Philosophical ramblings about cancellations and renewals

**Banjo** 2012-05-25, 16:46

I was thinking of this last night while watching the season finale of Awake, and its series finale as it turns out. On the same network why does one fantasy show get renewed, Grimm, while another fantasy show, Awake, gets cancelled. The easy answer is ratings and no doubt was the major reason in these cases. But that begs the question, why low ratings?

In the case of fantasy shows, and I include S-F shows in the genre, it's important to have a logical basis for the plots, action, etc. But wait, you say, how can a fantasy show be logical ? Very simple, the plots and actions must be based on logical reasoning and events that could happen given the existence of the fantasy worlds.

Consider Grimm, Lost Girl, Being Human, etc. they all follow actions and events that flow logically from their fantasy premises. If creatures from a 19th Century series of stories do actually exist in the modern world and must be dealt with by uniquely endowed individuals in secret, this is easily grasped. Ditto with Lost Girl, a similar premise and actually a variation on vampires and werewolves which are demonstrably popular in all venues and ages. Same with Being Human, again a variation but still making logical sense given the willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience.

But Awake didn't do this. We couldn't grasp the logic of the existence of his two worlds and how he "traveled" between them. If there had been a "transporter" that he walked through to visit each world, no problem. That's logical and we could have grasped that concept. But just waking up and being in the other world ?.....how does that work ? And some but not all of his associates were different in each world. Why ? No explanation.....illogical. And finally last night when he meets himself in prison and then the psychiatrist "freezes" and he wanders through a door to encounter his wife and son both still alive....sorry, that doesn't cut it. It might have worked as the series finale if the show had gone on for several seasons, doubtful even then, but if a season two comes how do you logically support such an ending ? Is he dreaming all that ...? both worlds ?....and then "wakes up " ? Sorry, can't buy it.

Of course there have been shows in the past that strung us along with good, logical episodes and then revealed almost a "jump the shark" ending at the very last scene. St Elsewhere and Life on Mars are two of that type that I can think of, but within their story lines they stuck to logically graspable plots.

And this doesn't help much :

"Awake" creator Kyle Killen and star Jason Isaacs have both said all along that one of Michael Britten's realities is a dream -- either the one in which his wife (Laura Allen) survived a car accident but his son (Dylan Minnette) died or the one in which the reverse is true. And Thursday (May 24), fans will hopefully get a satisfying answer to the single-season series' mystery during the finale airing at 10 p.m. on NBC.

"We left nothing off the table," Isaacs tells EW.com. "It feels like a real ending. Nobody who's watched the show is going to come up and want their money back in the street."

Anyone expecting a definitive answer to "Which one of these realities is real?" may be wanting their viewing time back, though, as Killen hints that we probably won't get one.

"The episode certainly feeds one of those theories," Killen says. "When we wrote the episode, we didn't know it would be the end of the series, so it would have been impossible to answer that question ... But you don't need every question answered. I think what you need is something that feels like an emotional resolve, and I think it definitely offers that. It's a really satisfying conclusion, and I think it will be a satisfying way to leave the show."

What do you think will be revealed? Which of Britten's realities do you think is the real deal

Sorry to visit these thoughts upon you but no one said geek-fandom was an easy job. Rolling Eyes