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Awake Season 1 Episode 1

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 3/1/12

Following a horrific car accident, Det. Michael Britten regains consciousness to learn that his wife, Hannah, had died and his teenaged son, Rex, had survived the accident. As he tries to piece his life back together, he awakens again in a world in which his wife is alive, but his son is dead. Because he wants to keep both Hannah and Rex alive, he begins living in two realities and turns to solving crimes in both worlds with the help of two different partners, Det. Isaiah "Bird" Freeman and Det. Efrem Vega. He is assigned therapists in both realities, Dr. Laura Evans and Dr. John Lee, who help Michael learn to deal with his new existence.

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FAN RECAP

TV.com Episode Review

137

Awake: Hurts So Good

NBC's new mind-bender about dueling realities is mental masochism and emotional massacre at its finest.

By Tim Surette, Mar 02, 2012

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

This one is a 'Must See'.

9.5

By Lady_Lancaster, Mar 21, 2012

If you enjoy being constantly on edge, second-guessing yourself and trying to separate one reality from another in any type of television show then 'Awake' will be perfect for you. British actor, Jason Isaacs, leads the cast of this psychological thriller as a police detective who has been involved in a serious car accident and either his wife and son, or both or neither of them perished as a result of it while he, Michael, supposedly survived, relatively unscathed. The questions begin when we realise that Michael, in order to cope with his grief at the loss he has suffered, has created two separate realities; one where his wife is alive and one where she has died and his tennage son continues to live. Things become more complex when we realise that Michael's realities also include two separate therapists, different police officers and different crimes to solve. An excellent show but one in which you will have to follow each plotline very carefully in order to ascertain what is actually taking place. Give this show a try if you haven't already, it will be well worth your time.moreless
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Great Start!

10

By pedroman01, Mar 08, 2012

I am in University so I have avoided starting with new shows, especially ones that I would have to follow intently. But I decided to check this one out and boy was I glad I did. It was amazing. All the acting was superb. I loved how the connected both the lives and how he doesn't care which is real. It will be interesting to see how difficult it becomes as to him neither his child nor his wife is dead. I am sure this will become a bigger part of the show as it continues. One thing that they didn't exactly explain, but I have assumed is that he lives everyday twice. Like, he wakes up Monday with his wife then the next day he wakes up and it is Monday again, and he is with his son. That also will take a toll. 14 day weeks??? My only complaint is I had a difficult time hearing exactly what the black cop was saying most of the time. I figured most of it out, but it was mumbled. Again, great start can't wait for more.moreless
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Bursting at the Seams

9.0

By AriSky, Mar 08, 2012

Wow. That is quite the pilot episode. It throws the viewer right into the action (as a good series should) but doesn't leave them hanging so long that it becomes confusing. The series establishes the dual streams right off the bat and isn't afraid to utilize the shrinks to analyze what Michael is going through. I love that they throw in "psychological" aspects in each "dream" that would be related to the crash and one of his family members dying.

This episode leaves me really wanting more find out what's actually going on; if he is dreaming one or the other, if he's in a coma, what. Spectacular first episode. Another!moreless
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Beginnings of a great show

9.0

By ffemt2016, Mar 04, 2012

What would you do if you remember the crash, but woke up and your wife was with you? When you closed your eyes that night and opened them, your son was with you but not your wife? I know, that's the basic storyline I repeated. I'm just trying to get you to think. I have to agree with the previous review about the guy being in a coma. That's what I am thinking.

But, the professionals say you can't read in a dream. So then what?

The fact that we haven't seen anything past the initial crash leaves a lot of room for development in the story. Now that makes me wonder if the guy could just be unconscious and still at the scene of the accident. So many possibilities... Here's looking forward to what's in store.

I will say my favorite part was when he "woke" up and it should have been with his wife, but his red bracelet was gone. How he panicked and looked through the bed hurriedly. Yelled through the house looking in the bedrooms. Then going to the extreme of cutting his self. Then his wife comes in. Goes back in their bedroom to dress the wound, and there is the bracelet.moreless
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what the show is a bit like... great so far and has tons of potential, and is well acted and written

9.5

By isakura, Feb 29, 2012

This show opens up a lot of possibilities, it is a bit Like a twist on Life on Mars (the better, british version) and the later seasons of Fringe... with alternate universes.

This show combines Waking and sleeping concepts as both being real. Concepts of inception and Life on Mars and Fringe alternate universes can be used and incorporated.

For all we know, this guy is asleep, and in a coma, and neither reality is right.

This so reminds me of Life on Mars due to the fact that things that happened in the main character's future, helped him solve cases in the past, and also helped him unravel things about his famiy, and father....

this show has tons of potential, and is great so far.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Jason Isaacs	Det. Michael Britten
BD Wong	Dr. John Lee
Laura Allen	Hannah Britten
Dylan Minnette	Rex Britten
Wilmer Valderrama	Det. Efrem Vega
Steve Harris	Det. Isaiah "Bird" Freeman

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Emil Beheshti	Mr. Weaver	Guest Star
Melvin Abston	Officer #1	Guest Star
Cherise Charles	Young Baker Girl	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (5)
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- Bird: You see this coffee maker? $600. My ex-wife, she wanted one of these. I told her she wanted a $600 coffee maker, she should not have married a police. Eventually, we agreed on that.
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- Dr. Jones: Well I can assure you, Detective Britten, that this is not a dream. What?
  Michael: That's exactly what the other shrink said.
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- Vega: Well, then… why are we here?
  Michael: I had a dream about it. Or I'm having a dream.
  Vega: What?
  Michael: Nothing.
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- Bird: You want to tell me how you knew he had red hair?
  Michael: A hunch.
  Bird: Been a cop for 20 years. I only see hunches on TV.
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- Michael: The thing is, doctor… yes, I still see my wife and my son. And I've also watched both of them lowered into the ground. And when you see a loved one buried… you have one thought, over and over and over again, and that's that you would do anything--anything-to get them back. So if you're telling me that the price of seeing them, feeling them, of having them in my life, is my sanity? It's a price I will happily pay. Now, I'll come and see you, and talk to you as long as they make me. But trust me, when it comes to letting one of them go... I have no desire to ever make progress.
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NOTES (3)
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- International Airdates:
  Canada: March 1, 2012 on Global
  UK: May 4, 2012 on Sky ATLANTIC
  Czech Republic: November 23, 2012 on Prima COOL
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- The song heard in this episode was "Maybe Not" by Cat Power.
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- The pilot episode was released as a preview to be viewed online on February 16, 2012.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Michael: I like the one with the, uh, deranged chef.
  
  Michael is referring to the Fox reality series, Hell's Kitchen. The demented chef in question is host Gordon Ramsay, who has complete control of the judging and often breaks the basic rules to reward or penalize players who succeed or fail to meet his exacting standards. Ramsay is known for his catch phrases, "Shut it down!" and "Switch it off!" when he calls an entire competition to a close if the contestants are making a mess of it.
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