Fire!!! Apparently, dinosaurs, missing friends, a mysterious military base, and assorted personality clashes just aren’t enough. NBC’s La Brea ups the ante with season three episode four, adding a raging fire mere miles from the fort as yet another problem our trusty time travelers will have to deal with.
Episode four, the appropriately named “Fire Storm,” kicks off in LA in 2021. Ty (Chike Okonkwo) and Sam (Jon Seda) are growing antsy waiting outside a diner for Gavin’s contact to show up. Inside, Gavin (Eoin Macken) is approached by a woman he doesn’t recognize but who seems to know him.
It turns out the woman has canceled Gavin’s real meeting and needs him to go with her if he wants to continue breathing. She almost runs over Ty and Sam, driving out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
And now we’re dropped back into 10,000 BC, and Gavin hasn’t totally recovered from being drugged by Maya. As Sam examines him, the laptop springs to life, asking if he’s found Sierra. Gavin replies that he’s found Maya Schmidt. A photo of Eve pops up, confirming this mysterious messenger has Gavin’s wife.
Whoever is typing orders Gavin to find the microchip. Eve’s life depends on it.
Maya explains that the microchip Gavin stole is the key to time travel. The chip contains the code that will allow the government to program a fleet of planes to travel through time. But now it’s gone, and Gavin is the only one who knows its location.
Sam comes up with an insane idea which you just know is the solution. The only real question is why it wasn’t Gavin’s idea. After all, he’s the one who always comes up with crazy plans. Anyway, it’s to use the tar pits to send a message to 2021 Scott. (Because he has friends who work in the La Brea tar pits, of course.)
Izzy arrives with news that a massive fire is approaching the fort. (I guess no one can see the smoke or smell it from inside the fort.) The fort evacuates and heads to the highest peak, while Izzy, Gavin, Maya, and Scott (Rohan Mirchandaney) head to the tar pits with the message.
They’re in the middle of an emergency, but Lucas (Josh McKenzie) takes the time to apologize to Veronica (Lily Santiago) for not supporting her promotion to the council.
Maya (Claudia Ware) reveals she was told to recruit Scott to the project back in 2021.
As the group heads to the peak, Lucas spots a wolf puppy. Sam doesn’t want him to, but Lucas brings the adorable pup along anyway. Veronica approves.
Stick with me here as this episode jumps around between the two time periods a lot. In 2021, Gavin’s phone – which was left behind when he went with the unknown blonde woman – rings, and it’s Scott. Ty recognizes his name immediately when it pops up on the screen.
Ty and Sam visit Scott, and Scott has a difficult time wrapping his head around Ty’s 10,000 BC story. Scott called Gavin’s phone because he received the tar pit message, and obviously, neither Ty nor Sam is Gavin. So, Scott isn’t on board with their story quite yet.
Scott, quite rightly, points out that in movies, the bad guys always claim to be friends with the person who’s trying to be contacted. Plus, Ty does have a British accent. Point, proven.
Ty decides the best way to Scott’s heart is through his stomach.
The group’s taken a rest in 10,000 BC as the smoke makes it difficult to breathe. Sam wanders off, and Lucas finds him noticeably upset. Something’s up, and Sam finally confesses that when Riley was 10, a fire destroyed their house. He got his wife and kids out, but this fire’s bringing up painful memories.
Ruth’s scouts say the fire is now headed right at the fort. However, there’s a dam near the fort and if they break it, it will wet the area near the fort and save it from the flames. Veronica, who is pregnant, volunteers, as do Sam, Lucas, and the wolf puppy.
Gavin experiences another flash of memories involving the chip, and in the vision, he sees an arm with a scar made of three parallel-ish lines. And a paper titled “Universal Flora” written by Scott.
In 2021, Gavin’s handcuffed inside a car and his kidnapper introduces herself as Helena. She tells him he willingly signed up to do horrible things to stop something worse from happening. She also talks about fighter jets becoming time machines. Helena was a civilian consultant, and she’s the one who got Gavin on the list as a test pilot. Okay, the story’s finally getting a bit interesting…
Helena and Gavin were trying to dismantle the program from the inside – just the two of them. “We’re the good guys, Gavin,” says Helena, adding that she has proof that will convince him.
Helena uses her thumbprint and asks Gavin for his, too, to open a safe deposit box he knows nothing about. Inside is the microchip he stole.
Once more to 10,000 BC we go, and Scott confirms he wrote “Universal Flora.” That’s enough to confirm Gavin’s memory is real. But Gavin doesn’t know who had the three scars on their arm, and that doesn’t ring a bell with Scott.
Gavin’s choking on the smoke now, so Scott hustles off to fetch Maya down by the river.
Sam’s group arrives at the dam, but the pulley to open the gate is damaged. (Of course, it is.) Veronica suggests they need to use gunpowder to make an explosive to loosen the support beams. It’s a great idea, but Sam and Lucas leave it to Veronica and Ruth’s people because the wolf puppy has chosen just this instant to run off toward the fire.
In LA, Ty’s prepared a lunch that 10,000 BC Scott told him his mom used to make when he needed comforting. Ty also points out Scott has a vase of flowers that, when they saw them in 10,000 BC, caused Scott to become depressed.
Ty knows it’s about a girl, and Scott confirms he lost the best thing in his life and has given up on everyone. Sam delivers one of his patented pep talks and Scott can’t help but give in. He shows them the message he got from the tar pits. It instructs him to call Gavin Harris (with a phone number) and tell him he hid a microchip. Finding it is the only way to save his wife. The note also says Gavin must find a way to get that chip to 10,000 BC.
The note’s signed by Gavin.
Speaking of Gavin, he and Helena arrive by a lake, and she reveals that she’s his half-sister. All of this is linked to their family’s legacy. Their father didn’t care about either of them; he only cared about time travel.
Helena walks Gavin to an aurora and explains the red half goes to 1965, the year the program originated. The blue side goes to 10,000 BC. Ty and Sam race up just as Gavin’s about to go through the aurora. Ty asks about the chip, Gavin confirms he has it, and Ty says the microchip must go to 10,000 BC because Eve’s life depends on it.
Helena’s sorry about that, but they have to go to ’65 to stop the project.
The aurora becomes erratic, and Helena pulls a gun on Ty and Sam. Ty insists he’s family, too, and begs for the chip. He’ll take it back to 10,000 BC since he’s the only one of this foursome who’s been there.
Suddenly, Sam attacks Helena and gets the gun. Gavin gives the chip to Ty, and Ty steps through the aurora.
Back in the past, Sam and Lucas search for the wolf puppy and find him in a small shelter surrounded by flames. Sam has one more confession to make. He forgot to save Riley’s dog and he died in the fire.
Unfortunately, there’s no time to run, and instead, they must hunker down and wait for the fire to move on or go out.
Veronica hits the makeshift explosive on her third shot, and it works as planned. The dam breaks and the water floods the area around the fort, putting out the flames. (Don’t get me started about the CG work.)
And now we’re back in 10,000 BC for the final minutes of episode four. Scott realizes Maya is the person with the scar and that she’s been lying. She knows why the program was interested in him because she had his paper.
Maya reacts by doing something we don’t see to Scott. She then catches up with Gavin and Izzy and claims the soldiers took Scott.
Veronica finds Lucas and Sam hiding out from the fire with the wolf puppy. They’re covered with a shirt, and initially, she thinks they’re dead. They aren’t. Veronica’s happy to report the fort was saved.
That night, the celebration of survival is underway when Ty walks up to Sam. They hug and Ty reveals the aurora sent him to 2021. Gavin joins them and can’t believe Ty was able to get the microchip. Ty says all three of them actually did it. Plus, he learned the other side of the aurora goes to 1965. That’s where Josh and Riley are right now.
Maya lurks in the background as Ty, Sam, and Gavin celebrate.
- La Brea Season 3 Episode 1 “Sierra” Recap
- La Brea Season 3 Episode 2 “Don’t Look Up” Recap
- La Brea Season 3 Episode 3 “Maya” Recap
- La Brea Season 3 Episode 5 “The Road Home, Part 1” Recap
- La Brea Season 3 Episode 6 “The Road Home, Part 2” Series Finale Recap
