Jason Isaacs
Dylan Minnette
Laura Allen
Steve Harris
Wilmer Valderrama
Cherry Jones
BD Wong
Michaela McManus

Created by:
Kyle Killen

2012
Drama, Mystery
NBC
TV-14

“Awake,” created by Kyle Killen (“Mind Games”), is a show that explores the alternate realities of Detective Michael Britten, played by Jason Isaacs, whose wife or son died in a car crash depending on which reality he’s present in. He was driving the car with both of them in it when the crash occurred.

His police chief, who doesn’t appear in the pilot, has ordered that he attend counseling: He has a counselor in each reality, one played by BD Wong and the other played by Cherry Jones (two wonderful actors).

He’s also being watched by the force: In one reality, he has a new partner, played by Wilmer Valderrama, who was put in place supposedly to keep an eye on him. The chief believes that this new partner will be more willing to provide useful information on Britten than Britten’s former partner. (This new partner doesn’t seem like the type who will fully comply with that, though.)

In the other reality, his partner, who is his former partner in the previous reality (confused yet?), is played by Steve Harris; they’ve been partners for years. The cast also includes Laura Allen as Britten’s wife and Dylan Minnette as his son.

The question is: Which reality is the truth, and which is a dream? At least, that’s what this show presents as the question. I think that there may be something else going on: neither may be true, both may be true in some way, or Britten may be the dead one.

“Awake” lasted for only 13 episodes, but it provides an interesting spin on the police-detective procedural. The alternate realities don’t take too much effort to follow (he wears a green rubber band in the reality where his son is alive and a red rubber band in the reality where his wife is alive), but you do have to pay attention. (By the way, Killen and the rest of the writing staff used different color ink to help them keep track of the realities.) Also, each reality has a different hue onscreen: warmer, browner tones for the reality with the wife and the new partner; colder, bluer tones for the reality with the son and the old partner. The acting is strong; the writing gets the job done; and the look of the show fits the genre – it has a heavy atmosphere and a deliberate pace.

The writers wrote the final episode with subsequent seasons in mind, so I wonder how a season finale will work as the actual series finale. Obviously, things won’t be fully resolved, but I look forward to finding out what happens … when I get a chance.

Verdict: Very Good So Far

About: (Source: awake)

“Awake” is an intriguing drama about a detective (Jason Isaacs, “Harry Potter,” “Brotherhood”) who finds he is leading an arduous double life that defies reality.

Following a tragic car accident, detective Michael Britten finds himself awake in two separate realities: one where his teen son, Rex (Dylan Minnette, “Saving Grace”), died in the crash and his wife, Hannah (Laura Allen, “Terriers”), survived and another where Hannah has perished, leaving Michael and Rex to pick up the pieces. In order to keep both of his loved ones alive, Michael begins living in two dueling realities, churning up confusion. In one reality, Michael and his wife debate having another child, while in the other, his son Rex is turning to his tennis coach, Tara (Michaela McManus, “The Vampire Diaries”), to fill the void from the loss of his mother.

Trying to regain some normalcy, Michael returns to solving crimes in both worlds with the help of two different partners, Detective Isaiah “Bird” Freeman (Steve Harris, “The Practice”) and Detective Efrem Vega (Wilmer Valderrama, “That ’70s Show”). Michael is assigned a different case in each reality and quickly discovers that his dual existence is actually a powerful tool. He begins to solve impossible cases by using his two realties to gain unique perspectives and link clues that cross over from world to world.

Helping Michael to navigate his two realities are his bureau-assigned therapists Dr. Evans (Emmy Award-winner Cherry Jones, “24”) and Dr. Lee (BD Wong, NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”). While both therapists work to untangle his two worlds, Michael has no interest in proving either one is false. But when memories of the accident begin to haunt him, he is forced to confront the truth about what really happened the night of the crash.