I Think I'll stay "Awake" for NBC's Mid-Season Replacement Show

The multiverse is an idea that there are parallel worlds out there that run similar to our own, but with minor and/or major differences. There could be a whole other Earth where everything's the same but a farmer in Chile had eggs instead of cereal yesterday, or a world composed entirely of stone staircases built by iguanas. The idea of parallel universes has made a resurgence in television, namely in shows like “Lost” and “Community” (where the show explores different scenarios depending on who has to let the pizza guy up, culminating in the “darkest timeline” where everything goes hilariously morbid). While it exists in a purely theoretical sense, multiple timelines is an appealing thought, because it's somewhat comforting that there may be a version of ourselves that didn't make the mistakes that plague our lives. But it's also haunting that there could be a timeline where our doppelgangers made even worse choices.

“Awake” is NBC's newest and best drama of the mid-season. Starring Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films), it's about a police detective named Michael Britten who gets into a car accident with his wife and teenage son. He wakes up and his wife survived, but his son did not. But when he goes to sleep, he wakes up in an alternate reality where his son survived but his wife did not. Michael shares his experiences with two different therapists, who both try to convince him that the other reality is a dream, but as long as he gets to live a fractured life where he gets to be with his loved ones, he's got no interest in making progress. Meanwhile, details from his cases at work seem to be bleeding from one reality to another, and Michael's sanity is called into question by his partners.

Created by Kyle Killen (Fox's critically-acclaimed yet swiftly-killed “Lone Star”), the show has a cool visual style (Michael wears different-colored bands on his arm to help differentiate between what reality he's living, and the color palette of the frame tends to reflect that) and stellar performances by all the leads, including Laura Allen (Katie from the late, great “Terriers”) as Hannah Britten, who becomes aware early on of her husband's dreams where their son is still alive. While most likely a coincidence, I found it hilarious that Michael's son, Rex, is played by Dylan Minnette, who also played Jack's fake son in the final purgatory-filled season of “Lost”. The kid's skilled at playing moody teenagers that may or may not exist.

“Awake” has one helluva pilot, yet I worry about its long-term plans. The premise seems more suited to a feature film, as stretching out the whole “is-he-dreaming-and-what's-real-and-what's-not?” may get frustrating to the audience. But if the writers find compelling ways for Michael to connect with his wife and son, while answering enough of the mystery to keep us chomping, then I'll be in it for six seasons and a movie.

The “Awake” pilot is available for free on Hulu, iTunes, and YouTube, and the series officially starts on March 1^st, 10/9c on NBC.