La Brea Season 2 Episode 5 The Heist Review And Recap- Spiders, Love Triangles, And Time Travel Experiments From The ’80s

Plans are made, and alliances are strengthened in La Brea Season 2 Episode 5 when our group gains access to the keys to the kingdom, or the Tower as it were.

NBC’s series is nothing if it isn’t predictable. Per usual, we got a few more character secrets revealed and a new danger to sort out in La Brea Season 2 Episode 5. The key players in the clearing made plans to steal the black rock shipment from the Exiled. Before the heist can begin, Izzy wants to pay respect to Rebecca, and Levi wants to sort things out with Gavin. Like us in TV Land, Ty sees the messiness of this love triangle and the potential for disaster. Falling into the sinkhole forced him to face what was most important. For too long, he had been stagnant. Now he is making choices, and Paara is part of that new life.

The Levi/Gavin/Eve love triangle is growing annoying. At first, it was a mild distraction. Now, it is hindering both the series and the character’s growth. When Eve is reduced to a woman loved by two men, she cannot find any agency of her own. Natalie Zea(Eve) is a better actress than that and deserves more complex plot beats. Hopefully, she will take Ty’s advice and make a decision soon. Unfortunately, her indecision keeps giving Gavin hope that he can win her back. It’s noble, and he is a nice guy, but the die is cast and dragging this out hurts everyone. More than likely, this decision will be made for her. There is no way this drama will continue. I wouldn’t be surprised if Levi died or went into a portal another time.

The group splits up, with half going after the black rock and the others trying to rescue the prisoners who are being marched to a new hellish location. Scott and Lucas continue to bond and are a bright spot in La Brea Season 2 Episode 5. Rohan Mirchandaney(Scott) and Josh McKenzie(Lucas) have good chemistry. The odd couple’s differences play well off of each other. Where Scott is a bundle of nervous energy, Lucas is brazen activity.

Scott’s pen has finally run out. It couldn’t have come at a worse time, but Lucas is there to help him. Like most in La Brea, Scott has a tragic past. You may have fallen through the sinkhole with nothing in your hands, but that doesn’t mean you came without baggage. Everyone in this place has trauma and secrets. Some are bigger than others. Scott’s brother died when they were boys, and he blames himself for not saving him. His anxiety stems from that event and has plagued him ever since. However, his vape pen has helped him keep his anxiety in check. Uniquely equipped to force Scott into action, Lucas can propel him into heroism.

Luckily, Paara’s group, at the urging of Levi, was able to catch up with them and shoot the Exiled guards down, who were understandably angry when their boat was set on fire and prisoners rescued. As much as I’m thrilled with this bromance, I less excited about the treatment of Scott’s mental illness. Anxiety is not something that is cured by taking heroic action one time. Not even proponents of immersion therapy would agree that everything is solved after one session. I sincerely hope Scott’s illness is not glossed over in future episodes. In future seasons, I would love to see him tangled up in a drug dealer subplot.

Gavin’s group had more to contend with in the form of a trap filled with large black spiders. Although the CGI effects were not the best, there was enough to make most viewers squirm. They were able to escape through a tunnel but found themselves trapped again. The scrappy group was able to knock out the guards and steal their clothes. The group then just waltzed right out with the shipment. Taamet let them escape after careful scrutiny. It isn’t clear if he recognized them and let them pass anyway or if he was that unobservant. Unfortunately, before they could get far, the guards were found, and a fight ensued. Our group was able to fend off their attackers, but Taamet escaped, and Paara couldn’t shoot him because he is her husband.

We knew Taamet was more important to the story than a one-and-done character. He seems very conflicted, and now we know why. Paara has been secretive about her ex-husband (still her current husband?). She led Ty to believe he was dead, but he is very much alive and dangerous to both groups. Now that he is headed back to his group, everyone must prepare for a looming war. Why he rebelled against Paara’s group, we don’t know yet, but I’m sure it will wade further into the mythology of this place. La Brea Season 2 Episode 5 seems to be putting all the pieces in place for a big twist.

In 1988 Josh and Riley talked more with his grandmother Dr. Clark. She, her husband, and Isaiah are all actually from the future. How far into the future, we don’t know, but far enough that things on Earth look bleak. They originally time-traveled to try to right wrongs. Similar to Terra Nova which La Brea is looking more and more like, they went into the past to have a future. Anyone can tell you that time travel comes at a cost, though, and their meddling apparently worsened things. Dr. Clark went back to 1988 because that was the start of time travel research and was an excellent place for her to finish her research.

Real Time Travel Experiments From The 1980s

Dr. Clarke tells Josh and Riley she is from the future and sent to the past to correct mistakes. After screwing things up in the Ice Age, she went to 1988 because the 80s were a pivotal decade for time travel research. There is some factual basis for this. A real military base inspired Netflix’s Stranger Things in Montauk, Long Island. Camp Hero, long abandoned, now has many stories to tell. The whispered thing of nightmares was rumored to be the site for mind control experiments, teleportation, wormholes, time travel, and paranormal studies.

A book published in 1992 called The Montauk Project: Experiments In Time claimed young boys were taken from the area and experimented on. Although the book has been largely debunked, some still insist that something happened at Camp Hero and involved scientific experimentation and time travel. From the little we know of Dr. Clark, she seems to care about Isaiah/Gavin genuinely and wouldn’t willingly place him in harm’s way, but she could be in over her head.

Once she realized who Josh and Riley were, she took steps to ensure Isaiah was adopted by her friends. These people are the grandparents Josh knows as his own in the future. She didn’t want to raise him herself. Instead, she made the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard his life and the lives of his children.

If I’m being honest, I need more looks at this plot thread. The overly dramatic, romantic mess back in the Ice Age is thematically constrictive and tired. On the other hand, this tangled web of time-traveling consortiums and shady government organizations could be a fresh angle that La Brea badly needs.

Next week we may get our first glimpse of the inside of the Tower and how it works. We have waited a long time to get inside, and I sincerely hope it doesn’t disappoint. Find all our La Brea coverage here.