AwakeThursday Nights on NBC
Last night NBC officially debuted it's new crime drama "Awake". It's not your typical crime show however, it has a bit of a twist. It's about a detective who was in a car accident with his wife and son. Now he is caught between two dreams...or are they two realities? Or is one a dream and on real? He goes to bed and when he wakes up he lives in a life where his wife survived the car accident and his son has died. The he goes back to sleep and wakes up in a reality where his son survived the crash and his wife died. He still remains a detective in both time frames but each with a different partner. He sees an on the job therapist in each one as well...again, both played by different actors. He tells each one his dilemma and each one tries to reason with him as to what is going on. One adamantly tells him his other reality is a dream where he trying to cope with the death of his son. The other is more open to his situation and tries to explain to him it's not possible he is living in a dream in that current scenario. In between all of this, he is doing his detective duties and trying to solve two different crimes that seem to have tie ins.
Awake received a lot of hype before the premiere. There were sneak peeks of the the pilot showing online and it got a ton of attention. Critics are calling it the most original television show of 2012. Granted it's only March and not that many new shows have actually debuted. So with that, yes, it is the most original. I watched the premiere last night and I must say, I enjoyed it. I think for me though, it got a tad confusing with all the psychological back and forth between both shrinks and all their philosophies as to what is occurring. But I really like this concept and I think it can work pretty well. One thing I didn't find myself really grasping onto though was the investigative aspect of the show. His detective life wasn't all that interesting to me. Maybe it was just those particular cases that were boring, I don't know. I would actually like a show that's just about this weird phenomenon. But I understand that the main character needs to have something major in his personal work life to add more depth and story elements to the show.
Jason Isaacs who is probably best known as daddy Malfoy in the Harry Potter films did a wonderful job. It was very strange seeing him though as a hero and not a cowardess villain with long flowing blond hair. Ha. It's a whole new side to him, but I like it. This character is going through something that would be utterly traumatic if it were possible to happen in real life. He has to live two lives where in each one he has lost someone dear to him. But he's not living one life where he's lost both, so in a way there's a level of happiness for him. He gets to have both his loved ones...just not together. Isaacs does a great job at balancing the necessary emotions to carry on both realities. I also like Cherry Jones (Signs, 24) as one of the two therapists. No one else in the cast has really shined just yet, but it was only one episode.
My biggest concern though, which is a common one, is how long can this premise go on for before it gets tiring? If it stays this way the whole time it might get tedious to watch. I'm hoping they throw something in the mix like...some outside source is doing this to him. Someone is controlling him or planted something in his brain. Maybe some crazy experiment. Throwing a wrench in the plan could benefit this show sometime down the road. Overall though, I think "Awake" is a great new show with a lot of promise. Usually it takes a few weeks worth of episodes to truly gauge how good a show will be, so let's give this one a few more weeks. But for now, I'd saw "Awake" is worth watching.
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