Awake S01E10, 11, 12, 13

Episode Title

Slack Water, Say Hello to My Little Friend, Two Birds, Turtles All the Way Down

Cast

Jason Isaacs - Michael Britten

Laura Allen - Hannah Britten

Steve Harris - Detective Isaiah "Bird" Freeman

Dylan Minnette - Rex Britten

BD Wong - Dr. John Lee

Cherry Jones - Dr. Judith Evans

Laura Innes - Captain Tricia Harper

Wilmer Valderrama - Detective Efrem Vega

Daniela Bobadilla - Emma

Michaela McManus - Tara

Crew

Kyle Killen - Creator

Nick Gomez, Laura Innes, Milan Cheylov, Miguel Sapochnik - Director

Genre

Crime, Drama, Thriller

This review covers the final four episodes because I think they work best when watched together. I am a huge fan of the show. It is currently the best drama that ran this year in my opinion and I am saddened by its cancellation. That said, I felt really conflicted about the way the show ended. On one hand, it was a cinematic masterpiece, on the other I am not a fan for unanswered questions and you get that here. The finale had an Inception type feel to it. I honestly had no idea what was going on towards the end and part of me was wondering what to accept as the reality and the dream. Or even the dream of the dream of the reality... Very confusing stuff at the end.

Michael keeps seeing a man, a hallucination that follows him around much like the penguin did earlier in the season. This man helps him as he struggles to understand why he cannot get back to his son's reality, which he has been away from for roughly a week. His fear that he will not ever see his son again and the hallucination of the man causes some friction in Hannah's reality. Eventually he breaks down and comes to realize and accept that his son's reality was dream... or is it?

The performances from everyone involved in this conclusion to the series were phenomenal. I never once thought anyone was anything other than absolutely convincing in their performances. This credit goes to the actors themselves but also to the directors. Quality stuff from all involved and I thank you all for giving me a viewing experience.

The stakes get higher and higher as each episode plays along and eventually it pops and we get the crazy. It was a fantastic ride and I honestly cannot comprehend why it was cancelled. The finale alone is enough to get me to want a season two, if nothing else but to get answers on season one. There are a lot of things that go unanswered and I think that since the show was cancelled prematurely, they decided to end it in a way that is both open ended and yet offers some closure, depending on your own philosophical bend. As I said before, I am conflicted. I want to believe in the good happy option but the cynic in me just sees the two darker options as the more likely. This would be a fantastic hook for a season two, that much is absolutely true. I give these last four episodes solid 5/5s each. I plan to get the series as soon as it is released on Blu-ray.

Now I want to discuss some spoilers so if you have not watched the show, plan to and hate spoilers being dropped, this is where I think we should part ways until the next review. For everyone else, holy crap! Until the last  fifteen minutes of the show, I seriously was thinking Michael only knew the things he knew because he was in on the heroine deal, that he was actually a dirty cop and he just forgot about it once his head got bashed in. It would have explained just about everything, including his fractured mind. The guilt of knowing he was responsible creating this alternate world so he would not have to deal with what he had brought on his family. That theory has not been disproved though. I did not like that Hannah's reality had no resolution. It makes me wonder... what if that is the reality and everything else is the dream. If that is the case, his enemies won. He is rotting in a prison for the criminally insane for the rest of his life. His wife would likely leave him and he just... he just loses. Why not create this entirely new reality where nothing bad ever happened at that point? The loss of everything just would have been too much for someone that was already skating the edge of sanity, so it is easy to see that being the actual reality as well.

On the other hand, the entire series could just be a dream and the final reality at the end could just be him finally waking up from a terrible dream. We all have had dreams like that. The ones that seem to span months or years. It really does depend on what you want to believe. Just like the end of Inception. There is no concrete evidence to support any reality being the fake because once everything started getting weird, he was already in prison in Hannah's reality. On thinking about it more, it actually makes sense that the final reality is the real one. There is just no way Michael could have known some of those things without it being a dream. He actually could not have been in cahoots with the bad guys because they themselves said that they took him out because he was investigating them. Why would he investigate a crime he was committing? So no, that theory is debunked right there. Which leaves that Rex and Hannah's realities were both dreams. Yes, that is what I choose to believe.

Awake S01E09

Episode Title

Game Day

Cast

Jason Isaacs - Michael Britten

Laura Allen - Hannah Britten

Steve Harris - Detective Isaiah "Bird" Freeman

Dylan Minnette - Rex Britten

Wilmer Valderrama - Detective Efrem Vega

Daniela Bobadilla - Emma

Crew

Kyle Killen - Creator

Michael Waxman - Director

Genre

Crime, Drama, Thriller

Two dreams, one reality. The catchy line for the show now matters to me again. This episode dealt with Jason in his son's reality for the most part. His son was dumped by Emma (played by the ever so sexy Daniela) for unknown reasons and he is having an extremely hard time dealing with the idea that he believes she was not being honest with him. In the Blue, Jason also investigates a murder of a football fan. Jason gets stuck when it is revealed that most would have motive to kill the guy as he was a bully and often got in fights. In the Red, Jason also is dealing with a death from a fire, which suggests the building owner is the suspect due to the insane amounts of gambling debt he managed to accumulate. 

One of the things I enjoyed about this episode was how one small difference of a final field goal at the game heavily influenced Jason's life. In the Red, the field goal misses and causes the business man to lose over one hundred thousand dollars. In the other, the kick is good and it influences Jason's life through the murder he is investigating. Small differences making major changes is heavily played on in this episode, especially later. 

I also noticed that Jason's psychiatrist visits were shown less this episode. They happened but they were more like an afterthought to the rest of the story. I actually liked it better that way. Not that I dislike the sessions as they provide interesting questions for the viewers at home as well as Jason. But I think now that the show is at the 9th episode, we do not need it as much except for the occasional clip of Jason doubting which reality is which. 

As much as I liked the episode, I was not surprised by either one of the case resolutions. It might be because I watch way too much crime dramas but the "twists" were not so much twists at all but they were wonderfully executed despite being kind of predictable. Everyone performed well. Even Dylan did well and I have already noted that I do not think he is a very strong member of the cast. But after this episode, I might reconsider. He did very well. The twist that I did not expect was kind of a big deal. Even though the episode has been out for weeks, I do not want to spoil it but it has to do with why Emma broke up with Rex. It will be interesting to see how it will impact Jason in both realities considering he links the two, which is one of the reasons he is having a hard time with Hannah wanting to move away. 

Overall this episode was very good. I had no problems with it at all. In fact, I would like to see the sessions becoming less important the further along I get into the series. It is a nice change of pace to be more in these two realities than discussing which one is the fake. I give this episode a 4.5/5. You will enjoy this episode if you have not seen it yet. 

Awake S01E08

Episode Title
Nightswimming

Cast
Jason Isaacs - Michael Britten
Laura Allen - Hannah Britten
Steve Harris - Detective Isaiah "Bird" Freeman

Crew
Kyle Killen - Creator
Jeffrey Reiner - Director

Genre
Crime, Drama, Thriller

Let me start out by saying that I love this show. I have been wanting to do an episode by episode review for a long time but for various reasons, I had missed the opportunity. Today, I decided to start catching up on this show and after watching episode 8, I could not sit by and not get something out about this show. Every episode is better than the previous one. Jason Isaacs is perfect for this role; though I have to admit he has been phenomenal in literally everything I have seen him do. Laura Allen plays his wife and she is not only insanely attractive, she is also very talented herself. I am surprised I had not seen her in other works before I started watching this show.

Okay so the story behind the series is that Michael was in a traffic accident with his wife and son. Someone dies, though we honestly have no clue which one it is. Not even Michael knows because he sees both of them and both are completely real to him. When he goes to sleep, he sees his wife alive. When he goes to sleep after that, he sees his son alive. He can tell which reality he is in by colored bands on his wrist. Red for when he is with his wife, blue when with his son. Because we do not always see his wrist, we can tell by the use of color-effect filters or "mood lighting". A red lighting for the wife's reality and blue for the son's.

So for this episode, it deals with Hannah preparing for their move to Oregon and how Michael struggles with it. It is an episode that deals heavily with the red reality. I learned that I just prefer the red reality over the blue. Maybe it is the mood lighting, maybe it is because I think Michael's son is played by someone I do not find particularly compelling as an actor or maybe it is just because I think Hannah is incredibly sexy. Either way, this episode worked very well for me. Reconnecting with a partner that you have grown apart from is almost always enjoyable to watch, especially for bleeding hearts like myself.

Overall the episode left me with a warm, happy feeling inside despite the cryptic nature of the show. I give the episode a 4.8/5. I already know which one it is that I hope is alive and for me, it is the wife. I really hope she is the live one and that his son is the fantasy. Of course, that would also mean that his boss is part of an organization that has some connection with his accident in the first place. And if you have not watched the series so far, oops! Spoiler alert. If you have been watching the show, then you might agree that this would make his real world more interesting than if the blue one is the real world.

So much sexy

This is just a good show, which leads me to my next topic. The show has actually been cancelled after just one season. This is terrible for anyone that gives the show a chance. I believe this is in part because people may find the show confusing; "which reality is which?". I hope that my explanation of the mood lighting helps with that if it is the case. But the bottom line is that people need to watch this show and convince NBC to give it another season to prove itself. With the solid cast, crew, writing, direction the show has taken, I honestly do not see how someone could not have this show on their watch list for the week. Spread the word and hopefully change will happen.