Round Two: La Brea

La Brea: Season 1, Episode 2 “Day Two” (B-)

This show really is a successor to “Lost” in terms of the format of its characters not knowing where they are, ending up somewhere impossible, and those back at home all assuming that they’re dead. What makes this one stand out is that it spends almost equal time back in the world everyone came from and the one they were transplanted to, with the government officials and scientists trying to understand how they could be where it appears they are and those who fell into the sinkhole grappling with the apparent existence of very much extinct animals. Scott recognizing the Tar Pits was a significant moment, one that is going to begin permeating that group and convincing them that they’re stranded way back in time, not that it will give them much of a leg up on how to get back to the present. Complicated relationships are being revealed, like the one between Louisiana cop Marybeth and the man she’s been chasing, who is apparently her son. And then there’s Veronica and her very much not-mute sister Lily, who are hiding big secrets that they don’t want anyone else to know. I enjoyed Eve pushing back to the psychoanalysis of her evidently running from something when she gets up every day to run ten miles at 5am, and she’s the one holding everything together and making sure that panic doesn’t set in, which it surely will soon. Back in the present, Gavin is beginning to comprehend what he’s been seeing for a long time, and his abilities are going to have a transformative impact.