there.
The good news – if there is good news about the fact that these three people popped into the past more than a thousand miles away from their destination in 10,000 B.C. without so much as a pack of snacks or pair of spare socks – is that La Brea has proved that survivors can accomplish all but the impossible if they’re resourceful… and run into some unforeseen developments that don’t belong in that particular era. That’s not to say that Gavin and Co. will stumble upon a village of English-speaking people with ties to loved ones, but I think fans should expect the unexpected.
And Gavin, Izzie, and Ella aren’t the only trio who are in a tough situation after the end of the Season 1 finale, considering that Josh, Riley, and Lily disappeared from their fellow survivors in 10,000 B.C. after Isaiah made it to 1988. David Appelbaum previewed what’s “fun” in store for them as well:
I don’t want to say exactly where they go, but in Season 2 they will be in a different time period. Their story will be outside of 10,000 B.C. That will be one of the fun things about Season 2, finding them in a world completely different from anything we’ve seen on the show so far.
Josh, Riley, and Lily won’t be gone from the show just because they’re gone from 10,000 B.C., and Season 1 proved that the show can balance plots set in two different times. As for where they are and what they’ll do without any parents with them… well, apparently that will be something to look forward to in Season 2!
And fortunately, NBC had already renewed La Brea for Season 2 before the Season 1 finale, so fans didn’t have to worry about the fate of the series heading into “Topanga.” Fans may have to wait a while to find out what exactly happens next, though. La Brea isn’t on the 2022 schedule for NBC’s winter or spring lineup, and may not be back until the fall if it follows the same schedule for Season 2 as Season 1. For some viewing options sooner rather than later, be sure to check out our 2022 winter and spring premiere schedule!
