From Executive Producer/Writer Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and Director David Slade (30 Days of Night, Twilight Eclipse) comes the story of Michael Britten, (Jason Isaacs: Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender,) a police detective who gets into a car accident in which his wife dies. Or was it his son? The problem is that Michael doesn't know as whenever he falls asleep he wakes up in an alternate world, one of which it was his wife (Laura Allen) that died and the other where it was his son (Dylan Minnette.) That's not the only thing that's different though, he has different partners (Wilmer Valderrama and Steve Harris,) different therapists (B.D. Wong and Cherry Jones,) and even different cases. The cases start to overlap and Michael is left wondering, which world is real and does he even want to find out?
The pilot is available online,
here.
This concept could have gone very badly indeed, but it didn't. In fact, it ended up being really interesting. There are bags of potential here. We should all watch and then bitch when it gets squandered and/or it gets cancelled before the first series ends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDbF8b9wkMsSpoiler Rules: These forums don't have a well defined policy, so in the interests of keeping shit clear to avoid tears, we won't be doing anything weird. Once an episode airs, it's fair game to discuss without spoiler tags. Only use tags for things from preview trailers, leaked episodes, slip ups about future plot lines by the writers, etc. etc.
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I'm afraid the show becomes too police procedurally, though.
I think the latter could be more satisfying actually. That he gradually accepts one world as fake and moves on (possibly with it being his choice). The other route seems to involve a conspiracy and becoming a weird sci-fi show. It also seems hard to tease out either idea in a gradual manner. I'm hoping that the writers have something in mind though that doesn't mean we get flapping around as a procedural with a sudden reveal as a finale.
I can easily imagine that the show can only carry the premise on for so long, but y'know what? It'll be a fun ride anyway, who knows how long that could take. Oh, I should shut up and watch now.
OooOOOooOOooooooooo
I'd like a premise like this, where the main character just decides to make a level-headed decision about everything special happening to him and decides to just let it ride. I don't really care if one world is real or not, if the main character gets to interact with both equally, it becomes an irrelevant question for the purposes of the story. Just give me a believable guy who accepts the premise of his situation and decides to see where it can take him.
Based on what? So far it's just the pilot episode. Then again I dunno how substantial AV Club is. Nor do I care necessarily.
I liked the pilot episode a lot though. I can easily see how this show can turn into so many other things that have come before it. I think one of my favorite aspects, if they choose to continue to have it run in the series, is
NBC sent out the first 4 episodes to critics. Others have said the same thing about those episodes being more or less a police procedural with a high concept.
i dont know what it is but the photography feels great
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This. I want this show to be, basically, "Radiant Historia: The Show".
Jason Isaacs and the cinematography are both so good that the show is still worth watching even if this is the case. Especially considering how many other, way more boring police procedural shows are out there.
You can't exactly blame the EP (Killen) for going the police procedural route after his other excellent beautiful show with a critically-beloved pilot about a man trying to live two incompatible lives was brutally canceled after two episodes. (In fact, Lone Star produced six episodes, which will probably never be available to the public due to music clearance issues. *tear*)
I really enjoyed Awake's pilot; other than some more character development for his family and partners (which I assume will come later) and more detailed cases (which I assume will come later), I felt it was pretty much perfect. I love the color schemes and the myriad of signals that work on both character levels and as devices to help us tell the difference between two realities (redecorating the house, the rubber bands, etc).
I think the pilot actually has everything I need the show to be; it's not missing any sci-fi or conspiracy mythology. So hopefully when they add that in it won't screw up the show.
Journeyman he had one person with him the whole series with a similar problem, and then he met his predecessor (for lack of a better word) in the last episode. There were not nearly enough episodes of that show, but all of them were incredible.
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That's what struck me most, other than decoding the story. It's a very stylish and nice looking show. I hope it remains consistent, though. I'm reminded of how great the first episode of Walking Dead looked and how mediocre the later episodes looked.
TWD collapsed under it's own weight. The first half of Season 1 was brilliant but ever since then it's gone steadily downhill. Season 2 is almost a complete train wreck. It just comes down to budget - even the best and most successful TV show will die if not given the amount of money it needs to be done properly. It's why HBO has the two best shows on TV right now, Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire. They're flush with cash and know where to spend it.
The walking dead failed after it's story diverged further and further from the Graphic Novels. While divergence was needed and desirable, the 'momentum' of the story should have carried the characters towards the destinies laid out for them in the novel. Instead they were flush with the success of season 1 and decided to spin out what should have been the first 3 episodes of season 2 into the entire season of season 2
edit - 'failed' is probably to strong a word. Diluted in quality is more accurate. There is still numerous episodes worth of high quality stuff, it's just they are strung out by a long distance which is killing the feeling of tension.
And, I did enjoy that he didn't actually solve one of the cases. He just got some insight into one case from the other.
Either alternative would be a lame fantasy world.
The Truman Show in MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE.
Do not besmirch the Truman Show by comparing it to a quirky cop drama.
So, he finally explicitly used knowledge from one universe to help him in another. That was unavoidable, but does seem to have sealed off the "is he just crazy?" angle. I kind of want them to play up the angle of a relationship with billy's tennis coach. It could be interesting to see him having to justify cheating on his wife (she's dead! Sort of).
Otherwise, it' still good. I'm a little sad that nobody else seems to still be watching.
I swear to God, if this show gets Firefly'd...
On a more personal note, they managed to touch on all my deepest fears about mental illness and my own perceptions...just in the intro.
Solid episode.
I don't find the "going crazy" angle interesting because people don't go crazy this way. I know it's weird, but I can accept a parallel universe before I can accept a fully realized dream. Dreams only seem real until you wake up, then the surreal hits you and you can tell dream from reality.
I hope they address how his having a blue day in the middle of a yellow day knocks things out of sync (they've either just reversed order or he's a day ahead in one reality now).
His son's girlfriend is also clearly evil.
Totally.