NBC 2012 Midseason Premiere: Awake

published: 2011-05-22 15:21:22

One of the more intriguing looking NBC series set to premiere during Midseason 2012 is Awake, a drama starring Jason Issacs that follows a man living out two tragic realities. Issacs character Michael Britten wakes up after a car accident to learn that his wife died. Later, he awakes again in a different reality where his wife is alive but their son died in the accident. Tricky…

The premise of this new series doesn’t really leave room for much of a gray area. I’m thinking Awake will either be brilliant and addictive or it’ll be messy and hard to follow. Is this something that's going on inside Issacs head or are supernatural elements at work? Regardless, I was sold at Jason Issacs.

Below is NBC’s synopsis for the series and further down are a few clips from the premiere episode:

Awake is an intriguing drama about a detective (Jason Issacs, Harry Potter, Brotherhood) who finds he is leading an arduous double life that defies reality. When Detective Michael Britten (Issacs) regains consciousness following his family's car accident, he is told that his wife Hannah (Laura Allen, Terriers) perished but that his teen son, Rex (Dylan Minnette, Saving Grace), 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 (Michaela McManus, The Vampire Diaries), 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 (Steve Harris, The Practice) and Detective Efrem Vega (Wilmer Valderrama, That '70s Show). Also starring are Emmy Award winner Cherry Jones (24) and BD Wong (NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as therapists in each respective world. The series is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and Howard Gordon (24) are executive producers. David Slade (Twilight: Eclipse, 30 Days of Night) also serves as executive producer and directed the pilot written by Killen.