La Brea has had, in my humble opinion, an iconic first season and the finale is tonight! What will it bring? Well first, stop here if you haven’t watched because spoilers are coming. Now back to those who watch and are rooting for some of our fave families to be reunited, with all the twists and turns of the first 9 episodes, I’m sure the finale will be some dynamic television and a great set-up for season 2!

La Brea is what happens when you have a very large sinkhole seemingly appear out of thin air in the middle of Los Angeles in 2021. The sinkhole, really a glorified time machine to 10,000 B.C., plops a unique lot of 2021 new age humans, just trying to survive the past. Our central family, and some of these people overcoming obstacle after obstacle are “Eve” (Natalie Zea), her son “Josh” (Jack Martin), who have been stripped away from Eve’s daughter “Izzy” (Zyra Gorecki) right before her eyes in sinkhole panic and fear.

In steps Eve’s absent husband “Gavin” (Eoin Macken), to not only take care of Izzy but figure out why and how his bizarre visions hold some of the answers to the mystery at hand. And while we as viewers think we know time as a construct that happens moment after moment, we slowly find out that what’s happening in 10,000 B.C. may be shifting present reality in real-time. So, basically for everyone to survive 10,000 B.C. and make it to their families in 2021, one special person is the key, and much go through a time portal in 1988 to make it happen or some of the 2021 crew in 10,000 B.C. will cease to exist! Got it? Right, it’s a lot but every episode leaves you begging for more!

The Beat was on hand for San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition, for a virtual panel moderated by TV Guide Magazine’s Damian Holbrook, featuring actors Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Jon SedaChiké Okonkwo, and Nicholas Gonzalez, alongside showrunners David AppelbaumSteven Lilien, and Bryan Wynbrandt. While not much was revealed about the finale, except a small teaser that we were sworn to secrecy not to share, here are some panel highlights below:

On preparing for and filming the role of doctor and ex-Navy SEAL, “Dr. Sam Velez,” Jon Seda shared: “You know I have a lot of friends that are Marines and I just got it just kind of had that in my background. So, talking to them and using their expertise is where I pulled from. And for the doctor stuff, I just talked to my co-star Nick Gonzalez because he knows a lot about that stuff. (laughs)

On “Sam” & “Riley’s” decision in the finale to either stay in 10,000 B.C. or go back through the portal into 1988, Seda continued: “Yeah, I mean, everyone’s making their decision on whether they want to go or stay for various reasons, but I think Sam and Riley are still holding on to that hope that they’re going to get back to their family and you know, I think they make a solid decision together.”

 On “Ty” being the heart to Eve’s muscle, Chiké Okonkwo said: “Playing Ty is a dream for me as an actor, to be able to start at this position. The great thing that the guys did with the backstory is that Ty found out that morning about his illness and not much longer to live. Then his day got even worse when he falls into a giant sinkhole. So, he comes to the show with a lot of baggage. And it’s just a great place to start when you think okay, he wants to die and kill himself right at the beginning of the show. But throughout the arc of the season, he gets to find purpose again.”

Okonkwo continued on if Ty’s brain tumor is a literal thing of the past in 10,000 B.C.: “I think Ty’s perspective is changing because he has these people and this group to help him. I think whether or not the brain tumor sticks around is a question for the showrunners, but Ty has a lot of things to focus on. It is so nice to be able to see Ty use the skills he had in the real world to try and bring people together. The tumor is again, another great thing to blame. The fact that he hasn’t seemingly got much time left. So, we’ll see, everything’s up for grabs in 10,000 B.C.”

On where “Levi” stands and if we can trust him, Nicholas Gonzalez shared: “you know, all’s fair in 10,000 B.C., I think that is the first rule that we know. One thing they ingrained into us was that whatever happens in 10,000 B.C., no one else can see except for Gavin. And that was a tough thing I always had to grapple with because one of the main things when David and I sat down and talked about Levi, we thought about how do you grapple with that he’s this great and trustworthy guy. It seems weird to use the word trustworthy and honorable but I think people realize that life is not black and white, there are shades of grey. In this kind of situation, which is so fantastical in so many different ways, the fact that Eve and Levi even happen is because of such crazy extenuating circumstances. We’re kind of at the odds of the gods that are throwing all this in our way. So, you see people who can’t help but get together because emotions are flowing, but it does present a lot of guilt and not just for Eve, but Levi as well.”

Well, I can’t wait to see what the finale has in store and we have to see what happens in every decade when the season finale premieres tonight on NBC!

Miss any of The Beat’s earlier SDCC ‘21 Special Edition coverage? Find it all here!