La Brea kept bringing the teasers to keep their audiences hooked.
La Brea Season 2 Episode 10 was another action-packed and emotionally-charged episode as The Exiles needed to find a sacred item and were willing to kill Scott if they didn’t find it.
Levi returned to 10,000, but before everyone could find out the valid reason for his return, he also joined the rescue team for his friends.
The Exiles wanted a sacred item they thought was hidden in the Clearing, and they used a mole to do their dirty work.
Lucas should trust his instincts more often. Josh McKenzie shined in Lucas’s layered performance as he went from aggressive and angry to resigned. He understood being put in impossible situations.
Virgil wasn’t as evil as we thought. He was desperate.
Lucas: These are some maniacs you escaped from! Why did you let them in here?
Virgil: I didn’t have a choice. He made me.
Lucas: What the hell do they have on you?
In parallel scenes with Sam and Riley, we saw Virgil’s wife, Jade, but it would have moved the storyline along better if we had seen flashbacks of Taamet threatening Jade’s life. Has Virgil been a mole since he escaped in La Brea Season 2 Episode 5?
Lucas showed so many emotions during that confrontation. He was furious that Virgil sent the Exiles straight to them, but Lucas understood being in an impossible position to protect someone you love, especially after what happened to him.
However, most of the survivors were surprised by what the Exiles wanted. Settling the score with Scott was only part of it.
We may have finally gotten some answers about the man that’s haunting Veronica and preventing her from moving forward. It’s hard to admit to your boyfriend that you were kidnapped and abused as a child, and the memories still haunt you.
Everywhere I turn, he seems to be there. I don’t know what to do.
Veronica
When Taamet, Lucas, and Virgirl discussed a book with binding, I initially thought they meant the book Rebecca had Scott steal from Silas’s hut and wondered if Aaron and Silas were the same person.
I am relieved they aren’t, and I hope she’ll get some closure after Veronica dug up Aaron’s body.
Now that Gavin and the others know the book and the equations matched Dr. Moore’s research, does that mean Dr. Moore was a predator?
Now that Veronica reburied Aaron, she finally felt secure enough to tell Lucas the ghosts of her past.
Veronica: If you didn’t think I was damaged goods before….
Lucas: What are you talking about? I think you’re the strongest person I ever met. I wouldn’t want you any other way.
These two work so well because they are imperfectly perfect together. They both have many flaws, but they’ve evolved into likable people in La Brea Season 2.
It’s adorable that they’re moving into Lucas’s car, but where will that leave Ella?
I don’t want her vulnerable to creature or Exile attacks.
We haven’t seen much one-on-one interaction between Josh and Izzy yet. They are both opinionated teens, not afraid to speak their minds, especially when it concerns their family.
It amused me that Izzy has become like Eve, while Josh sounded like Gavin — that they’d do whatever it took to keep their mom alive.
Eve: Hey guys, I know it’s dangerous down here, but we have to face things as they come. I wish your dad knew that James wasn’t the way to do that.
Izzy: Yes, exactly.
Josh: If there’s even a chance that James can help Mom, we need to look into it. We need to do something, right?
In some ways, Izzy is still a kid who wants her family together; in others, she’s mature, working side-by-side with Gavin.
It surprised me that she wanted the family to gang up against Gavin because she is a daddy’s girl, but she must think it’s a means to an end.
Like many siblings, even if they were arguing, their priority was to rescue their mother when the Exiles invaded.
I appreciated that Izzy showed off her skills by signaling Morse code to Gavin.
We’ve seen her assist Gavin many times, so it was refreshing to see her take the lead and show her brother that she’s grown up.
They made a great team, and Gavin felt secure rescuing Lucas, Veronica, and Ella first before returning to the Clearing, knowing he’d trained his children well.
I was dreading Levi’s return since most of La Brea Season 2, he was used as an interloper in Gavin and Eve’s relationship, and he served little purpose.
However, Levi seemed genuine and only returned to help bring his friends home. I prefer this version of Levi, who acts like a family friend. If he doesn’t flirt with Eve, he can stay. Otherwise, I want to return him to modern times.
Gavin: So, you’re going bring us all back?
Levi: That’s the plan.
Gavin: I don’t know what to say.
Levi: Thank you is a good start.
It’s ironic how time travel worked, and ten years had passed for Levi, so he wanted to honor his late wife’s legacy by finishing her work.
Levi still didn’t trust James, though. That’s worrisome if he eventually goes with Gavin to hear the plan and decipher the equations.
The B-story of Ty counseling James bored me compared to all the action at the Clearing until James revealed his fears and nightmares of losing Gavin again.
James lost so much time with Isaiah as a child. In retrospect, he seems like a loving father, but something happened for Silas to gain custody, and Gavin still doesn’t trust James fully.
It’s difficult not to feel some compassion for James, who only wants a second chance to rebuild his family. Hopefully, Gavin and his children will give him that chance now as they work jointly on a way home.
I hope James doesn’t mess up the timeline by returning in time. He may get a second chance with Isaiah, but he’d alter so many other lives.
Some final thoughts to ponder:
Scott actually stabbed Taamet. I never saw him as the violent type, but Taamet was threatening his BFF. Is Taamet dead, or will he resurface again?
Caroline had disappeared. Did the Exiles or Jame’s people kidnap her to help with those equations, or did she go off on her own for more secret research?
Levi wanted to murder James and thought Eve would help him. While she distrusts James, would she team up with Levi and risk losing everything she rebuilt with Gavin? I doubt it.
Over to you, La Brea Fanatics. Do you see another murder mystery brewing? Who is the next target? James or Kira?
Have we seen the last of Virgil? Are you enjoying Lucas and Veronica’s relationship? Comment below.
To catch up on all the Clearing drama, you could watch La Brea online via TV Fanatic.
La Brea airs at 9/8c on Tuesdays on NBC.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.