Welcome Back La Brea and Wormhole Time Travel Science Fiction Lovers!
The episodic excitement builds to a crescendo in the fabulous fourth episode of La Brea after the remaining unrevealed character, named Helena (Emily Wiseman) surfaced packing a pistol at the end of the third episode “Maya” while she was tracking Gavin (Eoin Macken) with plans to kidnap him!
Seemingly a threat to Gavin, we will learn in “Fire Storm” that Helena is none other than Gavin’s sister who had been working with him to stop the nefarious forces who have been in control of the secret Time Travel Facilities for over five decades. Although Gavin’s memory was erased by an evil entity, we will learn the how and the why Gavin and Helena knew each other for over half a century dating back to 1965 where Helena was in possession of the Time Travel Computer Chip that they both stole. Subsequent to the theft the result was that Gavin’s memory was erased by Maya Schmidt (Claudia Ware) who claims she had misgivings about her orders to do so. We we mention in our analysis of the previous episode, Maya is our suspect for the root cause of all the problems our heroes have encountered.
In fact Maya, code named “Sierra“, unknown to the others, will expose herself as the principal villain when she attacks Scott (Rohan Mirchananey) and takes him prisoner because of an archeological secret she needs for her own evil purposes.
With all of these various story arc factors now in place, La Brea is superbly setup for the two part series finale “The Road Home” beginning next week on NBC!
Fire Storm:
The fourth episode of season three, written by Onalee Hunter Hughes and directed by Cherie Nowlan, opens in 2021 with the 10,000 BC version of Ty (Chiké Okonkwo) and Sam (Jon Seda) waiting in a vehicle.
They are waiting for Gavin to link up with a contact in a restaurant to gain access to a place near La Brea called the “Ladera Air Force Base” where the Time Travel Computer Chip is suspected to be located. We will soon learn that Gavin and Helena stashed it somewhere else safe.
Instead Helena shows up ordering Gavin to follow her out the backdoor of the restaurant at gunpoint.
Ty and Sam become suspicious upon entering the restaurant. With no sign of Helena or Gavin, they head out the back door of the eatery.
Unfortunately for Gavin, he is being kidnapped by Helena. Both escape but almost run over Ty and Sam in the process!
Back in 10,000 BC Gavin and Sam are communicating with whomever has Eve (Natalie Zea) using the computer salvaged from the Time Travel Facility before it was destroyed last season.
Whoever the person on the other end of the computer chat discussion orders Gavin to find the Time Travel Computer Chip stating that Eve’s life depends on it.
Suddenly, Maya appears outside asking Gavin if he remembers more about his erased memories, to which he replies “yes”. This is the first inkling viewers receive that Maya is the one behind everything that has been happening because she is obviously obsessed with the Time Travel Computer Chip. Gavin learns from Maya that it is the only existing functional prototype. Gavin goes on to share that he has remembered that the Chip is not in 10,000 BC and must be in 2021 but they have no way to retrieve it. This revelation appears to upset Maya.
However, Sam says they can get a message to Gavin, Sam and 10,000 BC Ty in the future using the tar pits where Scott works in 2021. This perks up Maya’s interest. The group uses the entertainment industry ‘message in a bottle’ trope, sending Scott the details of the help they need.
The other aspect of the episode is the title “Fire Storm” when Izzy (Zyra Gorecki), interrupting their discussion, points out the huge wild fire which forces a mandatory evacuation of the village fort. Scott, Izzy, Gavin and Maya head to the famous La Brea tar pit number nine which is where Scott is working in 2021. They drop the message in a bottle despite Scott’s concern that his future self may not be be willing to help. Viewers know that Scott was a ‘pot head’ who kicked the habit only after he arrived in 10,000 BC
In 2021, Sam of the future and Ty of the past are left at the restaurant parking lot trying to figure out a way to find Gavin. After nearly being run over, they are with no prospects or luck whatsoever.
Thinking that all hope may be lost, Gavin’s cell phone suddenly goes off with a signal fort them. Low and behold, it’s Scott who is trying to reach Gavin by cell phone with the ‘message in a bottle’ all the way from 10,000 BC!
They proceed to Scott’s apartment where Ty and Sam explain to him what has been happening and that Gavin has been kidnapped. Scott believes them wanting to know if it’s time travel according to “The Terminator” or “Back To The Future” rules? This is an interesting aspect of the episode that only time travel story lovers will understand and appreciate.
Scott says he will only give the message to Gavin because he’s “seen every time travel movie ever made” and without Gavin, only his cell phone as proof, Ty seems like the villain to have stolen it because Scott comments on his British accent, referring the classic 1960 film “The Time Machine“. One of my favorite films with English characters based on the work of H.G. Wells.
Segue to 10,000 BC where the smoke from the wild fire is thickening during the evacuation from the village fort. Even constant complainer Judah (Damien Fotiou) is being cooperative! With the winds shifting, it appears the village fort will be burnt to the ground unless a group led by Ruth (Chantelle Jamieson), Veronica (Lily Santiago), Leyla (Edyll Ismail) and Lucas (Josh McKenzie) who can act on their plan to release the water from their dam on the river to create a fire break and save their village fort home!
Gavin, Izzy, Scott and Maya out together to locate a dual colored wormhole portal aurora. Gavin, still suffering from the memory elixir made from Psilocybin mushrooms Maya gave him in the last episode, stops with Izzy and has a flashback of memories that include Maya and her interest in Scott’s archeological knowledge documented in a white paper in the hands of the government contractors called “Universal Flora – A Study of What We Leave Behind”, the Time Travel Computer Chip, a person’s arm with three scars on it, and a dual colored wormhole portal aurora. Scott shares with Gavin and Izzy that his archeological paper was never published wondering why the government would be interested in it?
Scott tells Izzy and Gavin to head back while he continues on to get Maya who is near the river. During the ensuing separation from Gavin and Izzy, Maya makes her move and kidnaps Scott taking him to the military base.
Showing her true self to the viewers, we are now certain that Maya is only trying to obtain the Time Travel Computer Chip from Gavin in the future and Scott’s research knowledge for her own evil purposes.
We then learn in some detail that Scott archeological knowledge is somehow critical to Maya’s plan which he discovered when he observed three scars on her arm precisely as Gavin had described. Maya returns to Izzy and Gavin without Scott stating he was captured but she escaped after trying to fight them off. A bloody wound on Maya’s forehead convinces Gavin and Izzy.
In 2021, Helena explains to Gavin that he was a willing participant in the terrible things that happened, including production of military fighter jets as time machines that Gavin flew into other time periods.
As things unraveled for the military with Gavin changing his mind about participating, Maya erased Gavin’s memory and ultimately came to Helena, his sister for help. Together Gavin and Helena stole the prototype Time Travel Computer Chip from Maya. Helena proves this by taking Gavin to a bank safety deposit box that requires both their thumbprints. Once opened, inside they find the prototype Time Travel Computer Chip! Driving to a lake near Los Angeles, Helena shares the rest of the story with Gavin; that it was their father who invented time travel, what was required to do so, including the only prototype which they stole to stop the misuse of their fathers time travel technology in 1965, the main Time Travel Facility.
Now desperately sought by Maya, who not only hijacked the program but the process of setting up Time Travel Facilities in multiple eras as well that became the root cause of the original Wormhole Sinkhole, everything that has transpired and the deaths of untold numbers of innocent people.
Instead, in 2021 Sam and Ty show up and convince Gavin the Time Travel Chip must be taken to 10,000 BC in order to save Eve per the ‘message in the bottle’. Helena says this is a mistake, however, Ty also wants to return to his wife Paara and volunteers to take the Chip back to 10,000 BC. Little do they all know that this is exactly what Maya wants then to do.
As the episode winds down to the end Veronica has saved day by exploding a hand made bomb and firing at it with a pistol all of which was her idea. Veronica damages the dam, releasing it’s water to extinguish the fire!
Lucas, who is mighty proud of Veronica because Veronica saved their home in 10,000 BC. The cinematography of the shot with the water escaping from the dam is another great image in the series that I enjoyed!
We then find ourselves with Sam and Lucas as Ty arrives back at the village fort with the Time Travel Computer Chip. The final sequence features Maya looking at them knowing that Ty has the Chip!
Therefore, exploring the secret Time Travel Facility base in 10,000 BC and learning the fate of our heroes , viewers will have to wait until next weeks episode called “The Road Home Part 1” to find out. See you next week!!
Lastly, viewers are eager for details as we approach the series finale since they have not seen main characters Eve, Levi (Nicholas Gonzales), Riley (Veronica St. Clair), Josh (Jack Martin) or supporting characters Paara (Tonantzin Carmelo), Silas (Mark Lee) or Maya’s daughter Petra (Asmara Feik) for some time. A question to consider is if viewers will we see them again, or will the series ‘write around’ their characters since it is known from several David Appelbaum interviews that some actors were unavailable due to scheduling change delays after the pandemic.
Join us the next two weeks on X (Twitter) to enjoy a fun live tweet for the final season of La Brea when we will find out the secrets of season three in 10,000 BC in order to finally find “The Road Home” Back To The Future for our heroes trapped in time!
We will be back in the near future with more of La Brea season three as well as your favorite television series and movie analysis. In the meantime, please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments!
We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future! Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit TeamWHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“
Thank you. 
Best Regards,
Kenn of #TeamWHR
