Jason Isaacs is a terrific actor who has never really had the breaks he deserves. Perhaps he’ll finally be getting his big, defining role in NBC’s new fantasy crime drama AWAKE, which premiers on March 1st. If the phrase “fantasy crime drama” screams “this show will be bad”, then don’t jump to such conclusions just yet, as the premise is pretty interesting, and even original. Isaacs stars as (presumably) tough cop Michael Britten, who gets into a car crash with his wife and teenage son. When he AWAKEns, he finds himself in two different time lines, one in which his wife survived, and one in which his son survived. As if that weren’t enough, he must deal with separate partners on the force, and different psychiatrists, each trying to convince Britten that THEY are real and the OTHER is the dream, honest.
So far, fairly interesting. A decent premise and a good leading man. The trailer suggests that much of the crime solving will involve flitting between the two time lines to pick up extra clues and so forth. The main issue is that the premise of the show (and indeed the title) doesn’t allow for a lot of growth. Like heavily premise based series (LOST), once the central mystery is unraveled, the writers will have to end the show (god forbid) or think of a new direction to take (god forbid). As Britten himself says to his psychiatrist at the end of the trailer, “I have no desire to ever make progress”. AWAKE looks genuinely promising; let’s just hope this quote doesn’t predict its future.
Here is the trailer:
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