Review: Awake

I am rather disappointed that NBC's Awake did not get renewed for another season.  I was starting to get hooked on it and found it to be intriguing.  *Spoiler Warning*

 

In case you are not familiar with the show, it is about a Detective (Britten) that was in a car accident with his wife and son.  The kicker: the detective is living in two different realities.  In one, his wife is alive and his son died in the accident.  In the other, his son is alive and his wife died in the car accident.  There were other twists to the show too, but for now I am just going to focus on the aspect of the two different realities, since that is mind bending in itself.

I felt that the different realities could be interpreted in various different ways.  The most obvious would be the Britten is dreaming up one of the realities to deal with the fact that he lost his wife or son.  From the episodes that I have watched, I feel as though the viewer is directed into thinking that one of these options is the case.  At some points, I thought that yes, his wife is definitely alive and his son is definitely dead or that his son is definitely dead and his wife is definitely alive.  However, these feelings were short lived as something else would happen or be revealed that would throw me for a loop.

Prior to hearing about the season/series finale, I thought there were two options for the realities that could make sense, other than what is given to the viewer.  I thought that maybe Britten had actually been the one to die in the accident, rather than his wife or his son, and that maybe he was coming to terms with the fact that he was dead or waiting in some sort of purgatory while that happened.  My other theory was that Britten, his wife, and his son were all alive and that the two different realities were either a) a way for him to come to terms with what happened in the accident and work out what really happened and b) the accident caused him to become mentally unstable.

I have yet to watch the season finale, but I have heard a summary of what the conclusion was. From what I have heard and read about the finale, I think it makes sense and can be interpreted in two different ways.  The show ends with Britten, his wife, and son all alive.  I think my second theory fits well with this ending and that maybe it was a combination of both:  a) a way for him to come to terms with what happened in the accident and work out what really happened and b) the accident caused him to become mentally unstable.

OR you could just take the end at face value and that everyone is alive and happy.  I prefer to think that there was more to it than that and that there was a reason why the people behind the show decided to do different things.

Overall, it think the finale was a fitting conclusion and I am glad that the realities were not left too open for discussion.  From what I have heard, I feel that there was closure to the show that made sense, unlike some of the other series.

If you haven't watched the show yet, I recommend doing so, even though it is only 13 episodes.   

Now, time for me to watch the finale and see if it is as good as it sounds.