Awake

Awake

Episode 6: That's Not My Penguin

By: Carlos Uribe

Awake is a series about a cop who lives in two realities: one in which his wife survived a deadly car accident, and another where his son survived a deadly car accident.

Spoilers Ahoy!

In the beginning of the episode, we see Dr. Lee talking about a patient named Gabriel. Gabriel is a schizophrenia who attempted to blow up a government building. He has been institutionalized. Dr. Lee talks about how Gabriel managed to fly under the radar, letting people believe that he wasn't dangerous. He continues to talk about how Gabriel tried to set up a daily routine to try and convince himself that everything was normal. He finishes with how no matter what, Gabriel would mess up his daily routine which would cause him to get agitated. Dr. Lee might have been talking about Gabriel, but as he was talking we see glimpses of Det. Britten messing up his daily routine and getting agitated as a result. Living in two realities is taking it's toll on our main character. His denial to face reality is making it hard for him to live his life. At the same time, his reluctance to face which family member really died is keeping him happy. Who needs reality when fantasy is so much better?

Gabriel is clearly more important than just being a metaphor to Britten. Gabriel manages to somehow rig his secure psych ward with explosives. He is threatening to blow up the building unless they bring him his sister to talk to him. The problem? His sister has been dead. It seems that Gabriel's insanity lies partly in his sister's death. He is convinced that she is actually alive and that there is an entire conspiracy theory to kidnap her. He is trying his best to not face reality and to live in his little fantasy world. It's up to Britten to go into the ward and talk Gabriel into letting the hostages go and not blowing himself up. Gabriel is so delusional that Britten won't be able to talk sense into him. The plan is to get Gabriel to walk into an area where a sniper can kill him. There's a problem with this plan and that is Gabriel has a dead man's switch. That means that if he gets shot, then everyone is going to die. Britten manages to save Gabriel when Gabriel does walk towards the area but Gabriel freaks out and forces enough ketamine into Britten to knock him out.

Britten goes into the other universe. Britten had lost some evidence in this universe that loosely applies to the other universe. Gabriel thinks that a Dr. Wild is holding his sister captive in an underground facility. Britten had coincidentally lost a ring that had the word “Wild” on it. Britten somehow thinks that finding this ring will bring him closer to being able to defuse the bomb situation. He tries his best to look for the ring but the ketamine has apparently gone into this other universe. That means that he is hallucinating a penguin that is following him. It appears that psychologically the state between the two realities can bleed into each other. Britten does eventually find the ring, even if it doesn't help him with the hostage situation. It does help him get closer to his son.

Britten has no idea that Rex has a new girlfriend because Rex doesn't talk to his father, no matter how many times Britten might try to change that. It turns out that Rex had stolen the ring to give to his girlfriend. Britten manages to find out and confronts Rex. Britten finds out that Rex has a girlfriend and even gets to meet her. He seems to approve of her, but he doesn't approve that Rex stole the ring. He proceeds to leave them alone. Britten then goes to sleep, and he wakes up at the psych hospital. Can he diffuse the situation?

He can. He is given two options. The first option is to be honest and help Gabriel come into terms with his sister's death. This means having Gabriel give up on his fantasy and to embrace reality. That would devastate Gabriel but at least he would be able to start the recovery process. His second option is to perpetuate Gabriel's fantasy into letting him believe that his sister has managed to escape the conspiracy. He eventually decides to let Gabriel's fantasy live on because it would at least bring some happiness to Gabriel's life. He believes that he did a job well done because everybody got to leave in one piece, and this shows that he prefers to living a lie than to facing reality.

I believe this was an episode that was even better than the pilot episode. It was exciting and it was simply wonderfully absurd. I simply loved how the penguin would follow him everywhere and in both realities. While I don't think this hurt the episode's quality, I do think the writers need to start coming up with better scenes between Britten and Rex. There needs to be a sign that actual progress is happening in their relationship instead of the same beats taking place. This didn't hurt my enjoyment of this episode, but it will hurt the series in the long-run.