Hints At The Dome

What in the world is going on in Chester's Mill?  The clues  go on and on.  In fact, there are so many clues -- beyond just Pink Stars -- that the math gets a little complicated.  Is there a deep answer the writers are hinting at, or are they creating so many plot trap doors and escape hatches that it's just hard to keep up?

TV guide this week has a pretty good article on Under The Dome.  And quite a few spoilers.  Of course, these are spilled spoilers, meaning that this is the stuff the producers want us to know.  But hey, if you can't read the end of a mystery novel, it can also be fun to snoop through the writers notes; even if they know you're looking.

The article suggests that Barbie's appearance in Chester's Mill is no accident.  He just "happened" to be in town for the big Dome day?  We the viewers assumed it was bad luck.  But it appears there is more at play.  "This year we'll find out that Barbie has a much bigger role in the whole thing.  It wasn't an accident that he was in Chester's Mill at that time." (Mike Vogel)

The Under The Dome crew has also been letting word out that someone will escape the Dome.  (Not Maggie Simpson.)  Also, it seems that time itself my be affected by the Dome, sans Melanie who appears a teenager but might actually be much older.

This season also promises to give us more glimpses outside the Dome, which up until now have been just about nonexistent.

Hey, America, don't fall in love with anyone Under The Dome -- NO ONE IS SAFE.

Comic-Con 2014 UNDER THE DOME

Is The Dome A Permanent Fixture?

Collider gives a great recap of the Comic-Con Under The Dome panel. The panel included Rachelle Lefevre, Alexander Koch, Mike Vogel, Dean Norris, Eddie Cahill and Colin Ford.

Is the show going somewhere?  Or is this Lost?  The article cites Baer as insisting that the show is moving "closer  toward  people getting out  of the dome."  The worrisome part?  He says, "one might get out this season."  ONE?  Suggesting that CBS is going to string this along for another season?  He then said that they have "three to five SEASONS of the show planned out," and that they have a "lot of story to tell."

The producers explained that future episodes will include flashbacks into characters past.  (Great)  "We'll get to come face to face with his father," the article enthusiastically reports.  Here's the problem -- I don't care.  Do you?  I didn't start watching this to get attached to Barbie's father; I came for the Dome.  And that seems to be the one part of the story that they are not at all interested in telling.  Every now and  then the Dome does some neat tricks, but they are doing just about nothing to actually move the story with the Dome forward.

The ray of hope?  The report that Stephen King is "enthusiastic" when they decide to kill off a character is a good sign.  But I'm afraid we viewers are just being strung along with a riddle that doesn't have an answer.

This is interesting, "The writers, he said, call the ceiling of their office “heaven,” with photos of the dearly departed cast members tacked up there – including some viewers don’t even know about yet."  If not a bit creepy.

What do you think of Under the Dome?

For happier news. . .
'Batman v Superman' footage blows minds at Comic Con

Under The Dome Telephone

How did the crew over at The Wire miss the entire first season of Under The Dome?  What's worse, realizing they'd missed something that might  be important, they decided to catch up on it -- by playing telephone.

They explain:

Last summer's silly sensation Under the Dome returns for a second season on Monday. The show, a Stephen King adaptation that is, upon closer inspection, about a town that finds itself placed under a mysterious dome, was at turns junk and addictive and infuriating, and somehow all of us here at The Wire missed out on it.

Now how do you miss Under The Dome?  That  question aside, the group decided to take turns watching the episode, then passing it on to the next person.  They chose not to watch episodes they weren't writing about.

What follows is. . . hilarious, and a mess.

Here's a taste:

David: Americans don't mind domes as long as they have their propane and sunlight. After that, they start getting antsy. If someone refers to a monarch in a vision, they're probably talking about butterflies. There is no visual symbolism outside of this show that isn't to do with pink stars or black clouds, and one is obviously the most beautiful thing in the world whereas the other is the most terrifying. Also, imagine if CBS hadn't picked up this show for a second season. People would have been so mad at that incredibly open-ended, vague cliffhanger

and. . .

Ben: If Under the Dome has taught me one thing, it’s that drifters can do EVERYTHING. Seriously, Barbie (aka the almost-Monarch) has delivered a baby, operated on a gunshot victim, convinced the widow of the guy he killed to become his lover, and managed to still kickass in an episode he spent the entirety of with his hands cuffed behind his back. Sure, he finished season one about to be publicly hanged (another thing I learned: quaint townspeople will turn out in droves if you tell them there’s a hanging), but I’d vote Barbie for Councilman at this point, and we all know how big of a deal that is, considering Big Jim wields absolute power over his constituency. Also: propane = power.

Okay, catch up on their summaries at: thewire.com

The DOME Is Back -- What Did You Think?

What did you think of tonight's episode of Under The Dome?

My favorite line: “Shut up and be dead, I’m busy.”

IGN's Matt Fowler posted a review of "Heads Will Roll."  (ign.com)  Fowler writes, that it is "painfully obvious that the first few minutes of this episode were an attempt to very quickly un-do a lot of the thick-headedness that dragged Season 1 down so drastically."

In his verdict, Fowler declares,

"Under the Dome" is definitely going for a new "no one is safe" vibe. Though it would help of any of the characters who were no longer safe were characters I actually care about. Plus, the dome can make anyone pop back up as a ghost-type thing so no one really leaves. And since everyone's so flat, it doesn't actually matter if we're seeing them "alive" or "dead."

By the way -- the image isn't mine.  Anyone notice a grammar problem?

THE DOME is all things King

Tonight's episode of Under The Dome is all King.  The script was written by King.  The show is based on his book.  And Stephen King has a small cameo in  this episode.  I guess he's been writing from Under The Dome.  Actually, it's not possible that Stephen King is Under The Dome -- because he's everywhere right now!

Mike Vogel told Zap2it, "There's always that thing in the back of our minds that it's a Stephen King show and anyone at any time can go anywhere" 

"There's a lot of secrets coming up this season, which is exciting for us, because that's the rich stuff we get to play with."

And then there's this from Stephen King, "After the first season, I went to Neal Baer and Brian Vaughn, the producers of the show, because I was fascinated with what they had done, especially with Mike Vogel as Barbie.  So I asked, 'Would you like me to write the first episode of Season 2?' and they said yes, and I said, 'OK, well, tell me what's going to happen. How does the arc go?' And they said, 'We have no idea.' To me that was like a blank check. So we sat down and started to figure it out."

They have no idea?  

Anyway, King says that they actually talked  about hanging Barbie after season one, but CBS wouldn't have it.  (Is that a spoiler?  I don't know, I haven't seen the episode,  just quoting Mr. King.)  If they really wanted to push things away from the book, they would do away with Barbie.  In fact, I vote for it!  Because it would say, "anything really is possible."  But the truth is, anything's not possible.  Apparently with CBS, only popular things are possible.

Also, I liked this line, "King says he's more than happy to consider other projects for television, although he finds trying to anticipate network constraints to be 'like working for the Kremlin.'"  I wish one of those projects would be The Dark Tower.

Pictures From Tonight's UTD

does it seem like Margaret White  should be pinned here?

What Is The Dome?

Are you looking forward to tonight's episode?

Synopsis for tonight's episode: Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” (CBS at 10) returns for Season 2 with Barbie in danger and Julie coming to the aid of a girl who may have clues about the origin of the dome.  (washingtonpost.com)

What is the dome?

Could be. . .
1. An alien force-field placed by leather headed creatures who consider  humans insignificant.
2. The dome is a living entity caused by the earth itself.
3. It's powered by the Dark Tower.
4. The result of an alien spaceship.

. . . I HAVE NO IDEA.

Here seems to be the guidelines (they're different than the book)

• Weather, rain, so on can pass through.
• The Dome itself gives some people visions of pink stars falling.
• The Dome goes deep into the earth.  You can't dig your way out (sorry Maggie Simpson.)
• The Dome gives an electric charge and can jolt people with pacemakers, hearing aids and other electrical devices.
• The Dome appears to have a will of its own and can direct peoples behavior at times.
• The Dome that appears to in some way control the Dome itself. 

King Talks Dome

Right now the web is pretty flooded with Under The Dome Season Two stories.  This seattletimes.com discussion with Stephen King is pretty good.

“I knew that George R.R. Martin had written a few episodes of ‘Game of Thrones,’ and I was very jealous,” King told the Seattle Times.

Why is King writing the first episode?  He explains (apparently as they eat pizza), “It gave me a chance to set the arc in motion for the season, and it gave me a little more input into what was going to happen.”

The article cites Neal Baer saying, “We thought this would be a great way to solidify the support of the fans...”  Does the fan base need solidifying?  Maybe.

What's my reaction to another season of Under The Dome?  Fearful.  Things took off with a bang  first season, then fell apart.

Is King Writing About Hodges? . . .
After discussing his "ritual" for writing, the article notes:

That’s not to say that King lives free of the self-doubt that afflicts most, if not all, writers. In fact, he’s currently a “mess” over the troublesome third act of an upcoming book.

“I don’t usually plot in advance, the book usually tells me what to do, but I’m getting to the point where there’s a lot of mist ahead and I just sort of hope things work out,” he said. “They usually do.”

 Makes me wonder if he is hard at work on the next installment with Detective Ret. Hodges.

Norris talks Dome

Some of my favorite lines from Dean Norris' comments on Under The Dome:

• "Big Jim is a guy who loves  power.  He thinks he's doing it for the sake of the town."
• "[Big Jim] is just a delicious character to play!"
• "He's like a lizard that's  cooking along, when he sees the fly,  he eats  it. He doesn't think about it."
• "He's manipulative, he uses salesman tactics when he needs to.  He's playing different characters for different people in the show."
• "There's some new characters this season that Big Jim has to determine if he trusts  them, if they trust him.  It's always an interesting question of do you trust Big Jim."
• "The Dome, even though it was a big character in season one, it's an even bigger character in season two.  The question is, is the Dome calling Big Jim to lead the town?"

cbs.com

Under The Dome Wardrobe

Curious about the fashion in Chester's Mill? Take a tour of the Under The Dome wardrobe with Costume Designer Robbie McKeithan.

Rachelle Lefevre Reads Script Excerpt

Want to hear a bit of the script that Stephen King wrote for the Season 2 premiere? Indulge below.

Vacation Under The Dome

CBS has a cool list titled, "12 Best Vacation Ever!" Destinations" (www.cbs.com)  

1. Hawaii, U.S.A.

2. Vence, France

3. London, England

4. Las Vegas, NV

5. The Dome

. . . WAIT A MINUTE! The Dome?  CBS' blog post reads, "So it might be a little hard to get inside the dome, but once you're there it's sure to be exciting! Britt Robertson, Colin Ford and Mackenzie Lintz star in Under The Dome, don't miss the season 2 premiere Monday, June 30 at 10/9c on CBS!"

Under The Dome Trailer

From: Lilja's Library

CBS photos of Under The Dome Season 2

CBS has released some pretty intriguing photo's of the upcoming second season of Under The Dome.

Under The Dome, season 2, will return Monday June 30 at 10:00 PM ET/PT on CBS Television Network.

cbs.com

King Trapped Under The Dome

Angie McAlister (Britt Robertson) waits on 'Under the Dome' author Stephen King, who makes a cameo in the second season's first episode, which he wrote. Phil Bushey (Nicholas Strong) stands behind King, with Junior Rennie (Alexander Koch) to the right. (Brownie Harris/CBS)
from theepochtimes.com 

Great.  Guess who's stuck under the dome. . . yep, Stephen King.  At least he finished the Dark Tower series before getting trapped with the likes of Big Jim.

theepochtimes.com reports that King will do a cameo (in the diner) as part of the first episode of Season 2, which he wrote.  The episode is titled, "Heads Will Roll."  King's appearance is being directly compared to Alfred Hitchcock, who regularly made minor appearances in his films.

The article quotes a USA Today story, in which executive producer Neal Bear stated, “It was fantastic to work directly with Stephen. He’s been a real hero of mine and now I get to work with him."

And then --  "Baer also revealed that two major characters will die in episode 1, but the series is also adding cast members."  Maybe Maggie Simpson's secret way in and out of the dome has been discovered.

King Gets Input From The Cast Of Under The Dome

Catching Up On THE DOME

I gave up on Under The Dome when Max just magically appeared from the beauty salon. The show slipped into serious soap opera.  My feeling at the time was that the show was actually insulting out intellegence.  CBS seemed to think we would just believe and buy anything with Mr. King's name on it.

Time for a second attempt.

I watched the entire season last week on DVD.  What I found was that now, even episodes I'd originally been  more forgiving toward because I thought they were "going somewhere with this" were now pretty lame.  Junior chains Angie up in his basement, but later they're pretty cool with each other.  She has the amazing (AMAZING) ability not to tell everyone she meets what just happened.  You get kidnapped and chained up, and when you break free your first  thought it, "well, maybe if they let me run the local diner, I won't say anything about this.  After all, they chained me up for my own good."

Can Linda get any more dense?  If a new season can offer us anything, it would be her welcome demise.  But somehow I suspect the producers are pretty taken with her.  I'm sure we'll be expected to root and cheer when she finally figures out one plus one is two and Big Jim isn't really that nice a guy.  Of course,  by then it will have taken her over an entire season to put the clues together.

Should we despair the promise of more characters? Chesters Mill has plenty of room for more towns people to be highlighted.  What I hope they don't do is more magic acts where people just step onto stage and tell us they've been hiding out the entire time.

At times preachy and at times melodrama, Under The Dome is difficult because I so much want to like it.

Was that really a cliff hanger?  I've got to say, I have  not spent my time away from The Dome wondering if they would really hang Barbie.  But I do feel a little Annie Wilkes about this.  In Misery, Annie Wilkes rants about going to see Rocketman.  The episode cut off with Rocketman going off the cliff and his car exploding, with him in it.  When the next episode came, guess what -- Rocketman is shown quickly jumping out before the car goes over.

Annie says, "‘That isn’t what happened last week! Are you all too stupid to remember? Did you all get amnesia?’ And my brother said ‘You’re crazy, Annie,’ but I knew I wasn’t. And the manager came and said if I didn’t shut up I’d have to leave and I said ‘You bet I’m going to leave because that was a dirty cheat, that wasn’t what happened last week!’"

I'm not expecting the writers to cheat us with Under the Dome like with Rocketman.  But I do wonder if they really think we are on the edge of our seat thinking, "what will  happen to Barbie?  Will they hang him?"  Hey, I say -- give us a surprise and hang the dude.  What was a likable character iun the book is a thug in the miniseries.  He might be the only one able to stand up to Big Jim, but it odesn't change the fact that his own moral compass is seriously broken.

I guess what I'm wondering is -- where are  the producers going with this thing?  They run down different plot avenues, seemingly unsure what this thing is really about.  It's like watching a teenager with an identity crisis.  Can they pull this off?  King writing the first script gives hope, but once it falls into new hands, hope fades.  Remember Lost?  Started strong, but limped its way to the end.

By the  way, I do enjoy Under The Dome, but I don't have confidence in where this is going.  More characters are being introduced, meaning there will be a lot more deaths.  Will the Dome have  a logical explanation?  I hope so.  Will it be better than the book?  It's already lost that potential.  Is it fair to compare the book to the show?  Of course it is! Because the novel was so incredibly strong both with characters and plot, it is fair for us to expect the same from the show.

Under The Dome Traces The Twilight Zone

The last episode of Under The Dome really interested me.  The dome went dark just as the town prepared to hang Barbie.  This episode reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode, I Am the Night, Color Me Black.

In the  Twilight Zone episode, the sun doesn't rise on a small town as they prepare to hang a man who is possibly innocent.

Here's the wikipedia summery on I Am the Night, Color Me Black:

Sheriff Koch (Michael Constantine) can't sleep the night before the execution of a man, as he feels conflicted about the situation. Ella, his wife (Eve McVeagh) is no comfort as she snarls, "What time do they string him up; you know what I mean...what time does he get hung?" Her attitude represents the hateful sentiment of the town that looks forward to the fate of Jagger (Terry Becker), a man who is to be hanged after being wrongfully convicted of killing a bigot in self-defense. On the day of his execution, the sun does not rise in the morning. 

There is still some dispute as to whether Jagger is guilty. However, Jagger is hanged anyway, much to the delight of the town. The town reverend (Ivan Dixon) steps in and says the sky is black because of all the hatred in the world, namely the hatred surrounding Jagger's execution. The sky becomes even darker after the execution. Later, a radio broadcast reveals that the town is not the only place where this disturbance is happening. The sky has turned dark over North Vietnam; a section of the Berlin Wall; a political prison in Budapest; Chicago; a street in Dallas; Birmingham, Alabama; and other places of hate around the world.

Under The Dome News: Season 2 Cast Additions

FROM CBS:

Under The Dome has made some additions to its cast for Season Two. CSI: NY's Eddie Cahill and Misfits' Karla Crome have been tapped to become series regulars in Chester's Mill in its sophomore season. Eddie Cahill will play Big Jim's brother-in-law, and Karla Crome will join the series as a teacher. Cahill was a series regular for all 197 episodes of CSI: NY, where he played Detective Don Flack. Crome, meanwhile, will make her U.S. TV debut.

Source: www.cbs.com