Awake

• Created by Kyle Killen
• March 1, 2012 to May 24, 2012
• NBC

Main Cast

Green Reality

• Det. Michael Britten-Jason Isaacs
• Rex Britten-Dylan Minnette
• Det. Isaiah “Bird” Freeman-Steve Harris
• Tara-Michaela McManus
• Dr. Judith Evans-Cherry Jones

Red Reality

• Det. Michael Britten-Jason Isaacs
• Hannah Britten-Laura Allen
• Dr. Jonathan Lee-BD Wong
• Det. Efrem Vega-Wilmer Valderrama

After a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective finds himself living two lives. In one his wife survived. In the other his son. And he cannot tell which if either is a dream and which is real.

Awake was an intriguing one season, 17-episode television series. The concept was that after an accident Det. Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) could not tell when he was awake or asleep or even if he was experiencing two realities. In one scenario the accident took the life of his son Rex (Dylan Minnette). In the other it took the life of his wife Hannah (Laura Allen). In both he had to figure out how to deal with loss and move on. He was unwilling to figure out which was real because that meant letting go of someone he loved.

In order to maintain a level of sanity and focus in both realities, Michael began wearing a rubber band around his wrist based on the favorite color of who the survivor was in that particular reality. Green for his son. Red for his wife.

In both Michael was forced to speak to a therapist as a condition of his return to work. It allowed for exposition on his situation be it the overall plot thread or the situation he was facing in that particular episode.

Michael didn’t have it all together and be like “Yeah. I can handle all this.” It was something he struggled with. It was a burden he did not want but it was a burden he was fighting to keep because he did not want to give up his wife or son.

I had a few concerns about Awake which were with its unusual premise would it last beyond one season (which it did not) and if it did could it maintain not having any firm indication on which was the dream and which was real. The latter was just as important as the former. It was the gimmick that made the show unique. Lose that and it is another police procedural about a guy with issues as well as killing the show.

I was also worried that this series with an interesting concept would get canceled without any type of resolution to the storyline. I would get hooked a few episodes in and things would end and I would get no kind of wrap up. And that is the big fear most fans of any series have.

Awake quickly became appointment television for me. It was different but not silly despite its admittedly silly premise. This was as much a police procedural as it was a character driven story. Michael not only had to solve cases but surviving characters in each reality needed to learn to cope with loss and learn how to go on. Their reactions to grief were normal.

What I especially enjoyed was how elements from one reality would bleed over into the other. Michael Britten was a working police detective in both realities and occasionally bits and pieces from a case he was working on one in one reality would appear in the other in a slightly different context with both helping to solve the other. People would show up in different contexts.

They were differences between each reality. Slight differences other than the presence of the wife or the son. For example each reality had a different partner as well as a different therapist. As the series progressed, his lives began to diverge further and further. He struggled to keep as little difference as possible but his wife and son began to move on.

As the series progressed little blurbs and this and that came out about how the series was not doing well and all that crap which is not too unusual for genre shows. These shows take a little time to catch up on unless they are based on or connected to a pre-existing popular property. Executives want the next big thing right away and don’t give shows like this time to build an audience.

What they did at least it appeared to me when the first concerns started popping pop-up was adding a possible police conspiracy to the show. It was implied that the accident which led to Michael’s situation was not an accident at all but rather a means to derail an investigation he was working on. The intended assassination, while it did not work, did end his investigation as it was transferred to someone else and went nowhere.

There was a time if a show ended then it ended. Stories were wrapped up by the end of the episode so there was really to overarching storyline to want answers for. Hogan’s Heroes, Hunter, Matlock, or any number of other shows ended with no final episode concluding plot threads because there were not really any plot threads to conclude. These days given how shows are conceived it is a must but unfortunately ratings that kill a show kill them before an answer is given.

Mercifully the show did receive a narrative wrap up. It was one that teased as much a mystery as what had been presented before. Spoiler! Apparently word had reached the producers and they decided to wrap things up as best they could. The conspiracy is unraveled in one reality with his life falling apart in another. In one reality he gets his answers and takes out the bad guys. But then he goes back home to fall asleep and when he wakes up in the closing moments of the show he finds his wife and son both standing in the kitchen. This strikes me as not only them wrapping up the show but possibly using their plans for what they hoped would be a second season in the wrap-up.

It was for me a rather satisfying ending that while it didn’t answer too many questions it did end the storyline that had been begun and really made me wish that they had a second season.

Awake is not too well-known of a show but it’s definitely worth a watch it has interesting stories and fine performances. Near as I can tell it is available only on Amazon Prime (last I checked) so if you find it there it is worth seeing!