Under The Dome
No escape from the small town tedium
Were Under The Dome’s producers convinced it was going to get axed? The first few episodes of season two give the distinct impression of a bunch of writers in a meeting going, “F** K!!! We’ve got to do that all again?!”
The season one finale may have been a confused mess, but at least it suggested the arc plot might be taking a major step forward with season two. Sadly not. Aside from a few cast changes, the formula rapidly reasserts itself, and we’re no nearer to learning what the Dome is all about. Further away, possibly, as a mystery associated with one of these new characters ( she died years ago!) and a ( not very surprising) revelation about Junior’s mum just complicate matters.
The season premiere at least has some exciting moments, as the Dome becomes magnetic, resulting in some great moments of flying kitchen knives horror and houses collapsing. After that, it’s back to a standard “threat of the week” – burning rain, plague of butterflies, a science teacher with a God complex. Once again, any attempts at a Lord Of The Flies- style examination of human nature is doomed to fail miserably because none of these characters act at all like any human you’ve ever met. They swap allegiances like D& D players, make amazing leaps of logic that suggest telepathy at work, and miss the bleeding obvious with alarming regularity.
The power of the central mystery, a few half- decent performances and a couple of visually arresting images per episode keep the show watchable, but it’s increasingly becoming a chore. A chore made even more onerous every time Karla ( Misfits) Crome appears as Chester’s Mill’s answer to Josef Mengele – surely the most unbelievable character currently on television? Quite an achievement on a show that also boasts Rachelle Lefevre’s hair. There’s clearly a lot of conditioner under this Dome. Dave Golder