History Series / Awake2012

Despite exceptionally positive critical reviews, the series had poor ratings, and was cancelled after 13 episodes. Interviews like [[http://www.tv.com/news/awake-q-and-a-creator-kyle-killen-explains-the-finale-and-more-28770/ this]] offer additional wrap up and insight as to the series had it gone on. Thus far, it has not been released on DVD or Blu-Ray.

'''Note:''' Not to be confused with the 2007 movie ''Film/{{Awake}}.''

A high-concept [[CopShow cop drama]] premiering in February of 2012 in which Police Det. Michael Britten, played by Jason Isaacs, lives a double life in two separate realities after being in a car accident with his wife and son. In one reality, his wife Hannah (played by [[Series/TheFortyFourHundred Laura Allen]]) survived the accident, but their son Rex (played by [[Film/DontBreathe Dylan Minnette]]) did not. When he falls asleep, he goes into the second reality, where the exact opposite happened; Hannah died, but Rex did not. The show follows Britten going about his life in each reality, mourning for his wife, son, and ''both'', in the two realities, as well as seeing two separate psychiatrists who have contrary opinions on the significance and psychological benefits of the "subconscious alternate reality" that he's created for himself.

* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Cutest. Hallucination. Ever.

* HollywoodHacking: Averted, since the hacker of the encrypted file gives exponentially increasing time estimates based on the password length. There is still a CriticalResearchFailure when the quick success is blamed on the shortness of the password ("tulip") and not on the fact that it is a regular word, which would succumb to a dictionary-based attack regardless of its length. (The way this worked crossed both worlds, getting the file name in Green, downloading and cracking it in Red, and then opening it again in Green with the known password. This tends to prove both worlds are real, or both hallucinations).

* AcquittedTooLate: [[spoiler:Green reality John Cooper is shot dead before Michael figures out he was framed. Red reality John Cooper is set free.]]

* {{Aesop}}: Occasionally crops up but mostly for Britten himself. For instance, in "Game Day", we find out that he's stopped caring about certain things like sports because in living in two worlds, he's seen the same situation play out in two different ways due to minor differences. His stance is thus "It doesn't really matter"; however, by the end of the episode, he realizes that while those minor differences may not matter in the long run, their ramifications can be pretty dramatic. A fact he realizes when... [[spoiler: he considers when Rex got Emma pregnant.]]

* DaChief: Britten's boss.

* OneCharacterMultipleLives: Main character Detective Britten suddenly begins switching between two universes every time he falls asleep after a car crash kills his wife in one universe and his son in the other. While his therapists in each universe try to convince him that the other universe is just a trauma-induced dream, he isn't so sure. Across the two lives, he begins to notice suspicious coincidences which he investigates seeking an explanation for what's happening to him which leads him to the heart of a dangerous conspiracy where he needs the time and information from both lives just to stay one step ahead of his enemies.
* PinchMe: Michael tries to cut himself when he thinks he woke up in a reality with neither his wife nor son being alive. He feels the pain which would imply that he's awake. However, in the other reality, he is able to read verbatim a random passage from the US Constitution which would imply he's awake in that one.

* SelfHarm: See PinchMe.

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:In the first episode, Britten says that he'd be willing to give up his sanity to be with his family again. [[InTheDreamingStageOfGrief This is what ends up happening by the end.]]]]

* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:The last scene of the series shows Britten ending up in a world where both Rex and Hannah are alive. This ''could'' be interpreted as the rest of the series being AllJustADream, but WordOfGod states that it's just Britten digging himself deeper into delusion.]]

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:In the first episode, Britten says that he'd be willing to give up his sanity to be with his family again. This is what ends up happening by the end.]]

* EvilDetectingDog: In both realities in "Oregon", dogs bark at Britten, leading him to a dead body in the green reality.

* FramingDevice: The pilot has Britten talking to two therapists in two separate realities.

* MrFanservice: JasonIsaacs already looks good in a suit and tie, but get him into something a little more comfortable. Such as ''nothing'', at the start of "Nightswimming".

A high-concept [[CopShow cop drama]] premiering in February of 2012 in which Police Det. Michael Britten, played by Jason Isaacs, lives a double life in two separate realities after being in a car accident with his wife and son. In one reality, his wife Hannah (played by [[Series/TheFortyFourHundred Laura Allen]]) survived the accident, but their son Rex (played by Dylan Minnette) did not. When he falls asleep, he goes into the second reality, where the exact opposite happened; Hannah died, but Rex did not. The show follows Britten going about his life in each reality, mourning for his wife, son, and ''both'', in the two realities, as well as seeing two separate psychiatrists who have contrary opinions on the significance and psychological benefits of the "subconscious alternate reality" that he's created for himself.