With that, we say goodbye to La Brea and the sinkhole survivors.
It was an action-packed and emotional finale, cramming too many reunions into La Brea Season 3 Episode 6. The series needed another few episodes to make some of these emotional scenes breathe better, but at least most of the characters got closure.
A few characters had to deal with the consequences of their actions, making it a bittersweet finale, too.
While La Brea was a sci-fi adventure series, it’s always been a family drama, and almost every character proved how far they’d go for their loved ones.
In many ways, Sam had one of the best character arcs in La Brea Season 3 as he learned to cope without Riley, and he realized that he wanted to become an even better person and father when she recovered.
Sam had been so obsessed with finding Riley that it became his sole focus, making him afraid he let her down. It was a relief that he located her quickly at Cedars Hospital.
Sam: I’m sorry it took so long to find you.
Riley: You’re forgiven. It’s a bit of a trip from 10,000 BC.
As soon as Sam realized Riley was poorly injured, he became super doc. He brought to mind Thony De La Rosa from The Cleaning Lady since he also wanted to try an experimental technique on his child.
It doesn’t matter how old your child is. If you’re a medical doctor, you’ll do anything in your capacity to save them, no matter the consequences. Thankfully, Sam was able to combine his medical skills with the prayers of a loving dad.
I’m going to be a different father, and if your mother will let me, a different husband. But none of this works if you’re not there.
Sam
After all that Sam had been through, all he wanted was for his family to be reunited, but it wouldn’t mean anything without his daughter.
After not seeing Paara all season, Ty got a lead on his wife in the series finale after interrogating some guards.
This was one of the most brutal scenes because no one wanted to believe Paara was dead, and Scott and Lucas worked hard to comfort Ty.
Paara had changed Ty’s life, and his trip to 2021 had cemented how important she was to him. It was a relief when Ty and Scott found her in an abandoned village.
The storyline showed that love conquers all, as cheesy as that sounds. It’s a rare thing for a sci-fi adventure series to portray so many compelling love stories.
The majority of the finale focused on the Harris family reuniting. Gavin’s sister, Helena, has been a welcome addition, and she got along famously with Izzy, who loved being part of the mission.
More background would have been helpful here to understand why Helena understood Maya’s plan or why the soldiers also captured Josh.
Izzy is her father’s daughter, and watching her smash a military wagon to carry out the mission was fascinating. The last thing they expected to find was Josh inside.
Josh emerged as a genuinely sympathetic character. While Gavin and Izzy were happy to see him, with all the chaos happening, there was no time for an emotional reunion, such as the one that Sam shared with Riley.
Josh seemed like the kid who missed out on so much while Izzy got to have adventures with their dad. It’s disappointing we didn’t see many family scenes of them together.
That said, the action scenes of the entire Harris family together in the jeep with the T-rex chasing them were epic! Gavin knew that the dinosaur would destroy the military base, giving them a chance to grab the chip and survive.
It’s only because of Helena that Josh survived. Maya was determined to get that chip and trade it for Josh’s life, but Helena shot her, proving how loyal she was to her new family.
It’s disappointing that we couldn’t see Helena interact with the Harrises more, but they needed their own reunion with Eve.
This was the first time Natalie Zea appeared as Eve in La Brea Season 3, and the writers made the most of it by showing her in emotional scenes with Gavin and the kids.
Gavin mentioned Eve’s wisdom tree in La Brea Season 3 Episode 5, which was a pivotal part of the series finale. They celebrated milestones there, which led Gavin to believe that Eve would go there when they couldn’t locate her elsewhere.
It was their magnetic connection that brought them back together in the end, and it was endearing that Eve and Josh ran to each other, and their reunion and embrace mirrored Eve and Izzy’s from La Brea Season 2 Episode 3.
The Harisses literally walked out into the sunset together. It was the happy ending they deserved.
After three seasons, we’ll assume that the Harrises will stay lifelong friends with Sam and Riley, but it would have been nice to see the next steps for Josh and Riley. They were a young couple in love, and we were rooting for them.
And what about Izzy? The showrunner spoke about her maturing this season, but was it worth getting her heart broken? So many unanswered questions still.
At least Lucas and Veronica received a happy ending and are still friends with Scott. Lucas has changed so much since MaryBeth died. Becoming friends with Scott and falling in love with Veronica changed him.
He’s finally confident that he can be the man his family deserves no matter where they live.
Before all this, I was just an angry guy. I was confused all the time. I didn’t trust anybody. But then, I found my best friend, the woman I love, and I found myself. I’m scared, but with your help, I think I can be this guy anywhere we go.
Lucas
Scott also matured and cared more about other people. Introducing Petra into his life helped him evolve. It was deeply satisfying to see Scott become a “surrogate uncle” to her.
He wouldn’t let anything happen to her; she was still in her life when they returned to LA. Scott was finally someone he could be proud of, so he showed that to his former fiance, Emily.
It was an emotional and action-packed hour. Most characters received closure and happy endings, so it checked off the necessary series finale boxes.
However, parts of the episode felt rushed. Much of La Brea Season 3 felt that way with the shortened season and only six episodes. Many emotional arcs needed longer to breathe.
We would have liked to explore 1965 more in-depth and what Maya wanted with Josh.
Despite wanting a few more episodes, it was time for La Brea to end. You could drag out a rescue plan only so long before viewers lose interest.
While most of the characters got the closure they deserved, it would be wonderful if the showrunner developed a follow-up movie to update us on our favorite characters. You never know!
La Brea was a rare treat, combining a family drama with sci-fi adventure.
Audiences grew to love those characters over the past three seasons, and it was an honor to cover this show. I’ll miss it.
Over to you, La Brea Fanatics. Were you happy with the ending? Were you excited to see Eve again? Which family reunion was your favorite?
What else do you wish was included in the series finale? Let us know in the comments below.
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Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on X.
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