Will La Brea's Lucas/Veronica Be The Root-For Couple Of 2024? 'I Think People Will Like Us This Season!'
I know what you're thinking after reading the headline above, La Brea fans. But hear me out.
When the NBC sci-fi drama kicks off its third and final season on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, Lucas Hayes, the onetime heroin dealer and all-around hothead, and Veronica Castillo, who spent much of the first two seasons unpacking her own tragic past (and got accused of murder somewhere along the way!), will be on a fun(ner), new path.
Lucas, played by New Zealander Josh McKenzie, will claim more respect as a leader of the survivors, especially after a dino-brawl trashes the Clearing. (The change in scenery accommodates the production's move from the chillier Victoria, Australia to Queensland.) Expectant Veronica, played by Lily Santiago, meanwhile will be embracing the prospect of motherhood, which casts Lucas in a new, doting light. (Heck, in the photo above he has found among the new auroras' random deposits a frickin' memory foam mattress for his baby mama!)
In other words, La Brea Season 3 in many ways represents "Lucas and Veronica rising," as TVLine put it to the pair's portrayers.
"They've really come into their own," Santiago nodded. "At this point, so much has happened to them in life, let alone in just their time in the clearing, that when Season 3 comes they can adapt to just about anything.
"Nothing's that surprising" for the nascent lovebirds anymore, Santiago added. "I think they're of the mind that 'If I've got you, we'll be OK.'"
Lucas and Veronica "reflect back to each other the best qualities in one another," McKenzie observed. "That's something they've struggled to see in themselves because of the shame that's attached to both of them. They both have done things they regret in their past, so it's very hard to see yourself in a positive light. But now they can lean into their strengths, rise up and have the audacity to think they're leaders."
But is the characters' imminent evolution enough to win over any viewers who have mainly been tuning into La Brea for Harris family drama, and the occasional 10,000 B.C. beast?
"I hope so. I hope so...," said McKenzie. "They've both made some pretty severe mistakes, but the payoff for me, and Lily too, has been great" in Season 3. "Starting out, Lucas was this very outlier character, very angry and unlikeable.... But I really hope the audience finds a way to connect with him. Because being able to finally access that [kinder] core and put in on display has been so rewarding."
"I think we're more forgivable this season," Santiago said, echoing her scene partner's thoughts. "The things we do are all well-intenioned, where it might not have been that way in the past. Also, we're allowed to be sort of 'goofy kids falling in love and figuring out how to be parents', instead of just being these bad people that have done horrible things and won't let themselves move past it because it's just too bad.
"For the first time they're falling in love — I think neither of them had true love — so I think people will like us this season. I hope!"
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