Awake (TV series)

Michael Britten, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and his family are involved in a car accident. After the crash, Michael is confronted with two separate realities. In the "green reality," Michael stays with Bird and Efrem remains an officer. after realizing that Ed caused it, he speaks with Dr. Evans and Dr. Lee. His therapists insist that he is imagining it all to help cope with the pain. However, when Michael later breaks into Ed's house Ed admits that he and an accomplice were hiding heroin at the Westfield Distribution Center; "they decided he had to go", after Michael began to uncover it. Michael does not know who "they" are, demanding that Ed tell him. Ed asks for protection before telling him, and attacks Michael when he is distracted. During the struggle, Michael kills Ed, and Bird comes into the house after speaking to Dr. Evans. Michael later discovers that Carl and Tricia are involved in the setup. Tricia shoots Carl in the "green reality" (in an attempt to hide her involvement in the accident), but is later imprisoned. At the end of the series finale "Turtles All the Way Down", Michael sees Hannah and Rex together. Concerned about his odd behavior, they ask if he is all right. Michael replies, "I'm perfect," and closes his eyes. == Characters==

Main characters Michael Britten (the lead character) is an LAPD detective who lives in both realities. however, he is also disorganized and sometimes behaves oddly. Hannah Britten is Michael's wife, who is grieving her son's death. is Michael's son, a teenage student who had previously been kidnapped. After school Rex often works on a motorbike with his best friend, Cole, at Cole's house. When Cole accidentally breaks it, Rex is enraged; later, he apologizes. Shortly afterwards, Michael puts Vega on the lead of a new case and the two become friends. Michael sees two therapists: Dr. Jonathan Lee and Dr. Judith Evans. Dr. Lee claims that Michael's two realities are problematic, and Dr. Evans states that they are "remarkable". For the crash the two used Ed Hawkins, on orders from Kessel. Other recurring characters include Emma (Daniela Bobadilla), Rex's girlfriend. Pregnant with Rex's baby, she was originally told to give it up for adoption; however, after a talk with her father Joaquin (Carlos Lacámara) she is allowed to keep it. Cole, Rex's best friend, is another recurring character. The two work on a motorbike together; Cole lets Hannah ride it in the "red reality", after she convinces him to finish it. ==Episodes==

Development Killen devised the concept of the program, drawing inspiration from the dreaming process: "The concept of the way your dreams feel real, the way you seem to experience them as something that you don't blink at until something crazy happens that sort of bursts that balloon. I think I became interested in the question of what if nothing ever popped that balloon? What if you couldn't tell the difference between when you were awake and when you were asleep? And then I started looking for a way to marry those two ideas up, and a few months later we had Awake." After being turned down by Fox, the pilot (then titled REM) was picked up by NBC in 2011, and the series was green-lit shortly thereafter. Production team was chosen as showrunner for the series.|alt=A balding man with a buttoned shirt in front of a microphone, and he is talking. Awake was a co-production of Letter Eleven and Howard Gordon's Teakwood Lane Productions, in association with 20th Century Fox Television. while Killen wrote several episodes of the show. Editors of the show were Paul Trejo and Nikc Berrisford. Feliks Parnell was the show's primary cinematographer; "[The main character] was somebody that you couldn't decide if you liked or hated, and I think that [Michael]'s dilemma is something that we're not only sympathetic for, but somehow we want him to win." Producers of the show initially approached Michaela McManus to play Hannah Britten. However, Laura Allen was cast instead; McManus obtained the role of Tara (for which Allen originally auditioned). Dylan Minnette was cast as Rex Britten, Michael's son. He stated, "The process of getting the job actually went by really fast because the first audition Kyle Killen[...]was in the room, Jason [Isaacs] was in the room, the cast director was in the room and the director was in the room. David Slade. And they were all there, for the first audition and I was like 'Wow! Okay.'" Minnette received the role two weeks after his audition. Laura Innes and Kevin Weismand had recurring roles as members of LAPD. Writing created outlines for the script and distinguished them in green and red ink.|alt=Young man in checkered shirt sitting in front of a microphone Killen said that writing the pilot episode's script was one of the more-difficult components of creating the show. He and his writing team would often get confused with exchanging and executing ideas for the script; as a result they created outlines, distinguishing the separate realities with green or red ink. Slade edited the language to better separate the ideas. Stating that things are "initially confusing to us when we are just trying to break story," he hoped that when viewers watched the pilot episode, they would be immediately oriented in the reality on screen at the time. == Reception ==

Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 81% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Intelligent and thought-provoking, Awake tempts audiences with an original and complex concept that keeps them guessing." Awake drew strong reviews for its pilot. Rachel Ray of The Daily Telegraph called the premiere episode "impressive", while NPR's Linda Holmes said that it laid the foundation for several emotional storylines, evaluating it among the strongest shows in recent memory. James Poniewozik of Time noted that while its concept seemed melodramatic, the episode "focuses unflinchingly on the subject of loss, yet manages to be not a downer or painful to watch, but moving, absorbing and even hopeful." Isaacs' performance garnered praise throughout the run of the series. Curt Wagner of RedEye said: "his touching, solid work grounds everything. He shows viewers what lengths one man in pain might go to hold onto those he loves. And it's heartbreaking." Matt Fowler of IGN said Isaacs "delivers a graceful and subdued performance as a man who, on a daily basis, must taste both heaven and hell. A man full of guilt, but also gratitude." Some critics called for Isaacs to receive an Emmy Award. In contrast, some viewers were unimpressed with Awake. Writing for The Washington Post, Hank Stuever felt that despite high ambitions the pilot episode was slow and drowsy. Certain episodes were singled out for particularly poor quality: "Game Day" was called "childishly simple", "Ricky's Tacos" was criticized for too closely resembling Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and "Nightswimming" was described as uneven and boring. US television ratings Awake had low viewership and ratings throughout its original run. The premiere episode started strong, becoming the most-viewed program in its time slot for NBC in almost two years. but its second episode fell by two million viewers, Awards and accolades In June 2011 Awake was honored, along with seven others, with the Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series, chosen by journalists who had seen the pilots. ET Online chose Isaacs as its first actor in their annual Emmy Preview, which predicts winners of particular Emmy Awards. ET Online reviewer Jarett Wieselman noted that Isaacs could receive an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series nomination; == Distribution ==

Awake was originally broadcast on NBC in the United States. It aired on the Global Television Network in Canada, on W in Australia, and on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Fox Channel Asia picked up the rights to air the series in Asia. == Broadcast history ==

Awake consists of thirteen one-hour episodes. The series' final episode, "Turtles All the Way Down", aired outside the television season on May 24, 2012. Low ratings resulted in NBC's cancelling the show on May 11, 2012 (after eleven of the thirteen produced episodes were aired), although the network finished airing the remaining episodes in the series' original time slot. == Adaptation ==

A Russian adaptation of the series, Awakening, starred Yevgeniy Mironov in the main role; it debuted in 2021. == See also ==