Oregon

I was at the point where I was thinking I wouldn't keep writing about Awake every week. Oh, not because I suddenly wasn't enjoying it anymore. Rather, because it had seemed to settle into a fairly pleasant routine, but one more "procedural" than "serialized," one that didn't necessarily seem worthy of pontificating about here on the blog. But then came tonight's episode.

The latest Awake episode presented all sorts of exciting shakeups in the world(s) of the show. Even more so than in the episode where Rex was abducted, this episode tracked only one crime in one world. The "red world" had no case of its own, but instead was the venue for a subplot of emotional tension between Michael and his wife.

And the resolution of that was quite interesting. I don't see Michael actually picking up with his wife and moving to Oregon. For one thing, where would that leave the actors playing his partner and therapist in that reality? For another, there are all the practical real world budget considerations that drive a show to be set in Los Angeles in the first place. But perhaps this push to move could at least result in them moving to a different house, shifting the realities at least a little bit?

Also coming to a head in this episode, Michael's "hunches." Realistically, the show portrayed that he couldn't keep having them for long before people would start to get suspicious, and while the matter did get resolved for the time being (he was exonerated of being a copycat serial killer), it seems likely to come back to the fore within an episode or two. Perhaps he'll end up sharing the truth with his "green world" partner soon?

Lastly, there was the resolution of the crime in this episode. For the first time, Michael's case was not solved by the end of the hour -- a big first for the show. And of course, the bigger twist was that this killer knows Michael's secret. I suppose this could be a set-up for a continuing plot with this nemesis, though I actually didn't get the impression the character would be showing up again soon. More interesting was the killer's implication of sharing something in common with Michael. Was he simply spouting typical serial killer mumbo-jumbo, saying the two were alike in seeing more to the world than mundane people? Or was he implying that they see the same "more to the world," that he too is living in some kind of fractured reality? Interesting stuff.

So yeah, I think Awake continues to be a show worth discussing. And I'll be tuning in eagerly next week.