Signal Horizon

See Beyond

La Brea Season 2 Episode 10 The Return Recap And Review- Girl Scouts, Journals, And Why Is Levi Back?

The more we know, the less we understand. NBC’s sudsy thriller loves to keep us guessing. La Brea Season 2 Episode 10 keeps the twists coming as even more mysteries unfold. Who is friend, and who is foe? Everyone has an agenda in the pristine past that is being exploited for future gains. It’s business as usual when old faces return, loyalties are questioned, and enemies come looking for clues. Hold onto your hats. Things are about to get wild again.

La Brea Season 2 Episode 10
LA BREA — “The Return” Episode 210 — Pictured: (l-r) Lily Santiago as Veronica, Michelle Vergara Moore as Ella — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Lucas was right not to trust Virgil. Poor, dumb Scott leaves him alone on the tower to watch, and Virgil uses that opportunity to signal Taamet that the camp is vulnerable. As intuitive and hotheaded as Lucas is, Scott is equally naive and slow reacting. I want to like the anthropologist. His quirkiness injects a dose of humor into an otherwise serious cast. Rohan Mirchandaney makes Scott very likable. There’s an inherent sweetness to him, but the writers need to give him something to do other than get into trouble and make massive blunders of judgment. How many chances will he be given to make mistakes? Scott redeemed himself a little by saving Lucas, but it came at the price of Taamet, who could have been an interesting character.

Gavin is surprised to find Levi back in 10,000 BCE. Levi tells Gavin he went through a sinkhole in 1998. He was working with the DOD and claimed to have a plan to get everyone back to 2022. He further tells him he is not a threat to his marriage anymore as he fell in love and got married to a wonderful woman on his team in the DOD. She has since died, but in the decade since he was gone, he has changed and is no longer the same man in love with a married woman.

The pair are good for the series as it provides more muscle to the camp, and Nicholas Gonzalez’s Levi only got hotter in the time he was away. However, by the time La Brea Season 2 Episode 10 is over, we learn he wasn’t being completely truthful about why he is back. He isn’t necessarily there to get everyone back to the present. Instead, he is there to kill James. Naturally, this isn’t going to sit well with Gavin, and with Kira’s shrouded motives, I’m not sure whose team we should be on.

Since Eve is sidelined with her concussion, Izzy stands in as the fixer in La Brea Season 2 Episode 10. She uses a car mirror to send a morse code message to her father. It alerts them to the invasion and tells them to go after the smaller group first. I appreciate the effort to give Izzy some depth, but this storyline feels forced due to the clunky dialogue between Zyra Gorecki(Izzy) and Jack Martin(Josh). Strong female characters are always welcome, but their contributions should feel organic and not signposted to be impactful.

James appears to be helping Ty. His first treatment was successful, and he has begun therapy with James. It seems a strange fit for the evasive man to willingly put himself in a situation where someone may learn his carefully guarded secrets. He genuinely seems haunted by his past, but it could all still be a ruse. Kira tells Ty not to trust him and asks him to look into Project Blue Moon, but we don’t know how much she can be trusted either. We know that Kira sent the Exiles to retrieve Aaron’s book, but we don’t know if that was to keep it away from James or for something else entirely.

Eventually, it becomes clear James wants to turn back time. He is looking for his stolen past with Isaiah/Gavin. Project Blue Moon appears to be something that will allow James to go back to before Isaiah was taken and prevent it from happening. Kira warns Ty that this could be disastrous for everyone for reasons even a casual sci-fi fan should understand. Trifling with the past has ripple effects in the present and future. In this case, it means Ty would die, and Josh and Izzy would never be born. James doesn’t seem to care who he hurts, even his grandchildren. Of course, this could be yet another red herring, and Kira could be a liar.

Veronica and Ella/Lilly’s abductor continues to plague the women. He had a journal that Veronica buried him with weeks ago. Kira instructed the Exiles to retrieve it. That is why they attacked the camp. What she wants with it, we don’t know. The bigger question is, why did Aaron have Dr. Moore’s research in 2022? He also seemed to be fully aware of the sinkhole that would develop at the tar pits. He drove the girls there and ordered them to stay there just before it opened.

Why did he want them all to go to 10,000 BCE? They might still have something to fear from Aaron. Thankfully, Veronica is moving in with Lucas, and the two can keep each other safe. Veronica can also help keep Lucas’ emotions in check. He has a hard time managing his anger, and Veronica will help with this. He, in turn, can help her heal.

Dr. Moore’s journal and its ties to Aaron are the best parts of the episode. This is a plot thread that feels like it has legs. Where it will go, we don’t know yet, but I’m willing to invest time to find out. La Brea is a fan of reveals, and La Brea Season 2 Episode 10 gave us several. Levi is back to kill James. Kira may be a useful ally, and somehow a sick child abuser had his hands on a journal that should have been stuck in 10,000 BCE with a reclusive scientist. With a shortened Season 3 pick-up recently announced, we will no doubt not have to wait too long for answers. Careful what you wish for, though; this series likes to give as many misdirects as it does answers. That’s part of the fun. Find all our La Brea coverage here.