 The portrayal of the Britten family was praised by television critics . Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly was keen to Isaacs ' acting in the series . " It helps enormously to have Isaacs playing the lead . This actor knows how to convey a gravity that contrasts well with the series ' airy concept , but he avoids becoming heavy and morose . " West summated that the cast " really couldn 't be better on this series " ; " Isaacs [ delivered ] a stellar performance as the intelligent detective , and loving father and husband who ’ s just trying to make sense of what ’ s going on and probably not entirely regretful to be experiencing a split reality . Cinema Blend 's Kelly West claimed that " Laura Allen and Dylan Minnette also deliver strong performances as Michael 's wife and son respectively " . Critics IGN , TV Fanatic , and the Paste magazine all argued that Jason Isaacs performance deserves an Emmy . 
