Two Birds

As expected, NBC dropped the axe on Awake this week. Due to its dwindling ratings, it will not be renewed for another season next fall. At this point, all we have left is the two-part finale that started tonight. If you were still one of the few watching, and were hoping for some resolution explaining Michael's dual realities, it seems very unlikely we'll get it. But it seems like we will at least get an interesting story to go out on, and a likely resolution to the why and how of his accident.

Early on in the series, each new episode pushed the format in an interesting new direction. Now, at the end, the writing has gone back to that model. Tonight had a couple of interesting elements. One lent the episode its title, the heavy involvement of Michael's partner Bird in both realities. This was the most we've ever seen a character primarily associated with one world interacting with Michael in the other, and it made for an interesting way to unfold the story as Michael switched back and forth between worlds.

And hey, if you're a Star Trek fan, you can pretend you do have an answer to which reality is real now. Bird had a ridiculous goatee in the Red World, thereby making that the "Mirror Universe" and the false, alternate reality.

The other interesting development was in the opening teaser, a montage of Michael consulting with both his therapists. For the first time (and, I suppose, last time) in the entire series, the two were in full agreement in their diagnosis of Michael's situation. Neither was willing to entertain the possibility that he really saw what he said he did. Apparently, Dr. Evans' compassion does have limits.

We'll see how this cliffhanger wraps up next week. (Let's hope not with another that will never be resolved.)