This Week... Britten (Jason Isaacs) investigates the death of a fertility doctor, which begins to collide with the murder of a homeless man in the other world. As his personal life begins to feel the strain, Britten's captain Tricia Harper (Laura Innes) grows concerned with his behaviour...
Two World Order... Following on from last week's impressive, scene-setting opener, episode two of Awake seeks to explore the deeper ramifications of Michael Britten's unique situation. But it also takes a big misstep that threatens to derail the entire series...
In Rex's world (the green universe), our hero investigates the death of Bernard McKenzie, a fertility doctor who seemingly died of a heart attack, but was in fact dosed with potassium chloride. This sparks Britten's interest in a cold case in Hannah's world (the red universe) - the murder of a homeless man.
Clearly there's still some concern that this constant jumping between worlds will prove confusing, since - in addition to the change of colour palette - there's now a visual motif that accompanies Britten's transition between his two lives.
'The Little Guy' does a good job of examining how Britten's condition is putting a strain on his personal relationships. His teenage son Rex is pulling away from him - though credit to actor Dylan Minnette that the character doesn't grate, like so many other moody TV teens...
But the bigger problem for Britten is his wife Hannah (Laura Allen) - since he's still in touch with Rex, Britten's unable to really empathise with his wife's grief over their son's loss, which begins to put a strain on his marriage.
What's more, his Insistence on following seemingly random leads and theories frustrate his fellow cops - both 'red' partner Vega (Wilmer Valderrama) and 'green' partner Bird (Steve Harris) are losing patience.
In Hannah's world, the homeless man was shot by a "little guy", and this fuels Britten's police work in Rex's world, eventually leading him to McKenzie's killer....
Chirpy therapist Dr. Evans (Cherry Jones) wants our lead to embrace the connection between his "conscious and unconscious mind" to process his emotional issues, while the stern Dr. Lee (BD Wong) warns Britten that his condition is "a problem... not a tool".
But the focus is very much on Britten's personal life this episode and regrettably that means that one intriguing theme introduced in the pilot - the psychological impact that all this could potentially have on Britten - isn't really followed up here.
Hopefully the show won't shy away from this potentially fascinating area in future - the contrasting therapy sessions with Evans and Lee can be used for far more than just delivering exposition.
However, any criticisms we might have had were minor until this week's final scene. Laura Innes (ER) was introduced earlier in 'The Little Guy' as Britten's concerned police captain, and it was a relief to see the actress finally being handed some decent material, atfer last year's NBC misfire The Event spectacularly wasted her talent.
Unfortunately, with the revelation that Britten's car accident was all part of some great conspiracy - of which Innes's character was a part - we're back in Event territory. It's a a hackneyed notion, and it's not as if this show doesn't have enough going on already.
Despite its unusual concept, Awake is perhaps not quite as revolutionary as one might have hoped. It's chiefly a procedural and, at times, a frustrating one. But there's plenty of untapped potential here and thankfully there's still enough of a human element to Britten's story to keep this viewer interested, for now.
