Under “La Brea”
October 22, 2021
Along with “Ordinary Joe” and “Law and Order: For the Defense”, “La Brea” is a new addition to NBC’s fall lineup. The drama premiered on Sept. 28.
Set in Los Angeles, the first episode opens with Eve Harris and her children, Izzy and Josh, stuck in traffic on their way to school. While stuck in the traffic, the ground starts to crack and a sinkhole starts swallowing the Earth. As they are running away from the fast approaching sinkhole, Josh and Eve fall in. Izzy goes back to save her mom but Eve lets go.
Once inside the sinkhole, Eve and Josh are transported to a new world. Eve and Josh meet the people swallowed by the sinkhole and work with them to set up camp. The survivors gather supplies and sort through the wreckage that fell with them. While they are searching for supplies, wolves come out and attack them.
The rest of the first episode is split between the new world and Los Angeles. Above ground, Izzy reunites with her father, Gavin. Since a plane accident in the desert, Gavin has had visions of a place. Now he is seeing Eve and Josh in the place in his visions. He tries to contact the investigators to tell them that there are survivors at the bottom of the hole. While everyone does not believe Gavin, he starts to work on getting Eve and Josh out of the sinkhole.
Episode one is packed with action, setting up the season as a rescue mission to get the survivors back. Throughout the first episode, there are references to TV shows like Lost, and dystopian movies like “The Hunger Games”. I feel like parts of the episode were extremely predictable. My prediction for the rest of the season is that Gavin will figure out how to get to the new world and will successfully reunite with Eve and Josh but they will not be able to get back. I will definitely be tuning in to the rest of the season to see where they take the show. Whether or not “La Brea” will be returning for season two is still up for debate.
