La Brea (TV series)

La Brea is an American science fiction drama television series that aired on NBC from September 28, 2021 until February 13, 2024, across 3 seasons and 30 episodes. It was produced by Keshet Studios and Universal Television and created and executive produced by David Appelbaum. The series received mixed reviews from critics.

Synopsis
On September 26, 2021, a massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles at the site of the La Brea Tar Pits and Wilshire Boulevard, pulling many people, vehicles and buildings, including the Petersen Automotive Museum, into its depths. The survivors find themselves trapped in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land where they must band together to survive. The show follows the Harris family, consisting of Eve, Gavin, Izzy, and Josh, after they are separated and attempt to reunite, with Gavin having visions of when and where Eve and Josh are. The sinkhole and the sudden appearance of Teratornis attract the attention of the United States Department of Homeland Security, who are investigating a similar event in the Mojave Desert. As the series progresses, the investigators realize that the sinkholes are a temporary portal to the same location in 10,000 BC. Meanwhile, the survivors search for a way back through the portal before it closes.

Season two reveals that the sinkholes were caused by the Lazarus Project, led by Gavin's long-lost father James Mallet and run by people from 2076, who are researching ways to deal with their time's depleted resources and how to master de-extinction.

The third and final season deals with the aftermath of a time portal's destruction, which brings different things from across time, such as dinosaurs. In addition, Gavin and his allies must contend with the Reisander Group, who plans to weaponize time travel.

Main

 * Natalie Zea as Eve Harris (seasons 1–2; special guest star in season 3), Izzy and Josh's helicopter mother who works as an office manager
 * Eoin Macken as Gavin Harris, Eve's estranged husband and a former military pilot who has visions of 10,000 BC
 * Diesel La Torraca as Isaiah, a young boy in the past who grows up to become Gavin after being sent through time
 * Chiké Okonkwo as Ty Coleman, a therapist with a medical condition whom Eve befriends
 * Karina Logue as Marybeth Hill (season 1), a police officer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who headed to Los Angeles while on the trail of her estranged son Lucas. She later dies after one of Silas' followers fatally injures her.
 * Zyra Gorecki as Izzy Harris, Eve and Gavin's teenage daughter who lost her left leg in a car crash
 * Jack Martin as Josh Harris, Eve and Gavin's teenage son
 * Veronica St. Clair as Riley Velez, Dr. Sam Velez's daughter whom Josh befriends
 * Rohan Mirchandaney as Scott Israni, an anthropology graduate student from Australia who worked at the George C. Page Museum. He is a recreational drug user who uses marijuana to ease his anxiety.
 * Lily Santiago as Veronica Castillo, a former runaway whose supposed father, Aaron, died after a dire wolf mauled him. It is later revealed that he kidnapped her when she was a child.
 * Chloe De Los Santos as Lilly Castillo (season 1), a girl who pretends she cannot speak and passes herself off as Veronica's sister. In reality, Veronica and Aaron kidnapped her.
 * Michelle Vergara Moore as Ella Jones (season 2; recurring season 1), a grown up version of Lilly that followed Isaiah to the present and has grown up to become an artist. She later sacrifices herself to let Veronica have an Epipen after yellowjackets sting them.
 * Jon Seda as Dr. Sam Velez, Riley's father, who works as a physician and was formerly a SEAL
 * Josh McKenzie as Lucas Hayes, Marybeth's son who works as a heroin dealer. He has been estranged from her since she shot his father after he planned to turn Lucas in to the police to save himself.
 * Nicholas Gonzalez as Levi Delgado, a United States Air Force pilot and an old friend of the Harris family who is Gavin's rival for Eve's affection. He later dies saving Gavin from the Reisander Group's soldiers.
 * Tonantzin Carmelo as Paara (season 2; recurring season 1, guest star season 3), a Tongva Native American who speaks modern English. She lives in the Fort and marries Ty in season two.

Recurring

 * Ione Skye as Jessica Harris (season 1), Gavin's adoptive sister and Izzy and Josh's aunt.
 * Virginie Laverdure as Dr. Sophia Nathan (season 1), a United States Department of Defense operative who is investigating the sinkhole.
 * Toby Truslove as Senior Agent Adam Markman (season 1), a United States Department of Defense operative and Dr. Nathan's co-worker who is investigating the sinkhole.
 * Pacharo Mzembe as Tony Greene (season 1), a man who fell down a sinkhole. While in 10,000 BC, he repairs a Jeep.
 * Stephen Lopez as Billy Fisher (season 1), Tony's husband who fell down the sinkhole.
 * Damien Fotiou as Judah, a man who fell down the sinkhole.
 * Ming-Zhu Hii as Dr. Rebecca Aldridge (seasons 1–2), a government scientist who knows more about time portals and sinkholes than she lets on and seemingly influences the actions of other characters.
 * Mark Lee as Silas (seasons 1–2), an old man residing in the fort in 10,000 BC. He is Isaiah's grandfather and Caroline's father, making him Izzy and Josh's great-grandfather.
 * Martin Sensmeier as Taamet (season 2), the leader of the Exiles who speaks the Tongva language due to being Paara's ex-husband. After Scott attacks him and he is dying from a dagger wound, he tells Gavin and Sam that Kiera hired him to raid the clearing for a book Aaron had in his possession.
 * Jonno Roberts as James Mallet (season 2), the Director of the Lazarus Project from 2076 who is Gavin's long-lost father, Helena's father, and Izzy and Josh's grandfather. Before dying from a gunshot wound following a struggle with Gavin, he advises Gavin to tell his sister, who will come for him, that their father has failed.
 * Melissa Neal as Caroline Clark (season 2), a scientist from 2076 who is Silas' daughter, Isaiah/Gavin's mother, and Josh and Izzy's grandmother. She is a former leader of the Lazarus Project who traveled to 1988 to find the cause and stop the creation of the sinkholes that were created as a result of the Lazarus Project. She is later killed by Kiera.
 * Simone McAullay as Kiera (season 2), a member of the Lazarus Project and James' personal assistant, who has an agenda of her own.
 * Chantelle Jamieson as Ruth (season 3), a member of Paara's tribe who runs the fort while Paara is away
 * Edyll Ismail as Leyla (season 3), Ruth's daughter and expert archer who befriends Izzy
 * Claudia Ware as Maya Schmidt (season 3), the manipulative head of the Reisander Group who Gavin knew under her "Sierra" alias. During the series finale, she is killed by Helena.
 * Emily Wiseman as Helena (season 3), James' daughter and Gavin's half-sister who opposes the Reisander Group

Development
On January 15, 2020, La Brea was given a pilot order by NBC. The pilot was directed by Thor Freudenthal and written by David Appelbaum who was expected to executive produce alongside Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Ken Woodruff and Rachel Kaplan. The production companies involved with the series are Keshet Studios and Universal Television. On January 12, 2021, NBC gave production a series order for a 10-episode first season. The series is created by Appelbaum.

On November 12, 2021, NBC renewed the series for a 14-episode second season.

On January 31, 2023, NBC renewed the series for a six-episode third season. The cast originally had contracts requiring payments for at least ten episodes per season; the cast accepted an offer to be released from their contracts so they would be free to pursue work on other shows after the season in exchange for reducing that number to six. On November 20, 2023, it was reported that the third season would be the final season.

Casting
In February 2020, Michael Raymond-James, Karina Logue, Zyra Gorecki, Caleb Ruminer, Angel Parker, Catherine Dent, Veronica St. Clair, Jag Bal, and Chiké Okonkwo were cast as series regulars while Natalie Zea was cast as the lead role. In March 2020, Jon Seda and Rita Angel Taylor joined the main cast. On March 4, 2021, Eoin Macken and Jack Martin were cast to replace Raymond-James and Ruminer, respectively and Lily Santiago joined the main cast. In addition, the surname of the family has been changed to Harris. On March 22, 2021, Nicholas Gonzalez and Rohan Mirchandaney joined the cast as series regulars. In April 2021, Josh McKenzie was cast as a series regular while Ione Skye was cast in a recurring role and Chloe De Los Santos was cast to replace Taylor. On May 12, 2022, Tonantzin Carmelo and Michelle Vergara Moore were promoted to series regulars for the second season. On July 15, 2022, Jonno Roberts joined the cast in a recurring role for the second season. On September 22, 2022, Martin Sensmeier was cast in a recurring capacity for the second season.

Filming
The series began filming in Melbourne, Australia, on May 3, 2021, and wrapped up in September 2021. The main photography of the series was shot in regional Victoria. The recordings for the first season were completed in September. The effects-heavy production spent $71 million in Australia, more than $60 million of it in Victoria. It is the most expensive TV production in Victoria since Steven Spielberg's HBO series The Pacific completed in 2009. The second season was scheduled to film in Victoria, Australia in the spring of 2022. On May 23, 2023, it was reported that filming for the third season is set to begin soon in Queensland, Australia.

Release
In the USA, the series premiered on September 28, 2021 on NBC. The second season premiered on September 27, 2022 on NBC. The third and final season premiered on January 9, 2024. The series finale aired on February 13, 2024. In Canada, the series aired on CTV. In Australia, it aired on 9Now. In Germany, La Brea premiered on Sky One on April 24, 2022. In Italy - La Brea premiered on Italia 1 on June 8, 2022. In the UK, the first episode of La Brea aired on Channel 5 on August 1, 2022 to promote the series, with the entire first series being added to Paramount+ on the same day. The series also premiered on 5USA on April 22, 2023. In Ireland, the first series was added in full to Paramount+ on August 1, 2022.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 29% approval rating with an average rating of 4.5/10, based on 21 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "There may be method to its madness, but La Brea simply doesn't commit to its insane premise hard enough to shake out a show worth watching—at least not yet." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 49 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In reviewing the series pilot, the television critic for The Globe and Mail wrote "The series is so wretchedly bad, it is gripping in its awfulness" while the reviewer for SCIFI.radio wrote that "La Brea is everything I hate in network television science fiction" and mentions the many scientific improbabilities in the first episode such as the "statistically unlikely number of survivors" from falling after exiting a time portal suspended hundreds of feet in the primeval sky that should have killed everyone. In contrast, the reviewer for The Guardian liked the series for being "gloriously, brazenly bad" while giving the series one out of five stars when the series debuted in the UK in 2022.

Accolades
The series was one of 94 out of the 200 most-popular scripted television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2021 to 2022. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of color, in four out of eight key roles for their production.