Editor's Review Awake

(September 21st, 2011. - www.tvview.tv)               Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, Dylan Minnette, Michaela McManus, Steve Harris, Wilmer Valderrama, Wilmer Valderrama and BD Wong star in the offbeat detective drama Awake coming to NBC as a mid-season replacement.                Detective Michael Britten (Isaacs) finds he is leading an arduous double life that defies reality. When he regains consciousness following his family's car accident, he is told that his wife Hannah (Allen) perished but that his teen son, Rex (Minnette), has survived. As he tries to put the pieces of his life back together, he awakens again in a parallel reality in which his wife is very much alive -- but his son Rex died in the accident. In order to keep both of his loved ones alive at one time, he begins living two dueling realities in parallel worlds, which churns up confusion, in one moment, Michael and his wife debate about having another child to replace their son, while in the other reality, he is attracted to his son’s tennis coach, Tara (McManus), to fill the void from the loss of his wife. Trying to regain some normalcy, Michael returns to police work and solves crimes in both worlds with the help of two different partners, Detective Isaiah "Bird" Freeman (Harris) and Detective Efrem Vega (Valderrama). Also starring are Cherry Jones and BD Wong as therapists in each respective world.                I can already hear the conversation between someone who has seen the first episode of the series and is now watching the second episode, and someone who joins the show for episode two. "Who is that guy?" "What? Is his wife dead?" "What do you mean only sometimes?" "Is his son dead?" "Only sometimes?" "How does that happen?" "Really, Two dimensions?" "Is this the best thing you could find to watch?"             No matter how good the future scripts are; No matter how good the actors perform those scripts; This series is not going to be able to build an audience unless they endlessly repeat the premise to allow the new guys to catch up. That will become frustrating to those who have been following the series, as there won't be enough time left in each episode to move the plot forward. That is one reason his effort will not succeed. The other is the fact that the whole idea of this series forces the viewer to accept a near impossible premise just in order to follow along. There are so many other good shows on the air that this one will be lost in the crowd.                I just can't help but make a list in my head of how many better ideas I could think of for a cop show. I think that is better use of my time than watching this one.   Editor

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