NBC’s ‘La Brea’ Premieres Today on HBO Max: Stream or Skip It
Okay, you may ask yourself why a big steaming platform would want to add one of NBC's supposedly worst TV shows to its catalogue. I mean I haven't watched La Brea myself, but both the audience and critic reviews are enough to make you run for the hills.
Which begs the question would you stream the 10-episode sci-fi thriller series or skip it. If you’re unsure whether to watch La Brea as it debuts on HBO Max, here’s our opinion.
About La Brea
La Brea aired on NBC on September 28 last year. Executive produced by David Appelbaum under Universal Studios and Keshet Studios, the series stars some of Hollywood's big names, such as Natalie Zea, Zyra Gorecki, Jack Martin, Nicholas Gonzalez and Jon Seda.
Set in Los Angeles at the site of the La Brea Tar Pits and Wilshire Boulevard, the series follows a family separated by a large mysterious sinkhole that swallows hundreds of people, buildings and vehicles. Trapped in an apocalyptic world, the family members attempt to reunite, while the father gets visions giving him clues to where his wife and son are. As the series unfolds, you discover that the sinkholes open a temporary portal to the same place 10,000 prior.
La Brea's Terrible Reviews
While the show's plot and trailer are enticing enough, La Brea's first episode alone seems to abhor and repulse many viewers, deeming the series a joke and a downer to a network television station that has been constantly churning quality TV series like The Blasklist, Brooklyn 9 9, This is Us, and New Amsterdam.
If you rely entirely on critics' reviews to watch a TV show, you'd absolutely skip this one. La Brea obtained a rating of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes and 58% on IMDb, with critic's consensus quoting, 'There may be a method to its madness, but La Brea doesn't commit to its insane premise hard enough to shake out a show worth watching- at least not yet.'
Stream or Skip It
However, 80% of Google Users claimed to like the show, which got me intrigued and decided to investigate the rating disparities. It turns out that the show's viewers are broadly divided into two- those who completely hated it, and gave a 1-star rating and those who absolutely loved it, giving a 5-star rating.
Only the patient who endured the slow-building and questionable first episode were rewarded with suspense and thrill for the rest of the show. So, if you think you're persistent and curious enough to find out what happens on the other side of the sinkhole, then go ahead and stream it.
La Brea Season 2 is in The Works
Meanwhile, La Brea was renewed for a second season in November last year. Let's hope it'll make up for its first season's cringe-worthy moments and get in the audience's good graces.
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