‘La Brea' Brings Sci-Fi, Strangers and a Sinkhole Together to Unravel a Mystery

"Lost" meets "Jurassic Park" in this new sci-fi series.

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

In “La Brea”, a massive sinkhole opens up in Los Angeles, right at the location of the La Brea Tar Pits site. This epic moment sets everything in motion in this sci-fi series from creator David Applebaum. 

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LA BREA -- "Pilot" Episode 101 -- Pictured in this screen grab: Birds -- (Photo by: NBC)

People stuck in the all too familiar traffic jams on LA streets have nowhere to go when the sinkhole suddenly appears. Many of them, their cars and nearby buildings fall into the unknown. And within moments of the sinkhole opening up, prehistoric creatures suddenly come out of it.

The show centers on the Harris family as they are torn apart by this disaster. Gavin Harris (Eoin Macken) and Izzy Harris (Zyra Gorecki) will have to unlock the secrets of this inexplicable event on Earth. Meanwhile, Eve Harris (Natalie Zea) and her son Josh Harris (Jack Martin) try to stay safe and figure out a way home while navigating this strange new world.

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LA BREA -- "Pilot" -- Pictured: (l-r) Zyra Gorecki as Izzy Harris, Natalie Zea as Eve Harris -- (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

NBC sat down with Macken and Gorecki to get more details about the mystery surrounding “La Brea.” Macken and Gorecki play a father and daughter forced to work together to get their family back after they fall into the sinkhole. 

“You learn quite quickly that the two of them can only be in this journey by being in it together,” Macken said.

Sarah Enticknap/NBC
LA BREA -- "Pilot" -- Pictured: (l-r) Zyra Gorecki as Izzy Harris, Eoin Macken as Gavin Harris -- (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Gorecki is breaking boundaries on the series. She not only plays an amputee on the show, but is an amputee in real life. She says she loves being able to represent limb-different characters on screen.

“It’s huge because I think a lot of people when they see that you’re an amputee that’s all they can focus on. That’s all you are as a person,” Gorecki said. “We’re not going to focus on that. We’re going to focus on the rest of her story. The rest of who she is as a person.”

Sarah Enticknap/NBC
LA BREA -- "Pilot" -- Pictured: (l-r) Natalie Zea as Eve Harris, Jack Martin as Josh Harris -- (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

The people who fell in find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land, where they have no choice but to band together to survive. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is desperately trying to understand what happened. 

Macken says he hopes people will get caught up in the adventure and enjoy watching them unravel this mystery.

“For me when you’re watching a show like this you want to have fun and you want to get lost in this world,” Macken said. “Especially in the last 12 months I find myself gravitating more and more toward shows that do that.”

The cast includes Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Jon Seda, Nicholas Gonzalez, Chiké Okonkwo, Karina Logue, Zyra Gorecki, Jack Martin, Veronica St. Clair, Rohan Mirchandaney, Lily Santiago, Josh McKenzie and Chloe De Los Santos.

“La Brea” premieres Sept. 28 on NBC. 

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