[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for La Brea Season 2, Episodes 8 & 9, “Stampede” & “Murder in the Clearing.”]
La Brea is back and building some serious drama early on in its midseason back-to-back premiere, which saw leading man Gavin (Eoin Macken) forced to make some tough decisions regarding his family’s future.
After traveling to the 1980s from 10,000 B.C. and back again, Gavin and his family — son Josh (Jack Martin), daughter Izzy (Zyra Gorecki), and wife Eve (Natalie Zea) — were fully reunited. But the bliss didn’t last long as Gavin crossed paths with his biological mother, Dr. Caroline Clark (Melissa Neal), who warned of the threat his father, James (Jonno Roberts), poses.
(Credit: Manfred Baumann)
As viewers will recall, Caroline crafted a digital virus that was meant to destroy James’ portal-opening capabilities for the safety of humanity, but once Gavin was ready to deliver the punishing blow upon his return to the past, he couldn’t do it. He had a few reasons, but mainly it was a concern for Eve. Before Gavin and his family jump back into the past after their excursion to the 1980s, Gavin has one of his visions, picturing Eve lying dead under a very specific red tree.
When Gavin tells James about his vision, he’s told by the mysterious man that he can be helped if he doesn’t initiate the virus. Making an executive decision, Gavin chooses to hear out James before making rash decisions. “It will come back to bite him later on,” teases Macken in regard to Gavin’s decision, “but I think the most important for Gavin is his family’s [safe].”
In what form his decision will come back to haunt him remains a mystery, but the back-to-back midseason premiere episodes hinted at the potential danger Eve faces from his vision as she falls into a cave and comes into contact with the red flower-shaped leaves from his vision, almost like a prophecy, but she managed to get out of the predicament mostly unscathed.
(Credit: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)
Understandably, Gavin’s decision to hold off the virus on his dad’s compound certainly shifts the dynamic with his biological mother, who he only recently met. Despite the potential rifts he’s creating, Macken says, “he wants to trust [James] because if his dad is right, then [Gavin could get his family] home. So he’s gotta be optimistic about that.”
Despite making the potentially life-altering decision on behalf of his family, and in part for everyone stuck in 10,000 B.C., Macken says that Gavin did what he thinks is right. “You can’t sacrifice everybody for his family. So it’s tough. I think he’s hoping that it’s actually the right decision for the greater good. I think he certainly believes that.”
As for his vision about Eve, Macken says Gavin can’t be entirely sure of what he sees. “He kind of understood what the visions were because there were memories,” the actor points out, but that isn’t the case any longer. “He can’t be sure because they’ve gone back in time. Whether they’re actually real or not real or which part of it might be from the future or the past, he’s not sure. He’s confused himself,” Macken admits.
While viewers will have to wait and see how everything turns out as Season 2 continues, they’ll have a front row to Gavin’s familial woes with his own wife, children, and his parents. For someone who grew up without his biological parents, Macken says Gavin’s position between Caroline and James “is a layer of complexity.”
Stay tuned to see how it plays out as the second half of La Brea‘s second season airs on NBC. And let us know your thoughts on the latest episodes in the comments section below.
La Brea, Season 2, Tuesdays, 9/8c, NBC