La Brea renewed for season 3 but it could be the end for the NBC series

NBC announced today that they have renewed La Brea for season 3, but it could be the last for the sci-fi drama series.

Deadline reports that NBC has only picked up La Brea for six episodes instead of the expected ten. The outlet says that the looming possibility of a “writers and/or directors and actors strike” likely influenced this choice. The current WGA contract is set to expire on May 1st, followed by DGA and SAG-AFTRA contracts on June 30th. This could leave networks without episodes to air in the first few weeks of the fall, depending on how long the strike may last. The cast of La Brea have a ten episode minimum guarantee, but Deadline says that NBC asked them to “reduce their contractual minimum guarantees to six episodes.” In exchange, the cast would be offered a release from the series, which they took. Production on La Brea season 3 will begin in Australia this March.

So even if La Brea is somehow renewed for a fourth season, it would be without the majority of the cast who have been there from the beginning. The second half of the second season begins tonight with back-to-back episodes airing on NBC.

La Brea revolves around a massive sinkhole that opens in the middle of Los Angeles. Hundreds of people, including Eve Harris (Natalie Zea) and her son, fall into the hole and find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land. They must work together to survive and uncover the mystery of where they are and if they’re able to find a way home. Meanwhile, Eve’s husband and daughter try to solve their own mysteries and reunite their family. The premiere of La Brea had the best launch of any NBC series on the Peacock streaming service, which helped to convince NBC to renew the series for a second season.

Although I haven’t watched the series myself, it hasn’t exactly received the best reviews. Our own Alex Maidy certainly wasn’t a fan. “For all its ambition, La Brea is one of the weakest pilots I have seen in years,” Maidy wrote in his review. “The special effects are bad, the characters cliche, and the dialogue painful. By the time the end credits rolled, there was enough plot to pique my interest to find out what will come next, but not enough for me to subject myself to any subsequent episodes.“

While it may end up being the last, how do you feel about La Brea returning for season 3?