Awake
NBC | Release Date: March 1, 2012
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandFeb 28, 2012
Season 1 Review: Awake grabs you, unnerves you, breaks your heart and even makes you work a little. Read full review
91
NewsdayVerne GayFeb 28, 2012
Season 1 Review: Yup, the story can be downbeat, the pace at times languid. But this is a show with a brain and a heart. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: Notwithstanding a certain stylistic chilliness and my sense of it having been pitched on the back of "Inception," it promised to be one of the year's best and most interesting new series. Having seen four episodes now, I'd say the promise has been largely kept. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: After watching four episodes, I can say that Awake has an addictive quality to it. Read full review
88
RedEyeCurt WagnerFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: Well acted and smartly written, Awake works as an intellectual puzzler, emotional family drama and case-of-the-week procedural. Read full review
83
HitfixAlan SepinwallFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: If Killen and Gordon don't exactly maintain the quality of the pilot each week - subsequent episodes don't look as rich nor pack as big an emotional whallop - they come close enough, particularly in dealing with Britten's work and family lives. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerFeb 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: Creator Kyle Killen has set up a provocative, appealing puzzler, full of knottiness for the intellect and emotion for the heart. [2 Mar 2012, p.70]
80
The New YorkerEmily NussbaumApr 2, 2012
Season 1 Review: Awake may be hard to categorize, but it's worth our attention. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzMar 2, 2012
Season 1 Review: The cop stuff feels like it could be happening in any other NBC cop show; I kept expecting Prime Suspect's Maria Bello to show up in that cute hat. But given the originality on display, and the venue, those are minor complaints. Read full review
80
TimeJames PoniewozikMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: Awake manages something impressive: it focuses unflinchingly on the subject of loss, yet manages to be not a downer or painful to watch, but moving, absorbing and even hopeful. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeSarah RodmanMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: While the premise sounds confusing, and sometimes is when it comes to the details of the dueling crimes-of-the-week, the producers and writers do a good job of keeping the worlds distinct and vivid, including some neat visual flourishes and subtle color coding.
80
PopMattersLesley SmithMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: Amid this seeming disorder, Jason Isaacs breathes a wry life into Britten, as a man who slowly feels himself accessing levels of consciousness and perception he never imagined, even as his psychiatrists label them "illness" and his work partners question their relevance. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: If people stay with it, what they'll find are exceptional performances, some truly fine writing and a premise, by virtue of being complicated, that could unspool some really interesting plotlines. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: The hero of Awake has a psychiatric problem; there are no aliens or ghosts to explain away the more improbable turns, and this adventure is far more compelling. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: I'd be happy enough with this cast and this concept to simply wander along for a bit, ignoring the trail of bread crumbs and focusing on the lengths one man might go to hold onto those he loves. Read full review
80
Denver PostJoanne OstrowFeb 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: It is exploring new turf in terms of a relationship drama with a bold narrative premise, and vaguely spiritual aspirations. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChris HellerMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: The pilot's strength was neither accidental nor fleeting: Each subsequent episode has evocative moments that flirt with that early greatness, even if they're not as riveting. Read full review
75
Uncle BarkyEd BarkFeb 28, 2012
Season 1 Review: It packs some punch, though. And Isaacs certainly doesn't sleepwalker through a decidedly distinctive role. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoFeb 28, 2012
Season 1 Review: A tricky show with serious potential. [5 Mar 2012, p.45]
70
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: On Awake, the concept is all. Consequently, it takes a little explaining. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: Generally they do their best to walk a fine line, attempting to execute the show in as uncomplicated a way as possible so less devoted viewers keep watching while rewarding obsessive fans with small steps forward in the exploration of Britten's condition. Read full review
70
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: The good news is that the unusually ambitious Awake succeeds at several of the things it's attempting, and star Jason Isaacs grounds the drama with a charismatic yet subtle performance. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithFeb 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: An elaborate mystery is always compelling, and here, episode after episode, we search for clues, for some sign that will let us distinguish between reality and imagination. Read full review
63
New York PostMichael StarrMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's mentally exhausting, at least in tonight's opener, to figure out exactly what the heck is going on here, and in which reality we're placed at any given moment. Read full review
63
USA TodayRobert BiancoFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: No one wants to return to the color-by-numbers plotting of Diagnosis: Murder, but there is such a thing as demanding too much effort from an audience without sufficient reward. Glum, grim and increasingly confused, Awake qualifies. Read full review
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardMar 1, 2012
Season 1 Review: NBC's newest drama Awake adds a drop of fantasy to its crime procedural formula and then practically buries it in musings about the mysteries of the subconscious. Read full review
50
Washington PostHank StueverFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: As lovingly written and organized as it is, the viewer must divide his or her time picking up on different scenarios and moods, caught between rather ho-hum murder cases and this other, more beguiling attempt to craft a show that is about the nature of loss and grief. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowryFeb 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: What sounds like a daring concept is quickly undercut by attempts to wrap the show in a police-procedural format. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyFeb 29, 2012
Season 1 Review: Viewers who don't regularly contemplate alternative-reality issues probably should tape the show as well as watch it, because the non-expert may have to watch it twice just to figure out what's going on, or even to understand what parts we don't understand. Read full review
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