NBC’s “Awake” pilot has been on the Internet legally for weeks (and likely illegally since last June, when I got my first copy), so I’m not particularly compelled to burn a lot of calories explaining why I think it’s easily the best broadcast pilot of the 2011-2012 broadcast season.
It’s about a police detective whose life suddenly splits into two realities following a horrific car crash. In one reality, his wife dies and his son survives. In the other, his son dies and his wife survives. He can’t tell which is which. He even has different psychoanalysts in each reality, each of whom insists the other shrink is the fake one.
I’ll say this. It’s smarter than most movies, it’s ambitious, it’s moving, it’s sci-fi and it stars the great and versatile Jason Isaacs, a bit less nasty here than he was as Lucious Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” movies and the lead mobster in Showtime’s “Brotherhood.” B.D. Wong (“Oz”) and Cherry Jones (“24”) are both excellent as the therapists with the competing theories.
If you haven’t seen “Awake,” my advice is just tune in and keep your eyes and ears open.
... far and away the best pilot episode I saw for any network series this season (and up there with the debut of Showtime's "Homeland," which shares producer Howard Gordon, for best drama pilot anywhere this season) …
... The good news is that the unusually ambitious "Awake" succeeds at several of the things it's attempting, and star Jason Isaacs grounds the drama with a charismatic yet subtle performance. I have a few misgivings about the show -- I do wonder how "Awake" will work in the long term -- but in the near term, I'm happy to stick with this unusual cop show to see where it goes. …
... A “mental Möbius strip” is how one of the doctors describes this condition, and that’s not a bad way to describe “Awake,” a clever, intriguing new NBC series ... It’s not easy to keep track of what’s happening on “Awake,” but it won’t put viewers to sleep.
... it promised to be one of the year's best and most interesting new series. Having seen four episodes now, I'd say the promise has been largely kept. ... What makes "Awake" work is the poetical idea, or a philosophical one, that underlies the narrative. It's a thought experiment expressed as a drama, as"Groundhog Day"was as a comedy, and doesn't need a rationale. The story's best elements are domestic and personal, in any case: the balancing of sadness and joy, grieving and relief, shut doors and new possibilities his condition demands and affords. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... a fascinating look at competing realities that makes it one of the 2011-12 TV season’s most ambitious dramas. It’s the kind of show viewers must pay attention to -- smart TV that’s worth watching …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… a winner … grabs you, unnerves you, breaks your heart and even makes you work a little. … Finally, NBC gives you a reason to stay up past 10 p.m. on Thursdays. …
The Philadelphia Daily News says:
... the kind of property worth going a little out of your way for: A high-concept drama that packs an emotional punch while, yes, solving crimes. ...
... can be confusing but, judging by the first four hours, it's worth the effort. …
... As lovingly written and organized as it is, the viewer must divide his or her time picking up on different scenarios and moods, caught between rather ho-hum murder cases and this other, more beguiling attempt to craft a show that is about the nature of loss and grief. …
… intriguing … While the premise sounds confusing, the producers and writers of “Awake’’ do a good job of keeping the worlds distinct and vivid. …
... a provocative, appealing puzzler, full of knottiness for the intellect and emotion for the heart. ...
... No one wants to return to the color-by-numbers plotting of Diagnosis: Murder, but there is such a thing as demanding too much effort from an audience without sufficient reward. Glum, grim and increasingly confused, Awake qualifies. ...
... An elaborate mystery is always compelling, and here, episode after episode, we search for clues, for some sign that will let us distinguish between reality and imagination. What makes "Awake" gripping, though, is our knowledge that if Michael learns the truth, he will lose either his wife or his son forever. ...
… after watching four installments, it appears anything approaching clarity will have to be indefinitely deferred -- potentially too long to provide Michael or viewers much satisfaction. … just as ABC's "Life on Mars" crumbled under similar inertia, "Awake" looks hard-pressed to alter NBC's 10 o'clock fortune …
… if people stay with it, what they'll find are exceptional performances, some truly fine writing and a premise, by virtue of being complicated, that could unspool some really interesting plotlines. ...
10 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
