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Awake Season 1 Episode 6

That's Not My Penguin

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AIRED: Apr 05, 2012

8.2

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Episode Summary

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In one reality, Michael finds himself collaborating with Dr. Lee to help a man with schizophrenia who has taken a hospital hostage. The key to helping him is a ring in the other reality that disappears. Meanwhile, Michael starts hallucinating and sees a penguin everywhere, while Rex tells his father about his new girlfriend Emma.

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FAN RECAP

TV.com Episode Review

Awake: Penguinsanity!

Michael found himself face to face with a schizophrenic this week as doubts about his own ability to sustain both realities came to light.

By Tim Surette, Apr 06, 2012

Fan Episode Reviews (4)

Clue or mistake in dialogue? Spoiler

8.0

By MylesHernande, Apr 16, 2012

At the end of the episode, the male therapist claims he was never in the room with Britten while he was trying to talk to the mental patient out of killing everybody. HOWEVER, during the scene where Britten and the therapist are talking about what he should say to the mental patient, the mental patient walks up and asks "What are you two talking about?" Why would the patient ask what the two of them were talking about if Britten was truly the only one in the room?moreless
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Michael's Beautiful Mind

9.0

By AudioFileZ, Apr 09, 2012

Heretofore, the the weight of Britten's two realities have been juggled nicely as Britten finds a certain comfort living in both since by doing such he still has his wife and son.,only separately. He has managed to function, even thrivingh by solving each realitiy's crime by leveraging facts from one to the other. Now, it's all falling apart as he begins to believe he may not be simply dreaming one and living the other, but fully hallucinating. He knows he is beginning to show signs of schizophrenia in no small part as he begins to see an obvious hallucination of a penguin! Yes, a penguin which is a great device as it's cute, but obviously so "out-there" it can only be in his mind. Throw on top of this his growing fear of insanity a case where he has to negotiate with a man who could well be himself if he continues to move toward full-blown schizophrenia. The complexity of it is over-the-top good. In the end realizes what a kindred soul needs to avert the possible destruction at hand, A gamble in creating a truth based on a loose interpretation of a deceased sister's freedom whereby he sensed the hostage taker's sister called him "Trip" totally selling the young man as to it's validity - allowing him to surrender. Just as Michael is feeling better in a post stand-off session with Dr. Lee he realizes Dr. Lee really wasn't there with him as he imagined. Michael is left to still wonder if he is better or worse. Wow, best episode so far, this show amazes, for the life of me I don't understand the low viewership. Absolutely best new show of the season!moreless
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Crazy Good!

10

By pedroman01, Apr 06, 2012

Like the other reviewer I must agree that this is arguably the best episode yet. It got a little weird for me towards the middle, but overall was a great episode. I loved the symbolism and how Michael won in the end. By win I mean he proved that it is OK to live in a fake world. He always seems to find reasons to convince the audience why he should stay the way he is. I like that they aren't doing two cases in every episode, but still connecting the two realities. I also like that it shows this show can work without family stuff. I actually think the parts with the son where the least interesting, although good character development. I am interested to see where they take this concept of him confusing the realities. I wonder how long before everyone starts to figure out what he is going through. I also liked how they showed what would happen if he fell asleep or was knocked out in one reality. Great script, great acting, great episode. Best episode yet.moreless
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What a show! (spoilers)

10

By XY, Apr 06, 2012

Let me start by saying that to me this was the best episode following the pilot! Awake features a main character whose mental state is the ongoing theme and as the series continues we are given more and more hints about it, how Michael sees the world and how this affects his "life".

In this episode Michael had to resolve a hostage situation, dealing with a schizophrenic hostage taker. Could have been a pretty standard episode like the ones before including a case and some family drama but this time we actually see how unstable Michael is. From the beginning of the episode he first starts mixing up details of the 2 realities which in the end even lead to small (penguin) and big (Dr. Lee) hallucinations. So this is the 1st time we really see Michael understand that things he sees are not real. A major step in a possible reveal if one or both of his realities are in fact completely imagined. There was also a small scene before he lied to the schizophrenic: Michael had some sort of an enlightening moment where he also had some sort of flashes - Theraphist 1 says his wife is dead, Therapist 2 says his son is dead, we see the car crash and THEN Michael standing alone at the crash site looking down the hill where no car can be seen. Is that a (partly metaphorical) glimpse of the reality Michael got in that scene? Are his son AND wife truly dead and when he finally gets to admit this real fact, he decides to turn away from it and lie to the hostage taker - and symbollically to himself to keep going his 2 dreams?

Whatever the meaning behind it all is - there was much room for interpretation which was a key factor of the pilot being received so well. Keeping things ambiguous and allowing different interpretations is imho where this show should head to. I also hope they leave this focus on Michael's mental situation rather than the cases-of-the-weeks or even the family drama elements as long as they are not connected to Michael suppressing the reality.

In short: This episode featured great writing with some awesome ideas. If the show continues like this (weekly Fight Club anyone?) it could get very far.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Billy Lush	Gabriel Wyath	Guest Star
Matt Riedy	SWAT Commander Hamilton	Guest Star
John Christopher Storey	Tech	Guest Star
Daniela Bobadilla	Emma	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

BD Wong in Awake from "That's Not My Pen...

© 2012 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Jason Isaacs in Awake from "That's Not M...

© 2012 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Billy Lush in Awake from "That's Not My ...

© 2012 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Billy Lush in Awake from "That's Not My ...

© 2012 NBCUniversal, Inc.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (2)
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- Emma: They practice progressive parenting. As long as I tell the truth, they trust me.
  Rex: They must want to kill me.
  Emma: No. They'd be more mad at you if they found out you were giving me this. Processed sugar.
  Rex: So you're allowed to sleep over at your boyfriend's, but you can't have Cap'n Crunch?
  Emma: Progressive parenting.
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- Evans: But when you came face-to-face with the larger revelations, you backed down. You retreated into a--a scenario where yous ave the day, you play the hero, win the affection of the wife you've eared losing, and the approval of the therapist who's expressed doubts in you. Just like Gabe, you hold the keys that will tell you what's real and what's not. But for the moment, you're unwilling to turn them.
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NOTES (2)
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- Michaela McManus is credited but doesn't appear.
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- International Airdates:
  Canada: April 5, 2012 on Global
  UK: June 8, 2012 on Sky ATLANTIC
  Czech Republic: December 28, 2012 on Prima COOL
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