Review: 'Awake' - 'Oregon': The grass is always greener
Britten's cross-timeline 'hunches' come back to bite him while chasing a serial killer
Jason Isaacs in "Awake."
A review of tonight's "Awake" coming up just as soon as I learn a hundred dollar lesson...
"Oregon" was the fourth episode produced, but got bumped by everyone's desire to have "Kate Is Enough" air early in the order. It's probably for the best, in that doing back-to-back episodes where Britten's son was kidnapped in the first and Britten attracted the personal interest of a serial killer in the second would have felt like too much. Even spaced out a bit, it did feel like a bit much, and the first half of "Oregon" seemed too much like a conventional cop show. (And also an episode that, like both "The Little Guy" and "Guilty," is much more interested in the green world's case than the red's.)
Things got a good bit more interesting in the second half, as Britten finally had to deal with the consequences of making so many investigative leaps in one timeline thanks to clues he got in the other. That's something the show was going to have to deal with sooner or later, and putting Britten in a situation where it briefly turned him into the chief suspect generated some good tension.
And the final scenes raised some big questions going forward. I don't expect Britten to actually go to Oregon — or, if he does, to stay long — if only because B.D. Wong and Wilmer Valderrama are regular castmembers and not guest stars, but the question of what happens if Britten's living two very different lives, in different locales is among many interesting ones raised by this premise, and I'd like to see it explored a little.
And Gemini's phone conversation with Britten opens a potential Pandora's Box. When he says they both see the world sideways, does he mean that he's also living two lives like Britten? (His whole gimmick, after all, is about duality.) Or just that both of them experience things that therapists and other people would view as complete fantasy? His line about hoping Britten doesn't wake up suggests the latter (that he only exists in green world and doesn't want to turn out to be a figment), but you never know, and that he's going to Oregon — which is where Santoro was writing her book in green world, and where Hannah wants to move in red world — certainly says we're not done with him yet.
I don't know that Britten needs an arch-nemesis, but it's early yet, and "Awake" is still figuring out exactly what kind of show it is, so we'll see.
What did everybody else think?
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupRyanT
March 29, 2012 at 11:04PM EST Reply to CommentI don't know what to think only to say that last scene chilled me to the bone... well done.
Christina I got chills as well. Fave episode of the season.
March 29, 2012 at 11:25PM ESTI agree that the writers/producers are juggling a lot of heavy concepts, but so far they've managed to pull them off. Hope this show's around a while so that we can fully explore what the writers have in mind.
blingbling
March 29, 2012 at 11:12PM EST Reply to CommentThe concept for this show is a real high-wire act, but what a cast. I have no idea what the ratings are doing, but I've been a big Jason Isaacs fan and I really hope he gets to do more TV in the States if "Awake" fails. It's a great successor to "Life."
Brian J The ratings aren't great, but then, what is doing all that well besides "Sunday Night Football" and "The Voice" at NBC right now? Pretty much nothing, in fact. Even "SVU" is in the toilet.
March 30, 2012 at 12:52AM ESTIts initial live ratings in millions of viewers, going in order from the premiere week up until last week, were as follows: 6.24, 4.33, 5.12, and 4.73. Not really all that good, right? The thing is, it's doing decently if you include all viewers, those who watch it live and who watch it recorded. In its second week, for instance, it went from a 4.33 million to 6.77 million if you include DVR viewers. And in the important 18-49 demographic, it went from 1.6 to 2.7, becoming the biggest gainer of all television shows. That's only for one week, and perhaps the other numbers are different. But if they aren't, this is an indication there's something of a base for the show. It's not huge, by any means, but it's there.
So what does the network have to lose by renewing it? I have no idea how much it costs to produce, but I would be astonished if it were more than "Smash," which is supposedly in the $3-3.25 million range for each episode. I hate to harp on this so much, but why doesn't NBC renew it, promote the hell out of it during the summer, and then give it a chance to grow more next season.
It's hard to find good shows, and while this might not be great, it seems far better than a lot of other stuff the network has tried lately.
Susan
March 29, 2012 at 11:21PM EST Reply to CommentI think the show is terrific, as is Isaacs. This episode might be the first real standout they've done. What a chilling ending!
aransoto
March 29, 2012 at 11:37PM EST Reply to CommentI was really scared to death during that final scene.
The only thing I didnt "love" was that the first 15-20min (as Alan pointed) seemed too much like a conventional cop tv show. But then it just got better and better. Im happy investing my time in this amazing show.
Brian J
March 30, 2012 at 12:06AM EST Reply to CommentThe question is, does the show want to be more of a procedural that has a slight serial nature to it, or vice versa? Or have they just not decided yet?
Alan mentioned that the episodes were airing out of order because of a procedural element, but it's not clear, to me at least, how this affects the ability of the show to maintain the overarching mystery, especially since there's a conspiracy worked in. Do the producers have an end point in mind, or at least an idea of what the conspiracy might be?
Regardless, I am (a) curious to see where it goes and (b) definitely hoping the show gets another season. It's ambitious, if a bit unfocused right now; it is a cop show, but it's not the same old type of cop show. Were I in charge at NBC, I'd renew it for next season, at least for 13 episodes, but move it to Friday nights. But I'd also double pump it over the summer, putting the episodes on both Thursday and Friday nights in the hopes of building an audience. Given the relative uniqueness of the show and the dearth of hits at NBC, would it really kill the network to give it a chance to grow?
reed
March 30, 2012 at 12:37AM EST Reply to CommentI wish they'd use Laura Allen more. I don't know, maybe involve her in the plot for once? She knocks every scene she's in out of the park (just like she did in Terriers). Hopefully this Oregon story is a step in the right direction.
Huell Goodman I agree. Britten's relationship with Rex is so well established, but I don't feel the connection with his wife. Of course, maybe that's the intention, since Britten's seems to be primarily focused on his duties as a single father and has thus neglected his wife.
March 30, 2012 at 8:29AM ESTHannah Lee
March 30, 2012 at 12:39AM EST Reply to CommentIs Gemini "Awake's" equivalent of a Evil Leaper?
Huell Goodman Oh boy. It's waaaay too early for an Evil Leaper.
March 30, 2012 at 8:05AM ESTI just hope Britten doesn't wake up as Dr. Ruth and kick someone in the crotch.
webdiva Well, I won't mind too much if it's Gemini he kicks in the crotch. Seriously: am I the only one who found the serial killer's call to Britten to be trite, contrived, and predictable?? Making the accusation that he and Britten are alike is much easier than actually making it make sense or demonstrating it -- and Britten shouldn't fall for it. It's evil-guy mind-frakking as usual, and most of it's bluff. I'd consider it a red herring. Now the question is: what are they going to do with this -- anything useful?
March 30, 2012 at 2:18PM ESTI love this show, so I hope they haven't done something stupid here.
leemats
March 30, 2012 at 3:12AM EST Reply to CommentWhen the Laura Innes character was asking Britten how he came to all the conclusions that he did, was she just "doing that for appearances"? Because we are supposed to believe from ep 2 that she knows all about what Britten is going through, aren't we?
Daniel Not for appearances, she really needs to know if Britten is putting two and two together and reporting such to the mysterious man she met in the park. If I remember correctly, its her job to monitor Britten and try to keep him focused on solving cases.
March 30, 2012 at 6:05AM ESTHuell Goodman I'm just trying to pretend that park bench scene never happened. The writers may have had it in mind for later, but I'd bet a stack of 2 dollar bills that the network forced them to slip that conspiracy scene in prematurely. The show just works so much better if we get to know Innes as just the pain-in-the-arse chief, which is how she's been played otherwise. There's already so much going on - especially now with this serial killer.
March 30, 2012 at 8:22AM ESTOther Scott Wrong reality. Conspiracy Laura Innes was in the hot reality. This was the cool reality. So the conspiracy may only be going on in the one reality, making her question an honest one.
March 30, 2012 at 8:55AM ESTOn a related note, if one of the realities is a dream and the other isn't, there's really no way the blue world can be real. But I hold out hope its the red world that is fake, just so that conspiracy turns out to be a figment of his imagination.
Huell Goodman Whoa! Other Scott, you just blew my mind. Somehow it didn't even register that this was, I believe, our first encounter with Innes in Green.
March 30, 2012 at 9:14AM ESTI've commented before that I think both are fake, and started out as extremes - the Green was a more benign world (son, understanding shrink, cool partner, hot tennis coach) and the Red a more hostile opposite (distant wife, confrontational shrink, nagging boss, upstart partner, conspiracies). You even saw it in today's opening scene - with the nasty chaos in the Red World streets. Meanwhile, in Green there's traffic because someone's filming a movie. Even the crimes in Green World seem "neater:" kidnapers and serial killers who Britten is able to thwart just in time with his other-worldly insights.
webdiva Pretty soon I'm gonna need a playbook to keep track of who showed up where and when. I don't remember now whether or not I've seen the Laura Innes character in both worlds before, and I think that works against the plot for it to have been so vague. If I have to struggle to remember crap like that, it keeps me from paying attention to the current episode. Let's not get so cute here that we ruin the show by trying to show off, right?
March 30, 2012 at 2:21PM ESTleemats Wow. I just assumed that since Innes was "involved in the conspiracy," that she had the same knowledge in both realities. But Other Scott, you raise some interesting points.
March 30, 2012 at 2:25PM ESTwebdiva True dat -- there's no reason people can't be different in two different realities. The question is: in which world is the Innes character the 'good' guy? Is she genuine in either? She might not be, even if she *isn't* part of the evil plot in one of them. she coudl be Britten's opponent for other reasons.
March 30, 2012 at 2:28PM ESTHuell Goodman
March 30, 2012 at 8:59AM EST Reply to CommentMan, this cast is just so damn good that I didn't even mind the procedural stuff this week. Although I still have to get past the dumb network stuff. Do they really think we're so stupid that we needed a flashback when he found the moving company?
I'm also starting to really like the black partner (too bad I apparently don't like him enough to remember his name!), and I'm even warming to Detective Fez.
Isaacs is just awesome all around. The therapy sessions are intelligently written. The family interactions are grounded and genuine (You mean a married couple can just organically drift apart without shouting, drama and betrayal?? On TV? Poppycock!).
leemats If you refer to the Wilmer Valderrama character as Detective Fez, then you have to call the Steve Harris character Detective Eugene Young (from The Practice.
March 30, 2012 at 2:16PM ESTI just looked it up and their names are Freeman and Vega.
Aint Gonna Watch it without Da Fez On I don't remember if it was here or somewhere else, but I saw it pointed out that the first name of one partner is a near anagram of the last name of the another:
April 1, 2012 at 4:51AM ESTEFREM Vega
Isaiah FREEMAN
If this does mean something, I'd put it on the ant-Green side of the ledger. I'd guess the subconscious is more likely to rearrange the letters of the less familiar, foreign-sounding name "Efrem" into a more common, comforting name like Freeman. It also fits given that Detective Freeman is pretty much an ideal partner, compared to the suspicious young upstart Efrem.
Might as well add that Vega is one of the brightest stars and Isaiah was one of the great prophets. Make of that what you will.
Stan
March 30, 2012 at 9:10AM EST Reply to CommentMore tired TV cliche: the moody, angst-ridden teenager or the stubborn, know-it-all FBI agent who will eventually walk into a trap because he/she is too convinced that she's right all the time?
Loved the episode, though. And I like how they didn't draw out Britten as a possible suspect for a multi-episode arc.
sepinwall Given that Rex is a good character, I'm gonna go with the know-it-all fed.
March 30, 2012 at 9:28AM ESTwebdiva Yeah, I felt like we were meant to hate the fed. But the rest of this was so good that I didn't care. And yes, Rex IS a good character: he could give that dweeb in Smash some lessons. Then again, said dweeb isn't worth the effort. Maybe it's the writers for Smash who should be paying attention here re: how to write good drama and not screw with your audience.
March 30, 2012 at 2:25PM ESTBrian
March 30, 2012 at 9:15AM EST Reply to CommentDoes Laura Allen have to go back to school in every TV show she does? See Terriers. Ha
Tom And be in relationships with guys called something like "Britt"/"Britten"?
March 30, 2012 at 10:55PM ESTClaire
March 30, 2012 at 10:56AM EST Reply to CommentI'm really enjoying this show.
keith
March 30, 2012 at 11:12AM EST Reply to CommentI don't understand this show but I like it. I wonder how much the writers understand it.
webdiva As long as they keep delivering an intelligent product that I want to watch, it doesn't matter. Maybe they're just gifted, period. Good for them!
March 30, 2012 at 2:26PM ESTRick
March 30, 2012 at 7:31PM EST Reply to CommentA big flaw in this show is that both realities feature scenes that do not include the main character (example: the serial killer encountering and grabbing the female FBI agent in last night's episode). We see these scenes but Britten doesn't. If one of these realities is Britten's dream, one of two things should happen. Either Britten should be a part of every scene (which we know he isn't) - or Britten should know the reality is a dream since he remembers scenes that he wasn't a part of (and that's not happening either). If this inconsistency only applied to one reality, it would indicate that's probably the "real" world. But we see this with both realities. It's the ultimate in artistic license on the part of the producers.
Alf I think the show just can't have Isaacs in every scene; it's just not practical. So they have some scenes without him in both worlds.
March 31, 2012 at 2:55PM ESTJay
March 31, 2012 at 3:15AM EST Reply to CommentSo when they first show the Gemini killer (organizing his little black case), I said to my friend, that's Britten. Of course that didn't make sense, but at the end of the episode I went back to that scene and it definitely was Britten. The Gemini killer has brown eyes and Britten's are gray- the man in that scene has gray eyes. Why use Jason Isaacs for that scene?
Ruby IMO that was not Jason Issacs in that scene with the black case. Go back and look closely. The actor playing the Gemini killer has a large mole under his right nostril which is clearly visible in that scene. It bugged me enough to review and compare facial features. Its amazing how closely the two actors can resemble each other with the aid of a little Hollywood shadow magic.
March 31, 2012 at 5:48PM ESTJay Thanks, Ruby!!
April 4, 2012 at 8:04PM ESTsrpad
March 31, 2012 at 11:07AM EST Reply to CommentMaybe it's because I don't watch a lot of cop shows but I am enjoying the Procedural aspects as much as anything. I liked this episode. Sending up a Nemesis is fine with me. Looking forward to seeing where this all goes.
Qanjash
March 31, 2012 at 8:27PM EST Reply to CommentCorrect me if i'm wrong, but isn't the most obvious flaw of the show the fact that Britten wakes up in each reality every other day? i.e. Let's say it's Tuesday in "cool" reality; what did Rex(and Britten) do the day before(Monday), given the fact that Britten was in "hot" reality then??
In general, which way do the terms "tomorrow" and "yesterday" occur to the characters?
Never Wake the Owls, Jorge Britten experiences each calendar day in each world. So, he wakes up in Red Tuesday, goes to sleep, wakes up in Green Tuesday, goes to sleep and so on. To the wife and son, living in their respective 365 day worlds, the world of the other is a dream that only Britten experiences.
April 1, 2012 at 6:19AM ESTSince the two worlds don't mirror each other, i.e. the events of Red Tuesday don't reflect or predict the events of Green Tuesday, the particular day of the week isn't of special relevance to Britten. In effect, he just has a really long work week and he alternates between two jobs. Put another way, if Britten, with his same "condition," lived alone on an island and recorded each day as to went to sleep he would experience twice as many days as normal.
As with any show, we only see events that are relevant to the story. Britten works on case in Red World, needs a clue. Cut to him seeking clue the "next day" in Green World.
In this sense it should be no more confusing than seeing Don Draper pass out drunk at work on Tuesday morning followed by a scene of Don waking up at home the next Saturday. Heck, and I suspect Britten remembers much more of a given week than Don would.
Marc
April 1, 2012 at 9:36PM EST Reply to CommentI have a few thoughts about this show:
1. I loved Life, and I see some similarities between the two shows as some have mentioned. I hope this show gets to explore all of the possibilities it has set up, but tried to cram into the first few episodes in hopes of finding an audience. NBC should sign this show up for next year and give Killen and the other writers time to develop.
2. Anyone here familiar with the "Life on Mars" show (the BBC one, not the American one). My wife thinks Britten might be the one in a coma after the accident, and both worlds are completely imagined. This makes sense to an extent: how could the Green and Red Worlds be so divergent? The drug addict/successful banker, for example.
Ranen
April 6, 2012 at 12:30AM EST Reply to CommentI know this isn't the best place to post this, but I couldn't find anywhere else where it would get attention from people that care.
Anyways, one of my "conspiracy theories" that I came up with, but don't quite believe in it, or think it will turn out to be true, is that Britten isn't actually dreaming, and imagining one world, but rather he is transporting from one dimension to the next, like Quantum theory. Quantum suicide is where you have a gun pointed at your head, that may or may not work, and every time you pull the trigger, the universe splits into two or more alternate realities, one where the gun fired and you died, and the other where it didn't and you kept shooting. So when he was in the car crash, it was kind of like shooting the gun, and it created two alternate dimensions, one (warm colored) where his wife survived, and one (cool colored)where his son survived. I should also mention that quantum particles behave in weird ways, and when they try and observe them with microscopes, they change what they are doing because the scientists were observing them. So when Britten goes to sleep, he stops "observing" and travels to the alternate dimension where his son/wife survived. And Gemini or whoever are also people that can do this. Feel free to expand on the theory, and apply it to things that I haven't thought of.
Now this is just a theory I came up with, it's probably not true, just some food for thought.
Gushie Ranen, interesting. So, essentially, this would align with HANNAH LEE's suggestion that Gemini is Awake's version of the "Evil Leaper" from Quantum Leap.
April 7, 2012 at 6:39AM ESTSo, in this case, both realities exist (among infinite others), and people like Britten, Gemini and perhaps the schizophrenic from last night have a unique ability to experience both? This would mean that, theoretically, any of the characters could dream about the other reality. Of course, they would likely be dreaming of parallel realities closer to there own divergences.
I wouldn't mind if the show hinted at these possibilities and revealed for quantum explanation in the series finale. But I definitely wouldn't want Britten to turn into some kind of time/space cop, battling evil awakers across dimensions.
Dave I Did Alan review That's Not My Penguin?
April 7, 2012 at 9:24AM ESTAnyway, interesting theory. I loved That's Not My Penguin, and Oregon to a lesser extent in this regard, for not just playing the status quo. Both were interesting and pushed things. Gemini hinted at being aware (or thinking he was aware) of the duality Britten is experiencing. Or he's just messing with Michael because he knows about the stresses he's under. The hallucinations? Were they because of the drug, Britten's over-stressed/sleep-deprived mind, or something else? They seem to be very smart in how they are making every theory believable yet seem to be pushing in a direction that makes it hard to just keep the status quo on a weekly cop procedural with a twist. As long as they know where it is going, they can keep writing with that in mind while playing with the worlds. It could be anything from something like Jacob's Ladder (the movie) or sorta like Silent Hill (the game), or Quantum suicide (interesting theory), the "conspiracy," Britten's mind creating the conspiracy ala. Inception (where the mind creates deep sorts of scenarios), or something else.
I really hope they renew this and it either takes off or is at minimal given a chance to wrap up the series, both for the questions and any resolution Britten has to have with his family (unless there is some way to reunite the red & green world). The more I think about it, the longer it goes on the more heart wrenching it would be to see him say good bye to Hannah or Rex if he realizes one of the worlds is in fact a hallucination. Or maybe he loses both, or wakes up from a coma.
Regardless, it is a good enough show that is intelligent enough so I want to see what they have planned. Plus it would be a crime for Laura Allen to have another really great show get cancelled after one season. Or Donal Logue (although he's obviously not on this show).
-Cheers
hmm2
April 8, 2012 at 11:14PM EST Reply to CommentAlan:
No review of this week's episode?
George
April 8, 2012 at 11:45PM EST Reply to CommentThe penguin in the most recent episode has made me reassess what's happening in this show, as I believe it may be an indication that Britten is indeed hallucinating.
Originally, I thought that there were one of three possibilities on this show:
1. He was imagining the world where his wife was alive, but the world where is son is alive was real.
2. He was imaging the world where his son was alive, but the world where his wife is alive was real, or
3. We are dealing with a sci-fi concept of multiple dimensions, and both worlds were real - Britten had simply been able to live in two of those alternate realities, where most of us can only live in one of them.
However, with the introduction of the penguin, I realized there is a fourth possibility, and it may actually have the best chance of being true:
4. BOTH worlds are imaginary. Britten is still in a coma from the car crash, and he is dreaming that he is awake and living in two worlds.
If this is indeed the case, then the title of the show is deliberately ironic.