Lost Meets Jurassic Park In Netflix's 3-Part Sci-Fi Series

Published Jul 18, 2026, 6:23 PM EDT Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering everything from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi epics. Initially he was an Updates writer, though before long he found his way to the TV and movies team. He now spends his days keeping Screen Rant readers informed about the TV shows of yesteryear, whether it's recommending hidden gems that may have been missed by genre fans or deep diving into ways your favorite shows have (or haven't) stood the test of time. Tom is based in the UK and when he's not writing about TV shows, he's watching them. He's also an avid horror fiction writer, gamer, and has a Dungeons and Dragons habit that he tries (and fails) to keep in check. Considering how popular Jurassic Park made the concept of prehistoric beasts clashing with the present day, there are surprisingly few sci-fi shows featuring dinosaurs. Outside direct Jurassic Park spin-offs like Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and some cult gems like 2011’s Terra Nova or 2007’s Primeval, dinosaurs are underrepresented on the small screen. For fans of Jurassic Park or prehistoric action in general, this means any dinosaur TV series is worth attention. Fortunately, one of the best of the past decade is currently available on Netflix. What’s more, it wraps up its ancient beasts in a Lost-style mystery-box format that makes it deliciously easy to binge. Originally airing on NBC between 2021 and 2024, La Brea focuses on enormous sinkholes opening across LA and pulling hundreds of people into the prehistoric past. A cult gem for years, arriving on Netflix in May 2026 has given La Brea a new lease of life, with thousands of subscribers discovering the series for the first time. For anyone craving something close to a live-action Jurassic Park series, or simply looking for a quality dinosaur TV show, La Brea deserves to be considered essential viewing. La Brea Packages Jurassic Park In One Of The Best Mystery Boxes Since Lost At first glance, La Brea appears to be yet another survival series built around an unusual disaster. However, it quickly becomes clear that it’s slyly a masterful blend of two of the most successful sci-fi properties ever made. The prehistoric creature-led action immediately evokes the Jurassic Park movies, while the enigmatic sinkholes create a mystery-box structure that taps into Lost at its best. Much like the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 in Lost, survivors in La Brea find themselves stranded in a place where the rules of reality no longer seem to apply. Every discovery about the sinkholes that lead back to 10,000 BC (and, later, other periods) answers questions with more questions, echoing the storytelling rhythm that made Lost such a phenomenon. The Jurassic Park comparisons feel more obvious, but like La Brea, run deeper than it first appears. While both feature dinosaurs, La Brea puts its own spin on the concept. Where Jurassic Park focused on resurrected dinosaurs in the present day, La Brea throws its characters into prehistory itself. While this is an unignorable difference, both stories understand that ancient predators work best when they heighten suspense rather than dominate every scene. Many episodes of La Brea build tension through exploration and uncertainty before unleashing another dangerous encounter, creating the same anticipation that made Spielberg's original Jurassic Park movie such a hit. Ultimately, La Brea can best be thought of as the closest thing available to a live-action Jurassic Park TV show, and the Lost-style mystery box is the format it chose to tell its story. It’s an incredibly effective mix, and one that’s ensured the 3-season adventure has gone on to become one of the most bingeable sci-fi shows on Netflix. Ancient Beasts Aren't La Brea's Only Sci-Fi Trick The dinosaurs and prehistoric wildlife may be La Brea's biggest selling point, but they are far from the Netflix show's only sci-fi attraction. Even if the narrative never featured ancient creatures, La Brea would be a thoroughly entertaining science fiction adventure, and it taps into several other beloved properties beyond Jurassic Park and Lost. For example, life in the prehistoric wilderness demands constant improvisation. Food is scarce, shelter is limited, and every day presents another deadly obstacle. That emphasis on surviving with almost no resources gives La Brea a similar appeal to The 100, where fighting for survival in a hostile environment is a key theme. Much of the tension in goth shows comes from watching communities adapt rather than simply escaping danger. Then there’s the time-travel, which becomes increasingly central as La Brea goes on. Characters discover that the sinkholes are only one part of a much larger phenomenon connecting different eras. These developments bring La Brea close to cerebral time-travel sci-fi shows like 12 Monkeys and 11.22.63, complete with paradoxes and deliberate attempts to change the timelines. The sinkholes alone are a fascinating sci-fi concept that gives La Brea common ground with several other shows, most notably the strange geographical mysteries explored in Outer Range. There’s a lot about La Brea that will directly appeal to fans of these shows and more, but it never feels derivative. It may blend familiar science-fiction ideas, but it’s distinctly its own story. With all 3 seasons available on Netflix, La Brea is easily one of the streamer’s most overlooked science-fiction additions. Anyone drawn to Jurassic Park, Lost, or dinosaur-based sci-fi in general is bound to fall in love with La Brea. Release Date 2021 - 2024-00-00 Network NBC Directors Adam Davidson, Cherie Nowlan, Thor Freudenthal, David Barrett, Ron Underwood, Greg McLean, Nick Gomez, Rose Troche, Christine Moore, Tara Miele Writers David Appelbaum, Rob Wright, Christopher Hollier, Jerome Schwartz, Onalee Hunter, Jessica Granger, Jose Molina, Russel Friend, Bisanne Masoud, Zakiyyah Alexander, Erica Meredith Creator(s) David Appelbaum