NBC’s La Brea season two episode eight ended with Gavin stopping the virus upload when it was 99% complete. Episode nine, “Murder in the Clearing,” picks up minutes later with Gavin (Eoin Macken) demanding to know his dad’s plan for getting them back home.
James (Jonno Roberts) claims his team’s on the verge of fixing the machine so it can be used safely. The catch? Dr. Harold Moore, the only scientist who understands the formula, is missing somewhere in 10,000 BC.
If Gavin can find him, then maybe they can all go home. And, it turns out, Gavin’s mom knows Harold and might know where to locate him.
Eve (Natalie Zea) shows up inside the Tower and wants to know why the virus stopped uploading. Gavin’s forced to tell her he saw her death in a vision. He stopped the virus so they can go home because the flowers in his vision only grow in this time period.
James swears he can save Eve’s life if she trusts him and helps find the missing scientist. She doesn’t think that’s a good idea and heads off without making any promises.
As they head back to the clearing, Gavin insists they need to seriously consider helping James.
The family reunites and Josh hugs everyone before confessing he told their fellow 10,000 BCers about everything, including that his family was about to destroy the only way they could ever return home. The clearing crowd isn’t happy about this development, and Eve and Gavin fill Sam (Jon Seda) in on how James now believes he can fix the portal and send everyone home.
Riley’s scream for help draws Sam and Gavin, and they discover one of the clearing guys – Wyatt – has been murdered – hence the episode’s title. Ty (Chike Okonkwo), Lucas (Josh McKenzie), and Scott (Rohan Mirchandaney) join them, and Scott lies when he claims he doesn’t recognize the symbol in the dirt next to Wyatt’s lifeless body. Wyatt’s fingers are dirty so he’s the one who drew the symbol, leaving a clue about his murderer.
Lucas and Scott will handle the investigation since the clearing people aren’t happy about Gavin and his gang. Everyone is a potential suspect.
Gavin tries to convince Eve to help him talk Caroline into assisting locate Dr. Moore. Eve doesn’t want any part of this and refuses to play along with James’s reindeer games.
Scott and Lucas question Caroline (Melissa Neal) since she’s the clearing newbie, but Gavin assures them she’s not a killer.
Caroline’s upset Gavin stopped the upload before it could destroy the portal, and she reminds her son he can’t trust James. Gavin asks if it’s possible Dr. Moore has a workable solution and Caroline finally agrees it’s possible. Gavin plays the guilt card and says he needs her help. She owes it to him since she wasn’t there when he was a kid.
Josh (Jack Martin) and Izzy (Zyra Gorecki) argue about whether they should help their dad find Dr. Moore. Josh chooses to head out with his dad while Izzy’s going to team up with Ty to retrace Wyatt’s steps.
Ty asks if there’s a hospital in the Tower and Izzy warns him that although there’s an infirmary, she wouldn’t trust anyone who works there.
Judah (Damien Fotiou) places the blame on the Illuminati or the Knights Templar. In other news, Lucas isn’t getting anywhere. Of course, that could be because Scott’s withholding info on Taamet that’s key to the murder.
Caroline takes Riley, Josh, and Gavin on a scavenger hunt to find Harold Moore. They split up because no one has learned a lesson about what happens when you separate from the group. Fortunately, they’re quickly reunited when Caroline finds Dr. Moore’s skeleton.
Josh notices a key among Moore’s bones and Gavin responds, “I think that’s a key.” Um, yeah, thank you Mr. Obvious. Caroline had mentioned a cave Moore liked to use so they decide it’s possible the key fits a lock there.
They make it to the cave and it’s full of Moore’s possessions. Caroline’s sure he would have hidden his research and Riley (Veronica St. Clair) discovers a secret compartment in the cave wall. All of Moore’s notes are inside.
“Oh my god, I think he might have done it!” says Caroline after briefly looking over the notes. Riley wants to tell Gavin but Caroline swears her to secrecy. She doesn’t want James to know what they discovered because, in her words, that “won’t end well for anyone.”
Gavin and Josh give up the search quickly and the group heads back to the clearing without Riley or Caroline mentioning their find.
Eve organizes the clearing people to patrol the area in twos, keeping an eye out for the killer. Her own partner needs to return for shoes and once he leaves, she spots blood on a rock. Noises in the nearby bushes grab her attention and she falls into a deep pit.
The pit’s littered with bones and no one answers when she screams out for help. Her leg is pinned under a rock that won’t budge and although she packed a flare gun, the flares fell out and are lodged above her head. As she looks up, a red flower falls into her lap.
Eve’s luck continues to be all bad as she shoots the flare into the wall rather than up through the opening. The noise wakes a beast inside the cave and Eve fires the flare in its direction. Cries of pain indicate she may have hit it.
Eve talks to an injured rabbit who’s also currently calling the cave its home. Her conversation’s interrupted when a massive pissed-off bear approaches. The bear is ready to attack and as it approaches, it pushes the rock off Eve’s leg. Eve tosses jerky a few feet away, grabs the bunny, and makes a run for it through the cave.
Sam informs Lucas that Eve’s missing. Is anyone searching for her? Let’s assume they are since Sam quickly moves on to the autopsy he performed on Wyatt. A straight-edge 7” long knife was used to kill Wyatt.
Lucas and Scott confront Virgil (Greg Hatton) since he owns a knife that matches that description. Virgil claims he was in the woods looking for fallen fish when Wyatt was murdered. Lucas points out that Virgil’s knife holder is missing the 7” knife.
Lucas has seen enough and grabs Virgil, convinced he’s the killer. Scott, meanwhile, lingers behind as Lucas locks up Virgil in a truck.
Lucas tells Sam his gut says he’s right, but he admits he can’t figure out Virgil’s motive. Fortunately, Ty and Izzy walk up at just that instant with the murder weapon. The knife has the figure Wyatt drew in the dirt carved into its handle, and Sam believes it belongs to the Exiles.
Sam orders Lucas to let Virgil go since it wasn’t his knife. After Lucas walks away annoyed, Scott finally confesses to Sam that he knows more than he’s told anyone. Taamet had that symbol on the wall of his cell. Plus, after Scott freed him he promised he’d be back for revenge.
Seriously, Scott?! Why would you keep this a secret after someone’s murdered? Sam asks that question for the audience and Scott claims he was ashamed. He promises to make this right if Sam doesn’t tell anyone. Sam refuses to remain silent because Taamet is likely to kill someone else.
Scott volunteers to help find Taamet and apologizes for freeing him in the first place. Sam delivers a pep talk just minutes after shaming him for his silence.
Eve limps into camp and Sam and Izzy run to help her.
Ty and Izzy have another brief heart-to-heart before Ty heads off to the Tower. Once there, he asks for James and is allowed in since he’s a friend of Gavin’s. James welcomes him to dinner as Ty is rendered speechless by his surroundings. Ty asks for help with his brain tumor and James assures him they have a cure for cancer. It was discovered in the mid-2060s and they have it on site.
James needs questions answered and since Ty is a psychiatrist, he’d be an effective sounding board. Ty agrees to chat.
Gavin arrives back at camp at night and Eve says she’s doing okay. It was only a concussion. The cave had red flowers and Eve’s just happy Gavin’s vision didn’t come true. She was scared but won’t hide from her possible fate. She demands to be on the same page as Gavin about everything – including how they handle his father.
Gavin shows her Dr. Moore’s key and reveals he thinks it could help get them home. But that means he needs to talk to James about it. Eve’s unhappy but that conversation’s put on hold since she’s too tired from her busy day of wrangling a bear.
Virgil’s seated by a fire when Lucas offers an apology for briefly locking him up. Virgil accepts it and then after Lucas walks away, he takes a piece of paper out of his pocket with the symbol on it and tosses it into the fire.
- 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 8 “Stampede” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 10 “The Return” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 11 “The Wedding” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 12 “The Swarm” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 13 “The Journey Part 1” Recap
- Season 2 Episode 14 “The Journey Part 2” Recap
