While the bulk of the second episode of "Awake" (Thu., 10 p.m. EST on NBC) followed a formula very similar to the pilot, the closing moments dropped a whole new filter through which to examine the new series. Fans of shows with deep and complex mythologies may already be starting to salivate at the prospect of picking apart the clues to try and find out what might really be going on with Michael Britten.
Is he really living in two worlds, one where his wife is still alive (red world) and the other where his son is (green world), or is one of them a figment of his subconscious, as both worlds' therapists seem to believe? Once again, the cases from the different worlds seemed to weave together, though in this case he only managed to solve the case in the blue world, utilizing specifically the clue that the killer was a short man.
In the blue world, the victim was a doctor, but in the red world it was a homeless man, which would mean these worlds are more different than just the existence of Britten's son or wife. But in both cases a short man carried out the killing. A short man that was found in the green world, while the case remained unsolved and open in the red world. But it was in the red world that the short man angle led to a surprising closing moment with Britten's Captain.
Captain Harper met with another man to talk about the Britten situation. Britten doesn't remember much about what happened leading up to the accident, but he apparently is on the radar of some important people in the red reality. More specifically, though, Captain Harper believes she has the situation under control. She also didn't sanction the accident.
"You should have listened, instead of taking out his whole family," she said at one point to the man. Could more be read into this line to indicate there may be a third reality where Britten's entire family is dead? Is this scene taking place in the red world, or some other world entirely?
If it is the red world, does that make that world more real? It was in the red world that Hannah was seen discovering the motorcycle Rex had been building on the sly. That was a scene Michael wasn't a part of, but the blue world had a scene like that as well, with Rex and Cole working on that motorcyle. Does this mean both worlds are somehow bigger than Britten's imagination?
Back to that closing scene, though, in the red world. Harper asked her associate if the man who was tasked with causing the accident was a short man and was told that he was. She played it off like it wasn't indicative of Britten figuring anything out, but if one or both worlds are figments of Britten's mind trying to figure out what happened, it's likely not a coincidence that a short man figured in both cases this week.
Follow the clues as "Awake" continues Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC.
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