Jason Isaacs Played a Cop in This Fantasy Crime Drama on NBC and You Missed It
Give it a chance, especially if you only know the actor from the Harry Potter franchise and The White Lotus season 3.
Crime dramas are one of the most beloved genres, and what can make a fan feel better than to find a hidden gem all of us seemed to have forgotten about? In 2012, NBC launched a perfect crime drama called Awake, which explored a blend of crime-solving and psychological thriller with a sci-fi twist, and it’s time to revisit it.
The show featured Jason Isaacs, the beloved Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter franchise and a little less beloved Ratfliff family patriarch in The White Lotus season 3.
In Awake he plays the main character, Detective Michael Britten. After a devastating car accident, he wakes up in two parallel realities. In one reality, his wife Hannah survived the accident, while in the other, it’s his son Rex who is still alive.
The show's complex premise allowed fans to experience two devastating scenarios at once and see how Isaacs' character finds the strength to cope with two crimes while navigating his Detective work. The show explores the psychological toll of grief, memory and perception as Britten continues working hard to find the truth.
Many fans of the series have commented on Isaacs' impeccable performance as Detective Britten. His portrayal of a man trapped between two worlds was both nuanced and deeply moving. Isaacs' ability to show vulnerability, confusion and strength in equal measure made Britten all the more relatable and heartbreaking.
While Awake was praised by critics for its fresh concept and strong performances, including Isaacs’s stellar work, it failed to capture a large enough audience and was cancelled after the first season got out. But the fans say that even though it got cancelled, the season stands alone well too.
“I think they rebranded it as a miniseries after it got canceled and honestly I think it works better as such. I wouldn't want, like, seven seasons of trying to figure out if he's awake or not, and I have no idea what they could have done after the reveal, since that was like the point of the show,” Redditor OK_Soda said.
To this day, the fans of the show say that Awake’s trailer is one of the best they have ever seen.
Awake with Jason Isaacsis available to stream on Prime Video.
