Awake

[Pox Voldius]

Originally Posted by Mugglewizard

I usually separate them based on the partner son/wife or the Shrink. I keep forgetting which hue is which.

I also separate them based on the characters. Somehow, I keep filtering out the different hues as if they aren't there, even though I know that the hues are supposed to tell us which reality he's in.

Have to say, though, that last episode almost made me wish I hadn't graduated college yet. I know exactly which part* of USC's campus they shot that pool scene at!

* It's near the corner that's farthest from the Coliseum, also seen briefly in this episode.

[Mugglewizard]

This episode looked like the wife reality is real and the other the dream. It looked like he came up with the whole witness protection program and starting over to cope with him moving to Oregon

[jordmundt6]

Yes, but there are other episodes with reverse flips. One of the things I liked about this last one is that the entire thing was a flashback to how he got to that diving board and that embarrassing situation, but they didn't use the "72 hours earlier" subtitle that became so popular after Alias used it to death in the early part of the last decade.

[TaafeMJ]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

they didn't use the "72 hours earlier" subtitle that became so popular after Alias used it to death in the early part of the last decade.

I hate that plot device. It drives me absolutely nuts.

[jordmundt6]

Alias did it in its pilot and it was new (or little seen) and cool and different--and then Alias got recognized as a cult hit and EVERYONE did it for the next five years and it STILL crops up at least twice a month (it seems). Awake did something else. Hopefully, this style won't get reused and abused so much.

[TaafeMJ]

Ok, this show has me ripping out my hair trying to figure things out.

Spoilers for this week's episode...don't read further if you haven't seen it yet.

The red-hued reality (the one with his wife, Fez, and BD Wong) is generally the more upbeat, positive reality. His relationship with his wife is strong. His dead son is giving him a final gift...a grandchild. Even the people he knows...Kate the babysitter, for example, have a good life. This world represents a near-perfect reality.

The green-hued reality, in contrast, is drab and dreary. His son has been having issues with his mother's death. He got his girlfriend pregnant, but she lost the baby. His son was kidnapped. Kate the babysitter is a drugged-out murderer. It's a world in which everything is broken.

Don't get me wrong, it's not all sunshine and roses on the red side, or doom and gloom on the green. There are mixtures of both good and bad in each reality. In general though, the red world is much closer to ideal, and the green is much closer to worst-case scenario. But real life is neither that perfect, nor that broken.

This leads me to a theory. I don't think either reality is...well, real. I think both his wife and son died in the crash. He was the only survivor. I think the crash was no accident. He was a target for whatever his boss helped cover up. I think he knew what was covered up, and was getting ready to expose all the conspirators. I think he is somewhere...maybe a coma, more likely he's in a psych ward...and these realities are his mind's way of working through all the clutter that's in there.

Each shrink has been telling us the truth. The other reality is, in fact, not true.

Each episode, I think, holds a major clue as to what really happened. Some are overt (like the Taco place, or the Penguin), and some might not be so noticable. A lot of recent episodes have had something to do with college, for instance (The girl who committed suicide by throwing herself off a building...her ex boyfriend was in college...the skinny dipping in a campus pool, the college game this week between LA and Seattle). I also wonder if each clue that connects the two cases is actually a clue into what's really going on?

It's a shame this show's probably going to be cancelled. It has me completely wrapped around its proverbial finger.

[jordmundt6]

NBC can't possibly be that stupid, can they? They have absolutely no dramatic series at ALL at this point and this show deserves to be renewed. It could be that it's just too mindbending for them. If both are dead, that means he's in a coma because he couldn't possibly be functioning with double-layered delusions and a "real" thing happening as well. If that were the case, it'd make me very sad because the coma/trapped-in-loony-bin thing has been done to death on sci-fi and soaps since the '60s. Don't get me wrong, I like your analysis, but the conclusion it leads to is just...depressing.

[TaafeMJ]

I think he's awake, but a complete nutcase in an asylum. I think the dueling realities (I think "hope" is the better term for the red one, instead of "perfect") are his mind trying to right itself after the shock and pain of losing both of the people he loves.

I think the boss and her dangerous friends are his brain trying to warn himself that he's in danger.

And yes, both his wife and son being dead is really depressing. I suppose it could work to where he just thinks they're dead...maybe they've been kidnapped by the conspirators, or maybe his mind is so sure they're dead that in its shattered state he can't imagine them being alive even if they're there, talking to him.

But this doesn't strike me as a show that's going to have a happy ending. Maybe I'm wrong.

On the ratings: They've been really bad. Bad enough that if it were pulling these same ratings on a Friday night (which has significantly lower expectations), it'd still likely be cancelled. But since it's pulling these on a Thursday night, which is typically when a network stacks its best shows up, it's almost certainly going to be cancelled. It's only chance is if its DVR/Hulu numbers are really strong. It would be possible to move it to a different night...maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, with less competition...and hope that some of those numbers translate to live viewers. But I'm not holding my breath. And it's a shame, because this show is really, really fascinating.

[Pox Voldius]

I'm just hoping that if/when they do get cancelled, they don't leave us hanging in regards to the mystery of the two competing realities.

[TaafeMJ]

Yeah, that would be frustrating.

Though I'll say this: since I don't think this is a very expensive show to make (compared to shows like Fringe, that use a lot of special effects) it's not completely outside the realm of possibilities that this show ends up somewhere else...maybe Netflix, maybe a cable network. It wouldn't be unprecedented.

[Mugglewizard]

I havent really been observing closely but from what I think I have seen the Green hue reality (the Son) has never had a different character viewpoint. But the red hue one (wife) has had scenes where he is not there but the boss and her co conspirators are the ones active. Could that be a clue to it being real?

[Spacecadet]

Originally Posted by Mugglewizard

I havent really been observing closely but from what I think I have seen the Green hue reality (the Son) has never had a different character viewpoint. But the red hue one (wife) has had scenes where he is not there but the boss and her co conspirators are the ones active. Could that be a clue to it being real?

hmm thats an interesting observation. I hadnt picked up on that. I definitely think there is something bigger going on here. and the boss is definitely involved. the son's gf's pregnancy is an interesting development. I wonder if that will keep them from moving.

[jordmundt6]

Sure it has. Remember when the son was abudcted? There were a lot of different viewpoints in that episode. The conversation with the tennis coach, the abduction itself, discussion after the abduction, etc. Also, there was the scene with the son and the girlfriend--breakfast in bed. What about the conversations between the best buds building the motorcycle? They're there. There are fewer of them, but they exist.

[Pox Voldius]

Originally Posted by Spacecadet

the son's gf's pregnancy is an interesting development. I wonder if that will keep them from moving.

The clips they put in last week's preview for tonight's episode seemed to indicate that it would.

[jordmundt6]

They're deciding to delay their move which means that the hit that Captain Pusher has been itching to execute is back on.

[Asphodel79]

Well, Awake was not renewed for a second season. I really hope that we at least get some answers before the show wraps up. I really enjoyed Thursday's episode.

[freelantzer]

Originally Posted by Asphodel79

Well, Awake was not renewed for a second season. I really hope that we at least get some answers before the show wraps up. I really enjoyed Thursday's episode.

I'm sad about this decision. I really like this show and it sucks when you invest in something only to be left hanging.

[TaafeMJ]

It's a shame. This is a really, really well done show. I'm holding out hope that it gets picked up by a cable network or Netflix, but the chances of that are slim.

[Pox Voldius]

I'm kinda wondering if they originally intended for the plot to be resolved within a single season. It seems to be the kind of story that doesn't really have very far to go once the main mystery is solved.

[TaafeMJ]

Originally Posted by Pox Voldius

I'm kinda wondering if they originally intended for the plot to be resolved within a single season. It seems to be the kind of story that doesn't really have very far to go once the main mystery is solved.

I certainly hope so, lol. I'm sure we'll get a cliffhanger ending though. IIRC, the season had been completely filmed long before it aired.