Awake
After a serious car accident, Detective Michael Britten wakes up living in two simultaneous realities. In one, his wife Hannah is alive and his son Rex is dead; in the other, Rex survived and Hannah did not. Michael marks each world with a different wristband and keeps two therapists on call, Dr... Read more
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About Awake
After a serious car accident, Detective Michael Britten wakes up living in two simultaneous realities. In one, his wife Hannah is alive and his son Rex is dead; in the other, Rex survived and Hannah did not. Michael marks each world with a different wristband and keeps two therapists on call, Dr Jonathan Lee in the "red" reality and Dr Judith Evans in the "green" reality, so he can stay oriented. He goes to work in both lives, where teammates notice his strange choices and erratic mood. As he pursues homicide cases, details from each reality start informing the other, giving him access to leads nobody else sees, while the question of which life, if either, is true remains open.
Awake premiered on NBC in 2012, created by Kyle Killen. The atmospheric pilot was directed by David Slade, and the series starred Jason Isaacs alongside Wilmer Valderrama, Steve Harris, Dylan Minnette, and Laura Allen. It ran for a single season before cancellation.
The series did not rack up major awards, though it received some industry attention for its originality and for Jason Isaacs' central performance. It showed up on a few critics' lists and maintained visibility in reviews, but it did not secure Emmy or Golden Globe nominations.
Awake built a modest but passionate fanbase who kept discussions alive online, debating the show's rules and the red versus green visual language. The wristband device and the alternating-therapy setup became shorthand in pop culture conversations about television that mixes procedural crime work with speculative concepts.
Critical reaction was generally favorable, reflected in a user vote average of about 7.0 out of 10. Reviewers praised the emotional weight behind the procedural plots and Isaacs' layered turn, and they noted recurring themes like grief, guilt, the limits of perception, and the moral choices a cop makes when personal stakes are always present.
Details
- Release Date
- March 01, 2012
- User Ratings
- 190 votes
- Type
- TV Series
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 13
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Cast
Jason Isaacs
Michael Britten
Wilmer Valderrama
Detective Efrem Vega
Steve Harris
Detective Isaiah 'Bird' Freeman
Dylan Minnette
Rex Britten
Laura Allen
Hannah Britten
Michaela McManus
Tara
Cherry Jones
Dr. Judith Evans
BD Wong
Dr. John Lee
Created by: Kyle Killen
Seasons (1 season, 13 episodes)
Season 1
13 episodes - 2012