Awake

[StarFuryG7]

In a sane television universe "Awake" would have been renewed and "Touch" would have been canceled. (I know, the latter is on a different network, but FOX just renewed that awful show.)

[CRAMBAM]

I watched one episode of Touch. Didn't like it. Stopped watching. Normally I give 3 episodes, but I just didn't feel like it.

[gavin1701]

This is a shame. Any idea how many episodes for season 1? This weeks played like a prelude to a finale. It's definitely a show that it as its strongest if it goes for mythology episodes over procedurals. If they didn't have the 2 realities, then, I have to say it wouldn't be the most interesting detective show.

[CRAMBAM]

Definitely. I don't know if this week is the finale or not. But they are setting things up.

[StarFuryG7]

Episode 12 airs this Thursday on the usual night and time. Thirteen episodes were produced in total, but the last episode doesn't show up in the schedules, which leads me to believe that they're going to pull the same crap that they've pulled with other shows they canceled by making people who want to see it having to resort to looking at it online as their only alternative.

In other words, don't expect that last episode to ever be aired.

[CRAMBAM]

I hate when shows do that, and in this case, it's not even necessary since it's the end of the season and it won't have competition.

[gavin1701]

Are you sure it's not a 2 hour finale?

[gavin1701]

The latest Ask Matt Column states that episode 13 will air 24th May.

[StarFuryG7]

May 15, 2012 4:40:38 GMT -5 gavin1701 said:

The latest Ask Matt Column states that episode 13 will air 24th May.

It's showing up in Zap2it.com's TV Listings, so maybe NBC wasn't sure whether they wanted to air it or not last week.

[CRAMBAM]

I just hope it's a definitive finale.

[CRAMBAM]

The preview for next week's finale may have given away the major spoiler, which kind of sucks, but no way to know.

I just hope next week does something to give closure to the show, and not have it end on a cliffhanger.

[gavin1701]

Another very gripping episode. I don't know what spoiler you mean which was the give away, unless you mean the shot with him looking like he is talking to himself. But what does that mean?

I don't mind if it ends on a cliffhanger as long as it's not a character in jeapordy cliffhanger. What I want for the finale is them to finish the conspiracy story, and give a definitive answer as to what the realities are all about.

When this was filmed they wouldn't have known if they have been renewed or not. As a writer you would always think, finish the story you set up that year, but leave the door open in case it goes another season. One show I REALLY enjoyed this year was Homeland, but the finale sucked. It was one big set-up for season 2 without any resolution. So sometimes its not in your best interest to know you are coming back next year!

[StarFuryG7]

May 19, 2012 5:51:30 GMT -5 gavin1701 said:

Another very gripping episode. I don't know what spoiler you mean which was the give away, unless you mean the shot with him looking like he is talking to himself. But what does that mean?

Exactly.

[CRAMBAM]

That's the one I was talking about.

I really believe that any show that does not know they are renewed should not do a cliffhanger.

[gavin1701]

What did you take that to mean though? How can they meet if they are the same person? Wouldn't that mean one of them would have the memory of talking to the other?

Depends what the cliffhanger is. If it's the start of a new story, it doesn't really matter. Not everything should be wrapped in a bow. These characters still have a life after the show and stories always continue. Angel ended on a cliffhanger of them going into battle, but I thought that was the perfect ending. The battle never ends and they're always going to be out there fighting the good fight.

If there's a cliffhanger ending involving what the mystery actually is, then it would suck.

[CRAMBAM]

Maybe somehow their consciousness is switching from one universe to the next. When one is in one universe, the other is in the other.

Compare your examples, to say the V cliffhanger, where humanity is shown enslaved by the aliens.

Or Alcatraz, where the main character flatlined in a hospital.

[gavin1701]

Hmmm interesting, but doubtful. That would mean he would always miss a day and have gaps in his memory where the other Britton was in control. He appears to have a consecutive memory with the only gaps being when he's asleep -- he doesn't dream.

Well like I said above character in jeopardy cliffhangers aren't very desirable. They never finished the original V either. They had written but not filmed the final episode. Interestingly, they killed one of the main characters in it.

[Mel]

Well like I said above character in jeopardy cliffhangers aren't very desirable. They never finished the original V either. They had written but not filmed the final episode. Interestingly, they killed one of the main characters in it.

In the final episode of V that wasn't filmed, which main character was killed? Thanks!

[StarFuryG7]

Ryan and Tyler were both killed off in the series finale.

[gavin1701]

Sorry I meant the original series of V. The leader double crossed them and Julie was killed off and I believe Mike Donovan was captured and sent to the alien homeworld.

[gavin1701]

I guess we got the ending. They finished the story and kind of gave you an answer (although I'm sure that's viewer interpretation rather than explicit). I suppose it could have served as a cliffhanger, but where would the show go from there? And if you edited the last 2 minutes out the show could have had a completely different ending altogether.

[StarFuryG7]

I didn't see how the original series ended. I only saw a few episodes back when it aired ...just didn't care about it much.

[StarFuryG7]

Over at Zap2it.com:

'Awake' series finale: Which one of Michael Britten's realities is all a dream?

"Awake" creator Kyle Killen and star Jason Isaacs have both said all along that one of Michael Britten's realities is a dream -- either the one in which his wife (Laura Allen) survived a car accident but his son (Dylan Minnette) died or the one in which the reverse is true. And Thursday (May 24), fans will hopefully get a satisfying answer to the single-season series' mystery during the finale airing at 10 p.m. on NBC.

"We left nothing off the table," Isaacs tells EW.com. "It feels like a real ending. Nobody who's watched the show is going to come up and want their money back in the street."

MORE: blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/05/awake-series-finale-which-one-of-michael-brittens-realities-is-all-a-dream.html

[CRAMBAM]

Well, not sure if I should talk with spoilers yet, but since it aired yesterday, nothing said here would technically be a spoiler.

If you watched the show, I suppose you should read carefully though I won't talk spoilers in this post.

Ultimately, it's hard to figure out anything with the finale, yet it's still satisfying. Viewing it as a series finale changes the perspective compared to what it would be if it were a season finale.

It's kind of like V and Alcatraz in that sense, only here, the result was much better.

V and Alcatraz aired what was meant to be clear cliffhangers. If they were season finales, in the case of V, you know that the aliens somehow took over humanity, but that the few that were not part of the bliss would somehow fight back and free humanity in the next season. In Alcatraz, you saw the main character flatlining on the table, but you would know that somehow she would be saved.

But as series finales, you have to have a different interpretation. With V, the aliens win, and you have a crappy ending. With Alcatraz, the main character is dead, and you have a crappy ending.

Awake is sort of like that, but this finale works as a series finale. As a series finale, it works, which I'll wait until more people chime in to talk about. As a season finale, you just have to speculate where they will go.

[StarFuryG7]

I liked this show, but if there's one thing the finale made clear it's that we were going to be jerked around basically in perpetuity, and with that being the case, we're probably better off that it came to an end in short order rather than going on for a significantly longer period of time. Others may have liked the finale, but I found it irritating and not particularly enjoyable

[StarFuryG7]

Over at Zap2it.com:

'Awake' Season 2: Does the NBC series still have a shot at another season?

NBC's "Awake" went from mind-bending to mind-blowing in its Season 1 finale on Thursday (May 24), which also marks the show's series finale. The Kyle Killen-created series was among those that got the axe from NBC in May.

MORE: blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/05/awake-season-2-does-the-nbc-series-still-have-a-shot-at-another-season.html

[CRAMBAM]

It has a much different meaning as a series finale over a season finale, at least to me.

[gavin1701]

I liked what they did. They ended the ongoing story arc of the accident, and gave the show the only happy ending they could have possibly had: both wife and son seemingly alive and well.

I can see that as both a springboard for possibilities in season 2, and an ending for the series. I must admit the last 3 episodes have been seriously gripping television. It's a shame the show wasn't this consistent, perhaps if it had have been the ratings would have been higher.

No doubt people will debate the ending for weeks, but I get the feeling that's what they wanted the reaction to be, a bit like Lost where they don't do all the work for you but give you enough to make your own conclusions.

Personally I don't think he woke up in reality, because there was no physical waking up. My theory is we were introduced to a 3rd reality which would have played either against the other two, or a 4th reality where they both died...

[CRAMBAM]

Sure, but that's the thing--the show isn't coming back.

So if there WAS a second season, clearly, this was a new reality, be it the real reality, another dream, or something else like a pre-accident reality.

But since there isn't a second season, the easiest and best conclusion is the simple one--somehow, this was a fancy dream, and there was no accident.

[Mel]

But since there isn't a second season, the easiest and best conclusion is the simple one--somehow, this was a fancy dream, and there was no accident.

I didn't watch the series, but I read the comments as they were posted. That's the outcome? The accident was a dream, and both wife and son are alive and well? And you found that satisfying? That seems like a cop out to me, but again, I didn't follow the series.