| "Pilot" | |
| Season 1, Episode 1 | |
 | |
| Air date | March 1, 2012 |
| Written by | Kyle Killen |
| Directed by | David Slade |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← previous Not applicable |
next → "The Little Guy" |
"Pilot" is the first episode of Awake. It was written by Kyle Killen and directed by David Slade. It first aired on March 1, 2012.
Plot[]
As the episode starts we see a car accident in which a woman and teenage boy are unconcious and a man is just regaining conciousness. This man is Michael Britten .
Michael, a detective, is experiencing two different realities since the accident but he can't remember how the accident occured. In order to distinguish between the two he wears two elastic bands, one red and one green.
We are first introduced to the Red World, in which Michael's son Rex has died in the accident. Micheal tells his work mandated therapist Dr John Lee that he is fine since the death even though he was given a new partner, Detective Vega to watch over him.
The two detectives start work on a case where a cab driver was shot. No one saw the shooting, but one witness Mr Weaver heard the shots and from his appartment window saw a man run into an alley. Britten notices a camera on a nearby building and asks Vega to get the recording.
At home we meet Hannah , Michael's wife. She is attempting to move on by painting the house and redecorating but she hasn't touch rex's room. They go to bed and Micheal wakes up the next morning.
Only now Micheal is in the Green World. In this reality Hannah is the one who died but Rex is alive. Because this happens after Michael goes to bed, he can't be sure it is real. He could be dreaming. Michael claims that both worlds seem equally real. Rex barely talks since he is dealing with his mom's death and he has taken up tennis since his mom played tennis.
Now Michael is discussing this with Dr. Judith Evans , his therapist in the Green World. In this world Britten is on a case with his regular partner Detective Freeman. At a crime scene he briefly encounters Officer Vega who is not yet a detective. The detectives are investigating a double homicide stabbing of a couple with a young daughter. Britten is able to deterime that the girl was hiding in a closet during the shooting but is now missing.
Both therapists are quite astonished that Britten is able to maintain an elaborate world where the death did not occur as a coping mechanism during his dreams. Dr. Evans assures him that this is not a dream. Britten scoffs and says, "That's exactly what the other shrink said."
Back in the Red World, Britten and Vega find the footage of the cab driver killer. The killer, a man, purposely looks right at the camera as if he wants to be found. They get called away to a second cabbie shooting. When they get there Det. Freeman explains witnesses describe a different man. Britten concludes that he is changing appearences. A nearby security camera confirms this. Freeman tells Britten that they are getting split up.as partners most likely because Freeman won't say that Britten has a problem.
Britten has told his wife about his other world but she is unhappy with him telling her. She wants to move on and she can't see Rex the way Michael can. Hannah wants to move but Michael wants to stay.
Back in the Green World, the Det's find out that the girl was kidnapped and that it was planned. Britten leaves work for an hour or two to go see Rex play tennis. He meets his coach Tara. Rex wins the game but breaks down crying with grief. Michael and Tara run to him and Rex seeks comfort in Tara's arms rather than hugging his dad. While the three are having lunch, Michael gets a call that the kidnapper's car was found at the Waverly Parking Lot.
A blood trail from the car leads to space 572, but Britten figures that who ever left from space 611 might also know something since both spaces have the same amount of dry spot.
In the Red World Britten gets the idea that the cabbie killer might have been in the crowd at the crime scenes since he likes to be noticed. Also it was discovered that he has red hair since the wig was found and red hair was on it. They look at the tapes from later in the day the first shooting is revealed to Britten to be at 611 Waverly. He is taken aback because that references details in the other world. Dr. Lee figures that Britten retained the info and is using elements of it in his dream.
Later at dinner Hannah informs Michael that she quit her job and applied for another. They leave to go home without actually eating. In bed Hannah reveals that she wants another child even though it is too soon. Michael tries to talk about Rex's tennis match but it makes Hannah mad again.
In Green World Britten tell Dr. Evans that Dr. Lee has him somewhat convinced that her world insn't real. She then prints off the constitution of the United States. Britten reads a passage correctly from it even though he hasn't memorized it. He realizes that he could not do that if that world was a dream.
When he wakes up in the Red World Hannah isn't in bed with him and he has no band on his arm. Scared that he is just dreaming he cuts his hand in order to wake up. Hannah comes running in at that point he later sees that the red band had just fallen off in bed.
At 611 Waverly place Britten realizes that Mr. Weaver could not have seen the cabbie killer run into the alley from where his window faced so he must be the killer. They see that Weaver is at the window and chase him back outside. Weaver is about to shoot Britten but Vega shoots Weaver first. He does indeed have red hair.
Back in the Green World Freeman is ready to give up on space 611 until Britten notices that it didn't have another car but a trailer attached to the car in 574. They get info back on local pedophiles who own a van with a trailor only one of them was parked in the same area since the stabbing. Britten askes if the owner has red hair on a hunch but Freeman is confused. When they get there, they find the girl and rescue her but shoot and kill the kidnapper while doing so. And yes, he also has red hair.
Dr. Lee reveals to Britten that his blood alcohol level was elevated before the crash. Britten doesn't remember what happened but he is convinced that he wasn't drinking. Lee is worried about Britten's health becasue he cut himself and he is not dreaming properly. Britten finally tells both therapists that even though he sees both his family members alive he has also buried both of them. Since chosing a world to be real effectively means killing one of them again, he is refusing to make that choice.
At night with Hannah she ask him if he is going to see Rex. He says, "Yes". In a moment of acceptance she tell him to pass along the message that she loves Rex.