The Making of Beyond Awakening
Sep 21, 2026 · 19 min · 12 segments
A brief documentary of the series, touching on many subjects.
- Speakers
Paul NaramGuest
Hyde CooperHost
Sep 21, 2026 · 19 min · 12 segments
A brief documentary of the series, touching on many subjects.
Paul NaramGuestHyde CooperHostA scenario where there's no way to come up with any evidence for or against any of our experiences being real.
I could be dreaming.
I could be a brain in a vat of a mad scientist being fed a simulated world.
An evil demon could be feeding false sensations.
I could have just come into existence ten seconds ago with memories designed by someone or something to deceive me into thinking I'm middle-aged.
In the Matrix, boring modern day life is the blue pill lie, and the epic battle for survival is the red pill unpleasant truth.
But Beyond Awakening exposes the epic struggle as a lie, and boring modern life as the truth.
Everything that's been happening since we woke up, it's all so scattershot, disjointed.
That's real life.
You have to come up with your own narrative, unless you want to trust someone to write it for you.
That's what we do when we immerse ourselves in fiction, isn't it? We escape the boredom of real life with an illusion of some exciting and epic peril.
You try to escape the fact that you're not the chosen one, and you don't have a world-shattering purpose to enjoy struggling with.
So didn't that make the second season quite a challenge when you set it up to be boring?
That aspect was a challenge, but it's also the whole reason they created Beyond Awakening.
I wanted to explore what happens when you take the heroes of science fiction, forged in constant, exciting, meaningful crises, and you make them face real life.
I was Captain McHardcase, the most decorated officer in the Galactic Confederation.
Citation for conspicuous gallantry on Theta Beta D. Landite Order of Tactics for the Battle of Barnard's Star, Confederation Order of Heroism, first ever five-time recipient, 2278 through 2282.
But on this planet, a Mr. McHard case.
Loser, cripple, layabout, charity case, and generally useless, maladjusted bag of bones who's at odds with how the world works.
A scenario where there's no way to come up with any evidence for or against any of our experiences being real.
I could be dreaming.
I could be a brain in a vat of a mad scientist being fed a simulated world.
An evil demon could be feeding false sensations.
I could have just come into existence ten seconds ago with memories designed by someone or something to deceive me into thinking I'm middle-aged.
In the Matrix, boring modern day life is the blue pill lie, and the epic battle for survival is the red pill unpleasant truth.
But Beyond Awakening exposes the epic struggle as a lie, and boring modern life as the truth.
Everything that's been happening since we woke up, it's all so scattershot, disjointed.
That's real life.
You have to come up with your own narrative, unless you want to trust someone to write it for you.
That's what we do when we immerse ourselves in fiction, isn't it? We escape the boredom of real life with an illusion of some exciting and epic peril.
You try to escape the fact that you're not the chosen one, and you don't have a world-shattering purpose to enjoy struggling with.
So didn't that make the second season quite a challenge when you set it up to be boring?
That aspect was a challenge, but it's also the whole reason they created Beyond Awakening.
I wanted to explore what happens when you take the heroes of science fiction, forged in constant, exciting, meaningful crises, and you make them face real life.
I was Captain McHardcase, the most decorated officer in the Galactic Confederation.
Citation for conspicuous gallantry on Theta Beta D. Landite Order of Tactics for the Battle of Barnard's Star, Confederation Order of Heroism, first ever five-time recipient, 2278 through 2282.
But on this planet, a Mr. McHard case.
Loser, cripple, layabout, charity case, and generally useless, maladjusted bag of bones who's at odds with how the world works.
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