PILOT REVIEW: Awake

AWAKE

Starring: Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, Steve Harris, Dylan Minnette, BD Wong, Michaela McManus, with Wilmer Valderrama, and Cherry Jones

Written by Kyle Killen, Directed by David Slade
Created by Kyle Killen

Awake is a psychological new thriller from NBC that explores alternate realities. Police Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) is in a terrible car crash with his wife Hannah (Laura Allen) and son Rex (Dylan Minnette). The twist is that he lives two different worlds - one in which his son survives the crash and one in which his wife does. In speaking with two therapists (BD Wong, Cherry Jones), he cannot distinguish which world is real and which is not. He goes to sleep in one world and then wakes up in the other. He keeps himself straight with different bracelets while the audience is kept straight by the colors used in filming. Rounding out the cast is Britten's two partners in the different realities (Wilmer Valderrama and Steve Harris) as well as his son's tennis coach and possible love interest (Michaela McManus) in the one reality.

THE GOOD: There is a lot to like here. For starters, what an interesting premise! This isn't the first "alternate worlds" show this season (look at Once Upon a Time) but the nature of these worlds being simultaneous in terms of time and one most likely being unreal is very intriguing. The show had a great opening dramatic hook with the car crash. At first, I was unsure of the procedural element to the crime but that was even remedied by connecting the two crimes in the two different worlds. In doing that, it gave a twist to the procedural genre within a larger storyline. One of the more interesting parts was the way the two therapists would battle with each other to convince Britten that they are the real world. In doing a show like this, it's important that one world is not more interesting than the other and this show accomplishes that. I'm invested in Britten's life with his wife and his son which helps me be invested in the entire show and not just part of it.

THE BAD: Honestly, I don't have a lot of criticism for this one. I did feel like it moved a little slowly after the initial opening but it picked things up as the episode went along. The therapist parts are very interesting but the show needs to be careful about not doing too much in there or else it will drag. Basically what I am most concerned about is not how the pilot was but where this could go. I fear it will go the way of other psychological thrillers and get too complicated for its own good. Hopefully this show will be able to avoid that if it can last long enough.

BOTTOM LINE: Much like NBC's other midseason drama entry Smash, Awake is a type of show that deserves to succeed because it's not like anything else on network TV right now. It beautifully weaves a procedural element with a larger mythology and if you're not interested to see what world is ultimately real, then I don't understand you. I'm hooked.