La Brea Season 3: Showrunner & Cast Tease Details about Rescuing Eve, New Alliances, and the Dinosaurs
Laura Nowak
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NBC’s family adventure and sinkhole drama, La Brea, returns for its third and final season on Tuesday, January 9.
When La Brea Season 2 ended, Eve was transported to another timeline. Scott had befriended a young girl named Petra, who was tied to a military base, and Veronica and Scott learned that they were having a baby.
La Brea Season 3 will be an exciting ride. Recently, reporters attended a virtual press day to speak with Showrunner David Appelbaum and the La Brea cast about the upcoming season. Check out the interview highlights below.
Showrunner David Appelbaum
Showrunner David Appelbaum addressed La Brea’s Season 3 central storyline of rescuing Eve and how they could tell it even with lead actress Natalie Zea’s reduced airtime.
“This has always been a show about a divided family trying to reunite from the beginning when Eve and Josh fell into that sinkhole. It’s continued through Season 2 and into Season 3. Even though Eve has been brought to a different time in another place, her presence will loom large over the season.
That same emotional story of the family being physically and emotionally reunited is at the heart of the season. We find many creative ways to tell that story. Fans invested in the Harris family and their journey will be emotionally rewarded as we finish the show.”
Appelbaum added that there was more CGI work and emotional depth this season, and the finale was one of his favorite episodes.
“We wanted this season to be our most epic yet. We approached it from that point of view from the season premiere. The finale is the most significant episode we’ve ever done, and along the way, we found different moments to create that scope and the scale for which the audience comes to the show.
Knowing it was the last season, we wanted to make it as great as possible, like adding the CGI work with the animals and the dinosaurs. It also includes profound, satisfying emotional stories, climaxing everything. We wanted to write a rewarding journey that the audience has been on from the beginning.
The finale is the one I’m most proud of. It has an emotional impact because so much is packed into the final episode, bringing all the character stories to a stirring conclusion. I hope it lives up to what the audience expects from a finale in terms of the scope, excitement, and emotion.”
Appelbaum teased what fans will be excited to see in La Brea Season 3.
"There’s a lot of change in this season. At the end of the first episode, the Clearing is destroyed, and our characters must leave and find a new place to live. So, we’re throwing the characters into much different settings and situations than they’ve been in.
Besides that, we’re getting a deeper understanding of who Gavin is, his backstory, how it connects to everything that’s happened, and how it will impact how they get home. It will be exciting for people who’ve been following his story, his visions, and his familial history in 10,000 BC.
People are going to be invested in Veronica and Lucas and them becoming parents. Sam’s striving to get back home and be a good father, and the test that he’ll go through that way. Everyone has a deep emotional journey in the season.”
Finally, Appelbaum teased if he had any future plans for a La Brea spin-off.
“I have ideas. But this is the end of the story of these characters that we’ve been telling. Shows have a long and surprising life, as we’ve seen.
I have a lot of ideas that I haven’t been able to tell in this show and ideas that I’ve had since that would allow the story to continue. But this is the end of this. This is the end for now.”
Eoin Macken, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Zyra Gorecki
We talked to these actors about how relationships change in the upcoming season. Eoin Macken teased whether Gavin would ever be able to forgive and trust Levi again.
“That’s a tough one. Gavin and Levi’s relationship is fascinating. Gavin, Izzy, and Levi’s relationship is also complex because they have an essential dynamic that pulls through it. Their dynamic and how Levi cares for Izzy also affects how Gavin sees Levi.
There’s a lack of trust between the two of them, but what Levi does as a character is essential because their friendship is so initially strong as a bedrock. There’s an appreciation from Gavin about what Levi, you know, ends up doing, including how Levi treats Gavin’s family.
They don’t ever get back to how they would have been originally, but at the same time, there’s a respect that’s always going to be there, and that’s a friendship that can’t ever be destroyed.”
Nicholas Gonzalez expanded on how Levi wants to make amends and help his friends again.
“The grudges are present. It’s more of Levi grappling with the situation that he’s put everyone in at the end of Season 2, and he’s just looking for any way to help again. We see Levi being a hero and putting everything on the line to help his friend and family.”
Eoin added more about how their dynamic shifted and their journey together while trying to find Eve.
“The two of them go on this journey together again, and they learn how to navigate to work together. That’s part of having a friendship that strong. There’s an essential dynamic shift in Season 3 with all the relationships.
A lot of that with Levi and Gavin also comes from Izzy because there’s a powerful relationship between Izzy and Levi, which is essential for Gavin to understand. That’s an important thing for Izzy’s character as well. Levi’s not as selfish this season, and everyone sees that.”
Finally, Zyra Gorecki shared how Gavin and Izzy’s relationship would change as they dealt with loss and she grew up.
“The relationship has always been interesting. They’ve always been buddies. Gavin is her person. But in the third season, we see her figuring herself out, growing up, and Gavin having to figure out how to connect to her and communicate with her, which I think is very interesting.
I was once a teenage girl, and figuring that relationship out with your dad is wild, and showing that on screen is really fun. Especially in, you know, 10,000 BC, I think it brings it back to humans will always be humans.”
Eoin Macken added that he took many of his cues from his on-screen daughter.
“I took Zyra’s lead on that in terms of understanding that relationship for a teenage daughter to her father, even though it’s in heightened circumstances and dinosaurs and chaos surround you, and you’re trying to time travel and figure out where the rest of your family are and how to survive.
Zyra understands what that relationship should have been for a teenage daughter and her father. So, we would explore that, and I learned a lot about that from her. And that helped those two characters relate in a way that makes sense on screen.”
Chike Okonkwo and Jon Seda
We talked to Chike Okonkwo about Ty’s role in rescuing Eve and the time-traveling aspect in Season 3.
“If people have seen the trailer, you’ll know that Ty finds himself in a new period, and it’s unexpected to Ty. It sets us off in a different direction. But as the North star of the show, it’s always about finding out how to reunite the Harris family and how to get everyone back to their families.
I feel privileged to be able to be, you know, playing the role of Ty. Much of his mission is to ensure that his friends can return to their families. That’s where we start with this season. “
Jon Seda added that it would be an exciting season with lots of drama.
A lot of action and drama is packed in the final six episodes. You have different worlds that are colliding in ways we never saw before. As Chike said, you see Ty waking up somewhere, and that alone, and why that’s happening, was a lot of fun for us to play, and the fans will like that one.”
Jon Seda also shared where Sam and Riley’s relationship stood in the upcoming season with all the changes.
“It’s always tough being a father. Now he has a young adult daughter, and 10,000 BC doesn’t stop that dynamic from continuing to have surprises. Some more things happen this season, and Sam finds himself challenged in a way he never thought he would have to be prepared for.
That’s something that the fans will get to see going on between them. You know, there’s some. Push and pull and try to get on the same page. Then, he finds himself dealing with a challenge he couldn’t have prepared for.”
Both Jon and Chike hinted that Ty and Sam would experience different relationships as they dealt with their emotional baggage. Chike expanded on that.
“I don’t know how to speak on that without giving it away. Sam and Ty have built this great bond over two or three seasons. We must work out how to create that bond again because of how the show goes and the timelines work.
So, just that in itself has been a big challenge and a good one. And it was a fun one to play. Ty has to rebuild a relationship with one of his best friends again, Sam.”
Chike also revealed how fun doing some incredible CGI scenes with the dinosaurs was.
“It’s the best gift to an actor, and you feel like a kid every day. You turn up at work, and there’s this extensive set of pieces to play, and you get to use your imagination. But it mostly boils down to David Applebaum and his imagination. As Jon said, with only six episodes, no holds were barred.
The best part of the job is the fun aspect of who we’re running from, what we’re running from, what we’re running to.
As the trailer shows, there’s plenty of that in this season, to have been in 10,000 BC and worked with the creatures in that period. Now we’ve opened the gates, and there are dinosaurs to try and evade.”
Josh McKenzie, Lily Santiago, and Rohan Mirchandaney
Josh McKenzie and Lily Santiago shared how Lucas and Veronica coped with pregnancy in 10,000 BC.
“They’re not coping well. The environment isn’t conducive to raising a child. It’s exposing their insecurities and fears and putting their past trauma on display because neither of them had good parental role models. Lucas fears raising a child and screwing his child up like he was by his parents.
He’s trying to become a leader and a father in the community. He goes through stuff repeatedly and makes terrible decisions while becoming a new man.
It’s a complicated journey they’re embarking on and requires a lot of trust in one another, which is challenging because they’ve only known each other for a short while.
The last two seasons took place over a few weeks, so they haven’t known each other for very long, which requires a lot of trust.”
Lily Santiago added how Veronica matures this season.
“It’s a terrifying prospect to have a child at that age, let alone in 10,000 BC. I was surprised by the way Veronica takes it in stride. She steps up awesomely for herself, Lucas, and the baby because they can agree that they both want better for their child than they had for themselves.
It’s cool to see them unite, or when they disagree, they’re in it together. How they struggle or succeed is a pleasure to play, read, and watch”.
Rohan Mirchandaney shared where Scott was at when the upcoming season returns.
“When we start, he’s with Petra. He’s cracked the surface, and they’re starting to make jokes together. He’s become more confident speaking to the characters from the Clearing, and he’s in a warm place.
He’s grown a lot in the first two seasons, and what happens with the dinosaurs at the start of the season throws everyone a curveball, and we all have to scramble to survive once again. He starts in a perfect place.”
The actors also teased how their characters dealt with new alliances and new leadership, beginning with Josh.
“We’re meeting some new characters from a different tribe, which will require much collaboration. Lucas tries to establish himself as a leader and learns to communicate with people he doesn’t necessarily agree with and how they do things. There’s also the added pressure of having a child on the way.
He rises up into a leadership role and has to learn how to communicate with a tribe based in 10,000 BC. There’s also a lot of conflict within his relationship with Veronica that is established by how they network with this new tribe.”
Lily added that Veronica learned how to support Lucas and bridge the gap between the cultures.
“Veronica learns to be a good partner to somebody in a leadership position and has this respect without feeling like she’s had much herself. She finds herself more as a potential bridge between the two cultures, and she can understand two sides and help with communication and effective leadership.”
Lily also shared how Veronica handled the stress of Veronica’s pregnancy with the new creatures that arrived at the camp.
“It’s hysterical to me that the stakes get higher. If you watch La Brea, you know everything’s going wrong, and then you add dinosaurs and a pregnancy. It gets more intense. I was surprised by how Veronica seemed to adapt to this pregnancy.
She’s terrified of loving anyone, let alone a little human you’re responsible for. It’s scary, especially when you’re in a world where things are uncertain. She’s proud to be in this position where she, for the first time, has a family and love, and she is willing to fight to the death for that.
There are twinkles of her past self that can come out in the sense that when she’s going to protect something, she will defend it to the death.”
Jack Martin and Veronica St. Clair
Jack Martin and Veronica St. Clair began their interview by discussing which castmates they enjoyed working with, with Jack taking the lead.
“I mostly worked with the same people, and I’m happy about that. They’re all great, and I enjoy working with them. Most of my scenes are with Veronica, and we have a great time together. While I love everyone on the cast, it’s a special thing when you work with someone this much for this long.”
Veronica St. Clair added that while she loves working with Jack, she enjoys mixing it up with other cast, too.
“I spent most of my time with Jack and my dad this season as in previous seasons. What’s lovely about being a part of an ensemble cast is that you can mix it up. Last season, I worked a lot with Lily Santiago, who plays Veronica, and I hadn’t had the opportunity to do that before.
So, it was fun to see Riley and Veronica together. It got confusing on set since my name was Veronica, and her character was Veronica. I prefer if people call me Riley on set because we’d both respond otherwise. There’s also Josh Harris and Josh McKenzie. That was always a problem as well.
In Season 1, we had Lily and then Lily Santiago because Chloe de Los Santos played Lily. It felt serendipitous. When we first started shooting the show, there had to be some magic happening here, with so many name doubles. I had been called in many times for Lily Santiago.
There have been many mix-ups on call sheets because of that.”
Jack teased how finding Eve was the season’s central theme and how things have changed between Josh and his family.
“They changed quite a bit. Finding Eve is the central theme of the season. She’s been such a leader. We established in the series premiere that she is this group's leader, and everyone looks up to her. She’s also the core lifeblood of the Harris family.
While we’re independent and do our things, we are all strong characters, but at the end of the day, Eve’s heart is the heart of that family.
So, her absence is difficult for us to navigate, as it would be for anyone to have their mother or wife missing, depending on whose perspective you’re talking about. But even more so in this situation.”
La Brea Season 3 Episode 1 premieres on Tuesday, January 9, at 9/8c on NBC.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on X.
