Destination: the glass building that sticks out like a sore thumb in 10K B.C.

Purpose: to save Riley and Josh. 

That was the extent of the mission on La Brea Season 2 Episode 5, but it took several men and women, including Paraa’s village, to even set it in motion.

The hardest part was executing the heist on The Exiles, a dangerous group that enslaves prisoners in order to mine black rock that’s used to power the facility that allegedly houses the time machine. 

I love that Gavin acknowledged that the success of this whole mission hinged on whether or not Aldridge gave them good info. There’s a lot riding on the simple act of trusting a woman who hasn’t always proved to be entirely trustworthy… or forthcoming with the information that she has. But so far, she hasn’t steered them wrong either. She knew the plan since she was part of creating it along with Silas, Caroline Clarke (Gavin’s birth mother), and Gavin’s father, who remains unknown at this time. 

Infiltrating the Exiles and stealing their product proved much harder than initially presumed simply because Virgil, one of the prisoners who managed to escape, ran into Gavin’s group heading toward the caves and informed them that they were shipping prisoners out to a new location that he described as “hell on Earth.”

Since the mines were swarming with guards and the prisoners were in dire need of help, the team was required to split up into two groups: Sam, Gavin, Izzy, and Eve were tasked with staking out the Exiles and figuring out a plan to steal the shipment, while Levi, Scott, and Luke needed to go free the prisoners before it was too late. I love that even with limited manpower and resources, this group of people has a “leave no man” behind policy.

They are all sacrificing to save each other, which is honestly a beautiful thing. They make group work, and group projects, look good. 

And they were all a source of strength for each other in the dark times. 

Eve and Gavin help Izzy when they fell through a booby trap that was riddled with large and hairy spiders. As someone who also hates spiders, personally, I thought the scene was unnecessary. Izzy’s fears were completely valid, especially since these weren’t your average household spiders—these guys meant harm!

Luke supported Scott by giving him the confidence he needed to help free the prisoners even though their survival outcome looked rather bleak. Their friendship has really blossomed into something so genuinely sweet and heartwarming. Luke is definitely not the character he started as—the prehistoric era softened him up, in all the right ways, while toughening him up at the same time. 

Scott opened up about his experience as a young boy, unable to save his drowning brother. He wasn’t there for the person that needed him most, which was the reason he always took the easy route and relied heavily on his vape pen as a crutch for his debilitating anxiety. But Luke helped him see that he could redeem himself by being there for the people that needed him most, and he didn’t need the vape pen at all. Scott is a badass hero, but honestly, thank god that Levi got to Paraa and the villagers in time so that they could interfere and help Luke and Scott out of a bind.

Teamwork makes the dream work, baby.

Paraa and Ty’s new relationship bliss didn’t last long. He went off to live in her village, accepting his fate that he was never going to get out of this time period, but they were immediately summoned and dragged back into the mess.

Turns out, when Paraa said her husband was dead, she meant “dead to her.” Her husband, Taamet, the leader of the Exiles, is very much alive. Long story short, he led a rebellion against her village and was forced to leave. He doesn’t let a grudge go, so she’s confident he’s going to come for all of them as a form of retaliation for stealing the shipment of black rock and freeing all of the prisoners. So, while they got the rock and found the glass building, they, unfortunately, aren’t in the clear. Hopefully, when that day comes, Paraa can talk some sense into him. None of these people actually belong in this timeline so the least he could do is look the other way. 

It also brings up a bit of a logistical question because if there is no one left to mine the rock, how do they expect to power up the time machine to get everyone that doesn’t belong in this timeline back home? I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. 

The heist allowed for some family bonding between Gavin, Eve and Izzy, and there was a lot of finger-pointing. 

Basically, Izzy blames her mom for the family falling apart, which isn’t entirely fair as Gavin’s alcoholism and visions also played a role. It’s easy to say that they don’t anymore since they were warranted, but it’s harder to actually put the pieces back together, especially since Eve has developed feelings for Levi that she can’t just wish away because she wants her family to be a unit again. I know that’s hard for Izzy to understand since she’s never been in love, but Eve owes it to everyone, including herself, to follow her heart. It’s easy to just say someone messed it up versus acknowledging that there were a series of issues that led to the ultimate demise. 

Gavin is a bit more understanding, but he’s still putting pressure on Eve by telling her he’s not going to give up trying to make it up to her and putting the family back together. He’s trying to make up for what he did, which is nice, but it’s also stressing Eve out more because it’s making the decision that much harder. There was a brief moment between them where sparks fly, but honestly, there’s no denying the love that she and Levi have. Did you see how he flew in there to save her when the Exiles were attacking? And yes, Gavin would’ve done it too, but Levi once again beat him to the punch. Levi just keeps swooping in and being Eve’s knight in shining armor, which is making it much harder for Gavin to stand out. 

I honestly wouldn’t want to be faced with this choice because both men are great in their own way. Eve knows that eventually, she will have to make a choice and no longer allow this pain to fester and chew away at them, but she can also argue that there are more pressing issues on the horizon.

Though, if I’m being truthful, Gavin seems like the logical choice using your head while Levi is the one you make when you follow your heart. 

Who are you rooting for?

The whole mission was to save Josh and Riley, but in 1988, they were going above and beyond to preserve the timeline by deterring Gavin’s biological mom from interfering and messing everything up by adopting him. Everything needs to stay as it was so that nothing changes and there are no ripple effects. It was even a risk for Caroline to have a face-to-face meeting with Gavin before encouraging him to go with her co-workers; what if that tiny seemingly insignificant changed everything?

Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like it did, and Caroline got to have one final moment with her son. It’s likely also comforting to know that he turns out okay. After all, the grandson standing next to her is proof of that. 

We also get a little more of Caroline’s backstory, which is crucial to understanding the sinkholes and Gavin. As expected, Gavin/Isaiah was born in the future. The family went to 10K B.C. to experiment trying to save their world, but they ended up doing more harm than good, so she left him behind in the past while she traveled to 1988 to fix those mistakes since that’s when the first theoretical experiments about time travel started and she needed the data. 

The plan is to go to 10K B.C. and stop them from happening once and for all, which means the time machine has to exist. 

But will she be able to do it before the next tidal wave? And how can Gavin help?

I keep wondering why Silas is making things so difficult for Gavin if he knows the plan. Why won’t he just help his boy get his family back? Why didn’t he take him to the glass building and explain everything? Maybe he doesn’t want him to actually get to the time machine because he needs him to stay in 10K B.C. until Caroline arrives. 

Who else is working in Lazarus? Why haven’t we met Gavin’s father yet? Can Caroline be trusted?

What do you think Eve should do? And how will they handle Tameet? Are you still as invested in the show as you were before?