Before jumping into a recap of NBC’s La Brea season two episode eight, let’s take a quick look back at the winter finale. Episode seven found the Velez and Harris families faced with the horrible choice of staying in the ‘80s or returning to 10,000 BC. Gavin’s mom, Caroline, has possession of a virus that will destroy James’s portal, but in order for it to work she needs Gavin. Only James or Gavin’s handprint will unlock the system that will allow her to upload the virus.
Levi opted to stay in 1988 while the Harris and Velez families decided to stick together and take the leap back into primeval times. As they’re about to jump into the sinkhole – once again without any supplies – Gavin has a vision of Eve dying in his arms.
Meanwhile, Scott made a deal with Taamet to cure Lucas who was on death’s door.
And now on with episode eight, “Stampede,” the first hour of a two-hour midseason premiere.
The two families make the leap and when they land, they discover Josh is missing. They’re not overly concerned and believe he’ll eventually make his way to the clearing.
Speaking of the clearing, Ty (Chiké Okonkwo) is lending a hand cleaning it up as Scott (Rohan Mirchandaney) tries to get info from him on whether the Exiles figured out who freed Taamet. Lucas (Josh McKenzie) still can’t feel his hand and is super grumpy about it while Ty’s headache has him racked with pain.
As they’re talking, a buffalo runs through the camp. Scott realizes a lone buffalo is the least of their problems. A haze in the sky signals something’s up, and Scott spots a massive herd of buffalo miles away. This isn’t going to end well. But then isn’t that always the case?
If the buffalo are startled, they’ll destroy everything in camp. (Cue the foreboding music.)
Scott, who studied animal migration, warns that they’re totally screwed. A suggestion’s tossed out to leave the cleaning and head to the mountains or the caves. Anywhere is safer than this place. But Lucas wants to take a stand and defend the clearing. How? He’ll divert the herd.
Scott gets on board with that plan. Lucas comes up with another workable suggestion…spread out tar, light it, and scare the buffalo away from the clearing.
Everyone pitches in to spread the tar.
Elsewhere, the families argue over whether they should head directly to the tower or stop by the clearing first. Shouldn’t their fellow 10,000 BCers be told they’re about to be permanently trapped in prehistoric times? They decide they shouldn’t tell them.
The group also spot the haze in the sky and realize a sinkhole’s about to open. They split up, with Riley (Veronica St. Clair) and Sam (Jon Seda) volunteering to go with Caroline (Melissa Neal) to a research station a few miles away. Eve (Natalie Zea) and Izzy (Zyra Gorecki) want to go to the tower with Gavin but it’s decided Eve can’t go because she’ll raise their suspicions. So, only Izzy’s allowed to accompany Gavin (Eoin Macken).
They sync their watches and plan that in precisely three hours Caroline will upload the virus. That gives Gavin enough time to get past the security lock. Caroline makes a point of explaining that the virus has to upload at least 85% to shut down the sinkhole. To shut the machine down, it needs to complete its upload. (You just know that 85% figure is going to come back into the story, right?)
Gavin should never ever ever be allowed to come up with a plan but for some reason, people always listen to him. (Yes, his plans work 90% of the time but they’re ludicrous.) This time it’s Izzy who’s convinced to go along with her dad’s plan to slice his arm, which will give him a legitimate reason to visit the Tower’s infirmary. Izzy wraps up his bleeding arm and points out that she saw him kiss her mom when they split up. She hopes that means they’re back together.
Gavin, who is not only the worst person at formulating a plan but also terrible at lying, is forced to confess he had a disturbing vision involving Eve. Right before they jumped into the sinkhole, he saw her surrounded by red, star-shaped flowers and he was pretty sure she was dead. But that doesn’t have to happen. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know where or when it will occur.
Their heart-to-heart is broken up by the Tower guards. Gavin asks them to tell his dad he’s back and that they need to talk.
Gavin introduces his dad to Izzy and claims they both want to know everything about their family. But first, Gavin’s taken to the infirmary while James (Jonno Roberts) offers to show Izzy around the building.
Elsewhere, although they’re running short on time and still a mile off from the research station, Sam has questions he wants answered right now. Is Caroline sure there’s no way to get back to their own time once James’s machine is destroyed? He demands answers since this means he and Riley will never see the rest of their family ever again.
Caroline says the only option to get back home is through James’s machine, but they tried for years and never figured out how to do that. They can’t try again before it’s shut down forever because every time they do, another catastrophic sinkhole opens.
A city would have to be destroyed for them to go home.
Caroline holds up the flash drive with the virus and says it’s the only way to make things right. The camera lingers too long on the container holding the flash drive and follows it to her pocket. Oh no.
Josh (Jack Martin) makes it to the clearing on his own and Scott’s super happy to see him, even though buffalo are about to destroy their camp.
Josh fills Scott in on the ‘80s, calling it boring. He holds back and doesn’t tell Scott about meeting Caroline, even though Scott reminds him they’re bros.
The tar idea was Lucas’s so he’s the one they turn to when there’s a disagreement about the width of the tar line. Scott finally makes him settle the argument, and Lucas does the smart thing and sides with the builder, Wyatt, who actually knows what he’s talking about.
Scott figures out Lucas is set on protecting the clearing because he wants to keep Veronica safe. Awww, how sweet. Lucas admits Veronica makes him feel like he can be the sort of guy who stands up and defends his home. Scott confirms Lucas is a jerk…but he’s also a good guy.
While all this is going on, Veronica (Lily Santiago) and Ella (Michelle Vergara Moore) have been off looking for an amethyst. Why? Because Ty wants to propose and they need the amethyst for the ring. Veronica and Ella make it to the amethyst cave, and there are plenty to choose from. But then Ella sees a tree with red flowers and remembers them from before. Veronica also remembers that Aaron used to tell Ella to draw them. He said they used to grow in his old home.
Veronica freaks out, and Ella has no idea what that tree’s doing in this cave.
(The flowers are from Gavin’s vision of Eve’s death.)
Veronica and Ella try and figure out why Aaron knew about these flowers. Veronica’s pissed that once again Aaron has wormed his way into her head. She can’t move on if he keeps popping in.
Veronica promises herself a fresh start and Ella promises never to mention the flowers again.
James and Izzy talk about their family, and both agree that family is the only thing that matters. James says his wife left and went to 1988 in Los Angeles – which is where Izzy has been. Izzy claims she never saw her in the ‘80s, but it’s obvious James thinks she’s lying.
Izzy also spots the tree from Gavin’s vision and James explains it only grows in this time period and mostly in caves. Izzy picks up a flower and realizes her mom dies in 10,000 BC.
Meanwhile, Caroline’s group stops at a stream to get water. She removes her coat and Sam searches her pockets for the flash drive after she walks away. The container is empty. When he’s confronted by Eve, he insists he was looking for a water bottle.
Caroline and Eve both suspected he’d go after the flash drive and that’s why it wasn’t in Caroline’s jacket pocket. Eve suggests they try talking to him but now Sam and Riley are missing.
Sam races off to destroy an electrical box before Caroline can upload the virus. He’s unwilling to accept that they’ll never make it home.
Back at the clearing, the tar is still being poured as the sky rumbles and the aurora opens. The noise spooked the herd so it’s now or never. Lucas sets the tar on fire and orders everyone to take cover in case the herd makes it through.
The first few buffalo approach the clearing at a run and the ones in the lead swivel away from the fire at the last second. Scott thinks the rest of the herd will be there in a minute. Before they arrive, the aurora brings on the rain and fish begin falling from the sky, followed by a heavy buoy.
It’s salt water and Josh is forced to reveal that in 1988 there’s a sinkhole in Santa Monica Bay opening up right now. He explains his parents are trying to shut off the portal right now. That means they’ll all be stuck here.
The rain’s putting out the fire as the buffalo get closer.
James’s chief of operations warns Gavin her top priority is to keep James safe from anyone who’s a distraction. She will stop anyone – family included – who tries to upset James’s work. Gavin grabs a guard’s weapon and forces the woman to take him to the portal. They arrive in the portal room and she makes everyone leave. Gavin makes it to the access pad and his handprint activates it – just like Caroline said it would.
Gavin doesn’t notice as the woman hits a hidden button.
Riley races back and tells Eve and Caroline her dad’s trying to stop Caroline from uploading the virus. They make it to the research center (the size of a phone booth) and Caroline’s happy to see Gavin opened the portal. She sticks in the flash drive but the computer glitches. Sam’s messing with the power, and they catch him banging on the electrical box. He pauses when Eve reminds him people are going to die.
Sam’s ready to hit the electrical box again when Riley points out that the aurora is closing which means the sinkhole will close. The virus is working and people are counting on them. Eve chimes in, reminding him they all came back to save thousands of lives. She’s sorry he can’t get back to his family but it’s all about the greater good.
The screen shows the virus is now 82% uploaded.
Sam doesn’t give in until Eve steps in front of him, followed by Riley. They refuse to let him bash the box.
The virus reaches 85% as the aurora completely closes. The rain stops but the buffalo are still stampeding. Scott remembers buffalo don’t like noise so if everyone honks their horns, there’s a chance they can get the buffalo to change course. Which, of course, they do, just feet from the clearing.
Veronica and Ella show up minutes after the buffalo race away. Veronica’s impressed Lucas risked his life to save the clearing. He replies, “It’s our home.”
James and Izzy arrive in the portal room as Gavin’s uploading the virus. Gavin holds them off with the stolen stun gun, and James swears Caroline didn’t tell him the truth. James knows much more than Caroline and is on the verge of stabilizing the portal.
The upload’s at 94% when Gavin confirms he knows this will break the machine and they’ll all be trapped in 10,000 BC. Izzy quickly fills her dad in on the tree from his vision that only grows in 10,000 BC. Eve will die here if he destroys the machine. (Well, they’ll all eventually die here, right?)
James swears he can get Eve home. All Gavin needs to do is put his hand on the pad and stop the upload. But if James keeps opening the portal, catastrophic sinkholes will open. Gavin doesn’t want that blood on his hands.
James claims he’s close to a solution, but Gavin doesn’t trust him. The upload reaches 98% and then 99%, and Gavin puts his hand on the pad – just like we all knew he would.
- Season 2 Episode 1 “The Next Day” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 2 “The Cave” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 3 “The Great Escape” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 4 “The Fog” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 5 “The Heist” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 6 “Lazarus” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 9 “Murder in the Clearing” Preview
