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What Happened With Aldridge's Tower on La Brea?
The savvy scientist still refuses to give us all the answers.
La Brea has given us many epic twists and turns, and the end of the first season unveiled something massive. In 10,000 B.C, a modern-day tower exists several miles from the Tongva’s whereabouts. Although we know that the scientist Rebecca Aldridge is behind the building’s existence, she did not allude to why it was so important she arrive there as soon as possible. Season 2, Episode 1, which aired September 27th, provided some context without completely answering all our questions. But what else did we find out about Aldridge's tower in the premiere of the second season?
In La Brea, we’ve seen some unlikely friendships form. Scott had been suspicious of Aldridge’s cryptic explanations since she appeared in 10,000 B.C. But after he is instructed to look after her as she heals from her wound, she gives him an offer he can’t refuse. If he helps her get to a very important location several miles away, she’ll give him all the answers to any questions he has about their mysterious circumstances.
Scott agrees without hesitation. After the two walk all day, they stopped at a hill to catch the sight of an elaborate chrome tower in the horizon. A futuristic-looking multi-story building in 10,000 B.C? Only Rebecca Aldridge could make something like that happen. Unsurprisingly, she reveals to Scott that she built it herself.
In the start of Season 2, Scott and Aldridge are right where we left them. Scott is more than eager to enter the building; however, Aldridge reveals some shocking information that thwarts his plans. Everyone in the tower has a vendetta against Aldridge and would kill them both in an instant the second they step inside.
The catch-22? Even more deadly events will occur if the two don’t go inside. “If we don’t make it into that building soon, very bad things will happen. Everyone you care about, where you’re from, all your friends down here in the clearing, they will die unless I get inside that building,” warned Aldridge.
Despite the danger, the two decide to trek on their journey to save their loved ones. As they approach a harmless-looking rock next to a puddle, Aldridge casually pushes a button inside the stone to unveil a set of stairs leading to their desired path. But before the two head down, Aldridge warned that what they’re about to experience isn’t exactly going to be all fun and games.
However, in the next episode, it is revealed that their attempt to get in the tower has failed for unknown reasons. Aldridge instructed Scott to retrieve a card from Silas’s hut and insisted that it was key to finally getting into the building. “I am trying to protect your friends, Scott. This is the only way I can keep them safe. Listen, everything is moving into its right place, I just need you to be patient,” she said.
And when they get there? Their first goal is to get Josh and Riley back from 1988, something that Aldridge has known how to do this entire time. “I tell you what you need to know,” she said when Scott protested her withholding this information. She then told him to go back to the clearing and find Gavin, as they need him on their team for their next journey to the tower.
When Scott finds Gavin in Season 2 Episode 4, he informs him that he must travel to the building in order to get Josh. “I’m gonna bring our son back,” Gavin told Eve. When Gavin pressed Scott more about what exactly was in the tower, he spilled the beans. “Apparently there’s a room in that building with a portal that can connect to the future,” Scott said, adding that Aldridge’s tower is also called “The Lazarus.”
Aldridge then appeared and told Gavin that they must go back to The Exiles. Scott explained that Lazarus uses the mysterious black rock that The Exiles collect as a fuel source to power the portal, and there’s a new shipment arriving to them soon. “And we hijack it, that’s our way in. Once we’re inside, we get to the top floor, which is where the portal room is, and we’re gonna access it with this,” said Aldridge, holding up the keycard that Scott retrieved from Silas’s hut.
When Gavin protested, Aldridge said that she thought she could get in by bypassing the underground security door with her old credentials, but she was mistaken, and that the only way to Lazarus is through The Exiles. Aldridge said the mission is extremely dangerous and she didn’t want to put anyone else’s life at risk, hence her secretiveness about the whole scenario. “You have a role to play in all of this, which only you can do,” she told Gavin.
When Gavin attempted to retreat back to the clearing to protect his family from getting attacked by the Tongva, Aldridge interjected. “There’s no time! That shipment could leave the caves at any minute. We have to get there right now, it's the only way to save your son," she said.
However, they decided to go back to the clearing instead, where Aldridge gets attacked by a wolf and later dies from her injuries. “I can’t do this without you!” Gavin pleaded as she took her final breaths.
“Aldridge was our way into that building. What are we gonna do now?” Sam asked.
“I’m gonna do exactly what she wanted. I’m gonna go to that cave, hijack that shipment, and deliver it ourselves. And then we’re gonna get our kids back,” Gavin responded defiantly.
In Season 2, Episode 5, Gavin held the map that showed the shipment of the black rock in the Exiles' caves. Their plan is to get past the guards to hijack their wagon and take it to the Lazarus building. Aldridge’s keycard will grant them access, where they will then take the portal to 1988.
While they head back to the cave, they run into Virgil, who managed to escape. He frantically told them that they’re closing down the mine and taking the prisoners into another more dangerous location—and that going back there is a “suicide mission."
When Scott suggested they help the prisoners, Eve said, “We can’t lose our shot of getting into that building.” Therefore, they decided to split up. Eve, Gavin, Izzy and Sam all decided to attempt to take the wagon to get into the tower.
Eve, Gavin, Izzy, and Sam then knocked four guards unconscious and dressed in their clothes, then attempted to drive a wagon full of black rock towards the tower. When Tommett and the guards discovered their identities, a major brawl unfolded. The group managed to defeat the guards and promptly kept moving towards the building with a shipment of black rocks.
However, when they finally approached the tower in Episode 6 disguised as the guards, two scientists inside the building spotted Silas nearby with their security cameras. They then ordered the Lazarus guards to capture the group. Thankfully, they managed to escape, with the exception of Gavin.
Silas then appeared and said that he was trying to prevent Gavin from going “back” inside the tower, alluding that he’s been in there before. He then added that he has a better chance of retrieving Gavin if he goes into the tower by himself. “My husband is in that building, I don’t care what I have to do, I’m not stopping,” Eve protested. “
"You go in there, you might never get back out,” Silas said cryptically.
“What puts you so on edge about this building?” Sam inquired.
“It's not the building. It's the man who runs it.” Silas responded.
When we see Gavin next, he wakes up inside the tower. A mysterious man named James approached him and explained that he oversees everything that happens in the building, running the Lazarus program. In a major twist, James revealed that he is Gavin’s father.
Offering much-needed context to Gavin, James explained that the Lazarus building is the center of their family’s history. “The day I learned your mother was pregnant was the day I dreamed it up. Truth is: All of this is for you,” he said. James conceived the Lazarus program in Los Angeles in the year 2076 in an attempt to use natural resources of the past to save the planet’s depleting resources of the future. Giving Gavin an exclusive tour of the building, James walked him into a nature-filled room with over 1,000 species of plant life and informed him of Lazarus’s animal research facility. He then showed Gavin to the portal that he’d been much anticipating, and told him that it leads to 2076, not 1988 like Aldridge stated previously. “Stay here, there’s more I need to show you,” James pleaded when Gavin grew suspicious of his claims.
When we come back to the rest of the group, Silas leads them to a hidden passageway that directs to a tunnel. Their plan? Access the tower’s security room to connect to the building’s video feed to find Gavin. However, they become surrounded by guards, as Gavin and James come out to greet them. When one scientist accused them of trespassing, Silas responded by saying, “That's the least egregious crime committed in this building.”
Sam then revealed that since Riley found him in 1988, James’s claim that the portal leads to 2076 was a lie. The group then entered the room where the portal was and decided to take their journey to bring Josh and Riley back.
Watch La Brea on NBC Tuesdays at 9/8c and next day on Peacock.
