Al Pacino in "Kramer vs. Kramer"—a role that Pacino had declined. During the 1970s, Pacino had four Oscar nominations for Best Actor, for his performances in "Serpico", "The Godfather Part II", "Dog Day Afternoon", and "...And Justice for All". Pacino's career slumped in the early 1980s; his appearances in the controversial "Cruising", a film that provoked protests from New York's gay community, and the comedy-drama "Author! Author!", were critically panned. However, his performance in "Scarface" (1983), directed by Brian De Palma, proved to be a career highlight and a defining role. Upon its initial release, the film was critically panned due to
Say Hello to My Little Friend (Awake) will "face a crisis when he stops waking up in [the green reality]". In a review for the same episode, Sepinwall called "Say Hello to My Little Friend" and the following episode "quite good". This episode generally received positive reviews from critics. Commentators from "IGN", "Paste" and "TV Fanatic" were pleased with Isaacs' performance; they felt that his performance deserved an Emmy Award. "IGN" Matt Fowler described Isaacs' performance as "suspense"-worthy, while "Paste" writer Ross Bonaime thought that his acting deserved an Emmy nomination "at the very least". Although he did not note that his performance was Emmy-worthy, in his