Previewing Awake

For years now, the networks have tried to recreate the sci-fi magic that Lost had in its first season leading its wake numerous one and done series like FlashForward, Threshold and Surface. This season the networks tried a little different, mix the sci-fi elements with procedurals, much like the godfather of modern day sci-fi The The X-Files. This season alone has seen Persons of Interest, Grimm, Alcatraz, and Touch, featuring law enforcement agents with special abilities or ones chasing bad guys that are not normal.

Awake is a different kind of sci-fi show, the lead cop Jason Isaacs (Black Hawk Down) does not have any special powers nor do the baddies he is chasing down. He is quite simply living a double life and not like the lead character of the short lived Lone Star who had two wives that did not know about each other (Kyle Killen created both shows). After a car accident in which his wife survived and son did not, whenever Isaacs closes his eyes to goes to sleep he wakes up and his son survived and wife survived.

Sound confusing? It kind of is. Isaacs wears a blue wristband in Kid-World and a red is Wife-World but the clues are not as obvious to us the viewer. In both worlds, Isaacs has to see a work appointed physiatrist, in Wife-World BD Wong (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) is more aggressive in his session than in Kid-World shrink Cherry Jones (Erin Brockovich) who is more nurturing but both believe the other is a figment of Isaacs’ imagination.

In each world, Isaacs has two different partners. In Kid-World he is teamed with his long time partner Steve Harris (Friday Night Lights) but in Wife-World he is assigned to a newbie Wilmer Valderrama (Columbus Day) yet both appear in the other timeline, Harris is naturally an ex partner while Wilmer is still a uniformed cop. Makes me wonder how long it will take Isaacs to Google the other shrink to see if they exist in the other world.

Naturally there is a son and wife in the cast for their respective timelines. Laura Allen (Terriers) plays the wife while Dylan Minnette is no stranger to alternative universes as he also played Jack Sheppard’s son who also turned out to be a figment of his imagination (or something like that, I do not care to over think the abomination that was the final season of Lost). Rounding out the cast is Dylan’s Tennis coach Michaela McManus (Castle) after he took up his mother’s favorite sport after she died in his world and may or may not be a love interest of Isaac. Which begs the question, can you cheat on your wife if she is only alive in the other universe?

The problem with Awake is I am not sure who the show is aimed at. Sci-fi fans may be turned off buy how procedural the show may end up being while fans of cop procedurals may get confused by the two worlds on the show (let’s face it, sci-fi fans may find that confusing too). But if the show does manage to thrive in the long run, here is a Spoiler Alert for how the series ends: Neither worlds are “real” because Isaacs is the one who actually died in the car crash while his wife and son survived.

Awake airs Thursdays at 10:00 on NBC. For those that do not want to wait to watch it tonight with commercials, you can download the premiere episode of Awake on iTunes for free or just go ahread and steam it below via nbc.com.