# Under the Dome



## MPorter (Jun 25, 2013)

Happened to catch the pilot episode of this tonight and I'm glad that I did. I was a little worried about it since it's basically a live action of 'The Simpsons Movie' without the humour.

My fears evaporated during the opening credits when Brian K Vaughn was listed as the screenwriter. He's the incredible writer behind the comics Saga and Ex Machina, the graphic novel 'Pride of Baghdad', and he wrote the first two volumes of Runaways for Marvel. 

And so far he's doing a pretty good job of managing a fairly large cast of characters.

Some of the characters are fairly typical Stephen King mainstays but there's enough going on that I'm setting my DVR to catch the rest.

Anyone else watch?

~Mike


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## Jo Zebedee (Jun 25, 2013)

King adaptations very so much in quality. Yeh, if it turns up over here and not on Sky, I'd watch. I quite liked Under the Dome despite the rubbish antagonist. Keep us informed which side of the line it falls! Shawshank or Pet Sematary (shudders).


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## ctg (Jun 25, 2013)

Wow. I gaped at the end. It was such a shock to see him drop. But I cannot say that, even though I have suspicions about certain characters, I can say where it's heading as it's Mr King's ones. 

All I can say is that I recommend it, especially in the light of another one my favourite from the Breaking Bad, who plays in this series plays the wannabe "Mayor." Just check what happens to "Hank" as he hugs the "psycho" and think, "He has not learned anything."


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## Lenny (Jun 25, 2013)

I wasn't too impressed by the script, to be honest. There were a few jumps that left me completely baffled (the big one was Angie going from being at home dressed as a waitress to being at the hospital in completely different clothes), and in parts the dialogue was atrocious (particularly in the scene between Dean Norris and Jeff FaHey at... wherever it was. Police station?). To be fair to it, this was only the first episode, so it's likely to improve, as will Brian K. Vaughan (whose previous screenwriting credits are just a few episodes of *Lost*).

I've not read the book, but I too can guess what might happen simply from knowing it's from Stephen King.

I look forward to following this series.


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## ratsy (Jun 25, 2013)

I have read the book and was a big fan of it.  I have never seen a tv or movie adaptation of something I have read that I liked.  That being said, I will probably watch the show, maybe those who didn't read will like it better?  The characters like Junior being a total creep really doesn't translate, when he is a brooding good looking guy with a butterfly knife.
He was indeed a messed up dude in the books but the chapters in his POV help explain it along.

I was really hoping for better


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## JoanDrake (Jun 26, 2013)

I have never been able to understand why King is now thought of as the Best Writer in America when his first decade had him seen as about equal to Stephanie Meyer. (Maybe she'll be taught in College courses someday)

I mean, doesn't it seem even slightly contrived that this inexplicable Dome comes down on just the one small town in America which must have more murders, rapes, infidelities, major crimes etc going on daily than you'll find in most neighborhoods in New York City?


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## ctg (Jul 2, 2013)

Oh dear, oh dear ... the town is going to fall into the lawlessness.

LOL

This series is brilliant and I love having "Hank" in the helm. Although the mayor is possibly evil, he isn't Heisenberg. And King didn't write him that way. But I love him as much as I love this series at the moment. The tension in it is palpable. And the characters real. 

I don't spoil it more just leave you with the question: Why the "Psycho" did need to lie?


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## ctg (Jul 2, 2013)

JoanDrake said:


> I mean, doesn't it seem even slightly contrived that this inexplicable Dome comes down on just the one small town in America which must have more murders, rapes, infidelities, major crimes etc going on daily than you'll find in most neighborhoods in New York City?



I don't see it that way and especially after second episode I see it as possible. And it's nothing like any scene you see in the urban crime related series. 

And the Dome doesn't present any problem to my disbelief. It just happen to be that there's something freakish going in unknown small town far away from the Urban Megapolises like the London and New York city.

But you could also argue about the technology they present in this day of age, and would say that we are very close to that sort of thing - if the barriers develop in this half of century.


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## Lenny (Jul 31, 2013)

Are people still watching this? I must admit to having packed it in halfway through episode three. The writing was awful, and I couldn't make myself like a single character (heck, if you can't even feel for a girl locked up in a bunker by a psychopath, then what's the point in trying?).

If people are still watching, you may be pleased/dismayed to learn that CBS have renewed it for a second series of thirteen episodes, to be broadcast next Summer, with King himself writing the opener. If you were hoping that the mystery of the dome would be revealed by the end of the first series, then I'm sorry to say you're going to have to wait at least another year:



> “We’re excited to tell more stories about the mystery of the dome and the secrets in Chester's Mill, and are thrilled to have the master storyteller himself, Stephen King, tell the first one of next season,” said CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler.



‘Under the Dome’ Renewed by CBS for Second Season - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers


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## ratsy (Jul 31, 2013)

Lenny, I watched 3 episodes and gave up as well.  It was bad...I wanted it to be good, but it was not.  The book really was enjoyable but the show is so poorly scripted and the acting is awful.  

To hear that they will drag the story out another year is ridiculous! How and why would any one want to drag that out!


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## Phyrebrat (Aug 30, 2013)

I was pleasantly surprised with this as a King adaptation; they usually do so poorly, '_Salem's Lot_ (David Soul version) notwithstanding.

I was not so taken with the book as I am with other SK stories but I hate to start something and not finish it. I just hope they keep the ending explanation the same. The story has deviated substantially in places, from the book (much to its benefit) so we shall have to see. 

What is it people dislike about it? I think it is well-acted and the script is fine; a nice little character/concept slow-burner. It seems to be getting an okay reception elsewhere.

The only thing that troubles me is the extension for a 13 episode second season. Does that mean we are not going to follow the book? Will season 1 conclude where the book does? Does it mean that it will carry on beyond the book? How do I stop my rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan?

pH


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## Dr Zoidberg (Sep 2, 2013)

Stephen King is supposed to be writing the S2 opener, so it's an approved continuation of the storyline.

Personally I'm enjoying it so far. It doesn't bother me too much that they've deviated from what was written, and I've forgotten enough of the details anyway that sometimes I don't know when they do


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## ctg (Sep 2, 2013)

I spoiled myself a bit as I read bits and pieces from the wiki, and I'm quite baffled on how they are going to extended this one with another season?


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## steve12553 (Sep 2, 2013)

JoanDrake said:


> I have never been able to understand why King is now thought of as the Best Writer in America when his first decade had him seen as about equal to Stephanie Meyer. (Maybe she'll be taught in College courses someday)


 
I can't agree with that. When Stephen King wrote his early books they had not been copied a thousand times. *Carrie, Salem's Lot and the Shining *were not knock-offs of thirty other books written in the previous decade. They were quite fresh and not designed for young adult market. The books were pretty decent Horror when read before the hundreds of books that copied his.


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## Phyrebrat (Sep 2, 2013)

Hi, 

I thought I'd paste this in as it may be of interest regarding the changes to UTD. My only cause of concern is this line; '...because the writers have completely re-imagined the source of the Dome.'

A lot of folks didn't like the reason for the dome in the book but I happened to be one of those that loved the idea. So this really troubles me. I can''t say more in case of spoilers, however. 


pH



> June 28th, 2013
> 
> A Letter From Stephen
> 
> ...


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## Zahhak (Sep 2, 2013)

A (possibly) amusing anecdote about the series. I was out of state with work when it came out and the week before. I had bought a copy of Under The Dome while there. I ended up having to take another guy to the hospital (he dropped something on his thumb, he's fine) and I'm sitting there reading my book, while they're running non-stop ads for the series! I thought it was hilarious.

I've only watched about half of the run but it seemed OK.


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## Anthony G Williams (Sep 7, 2013)

This is my take on it so far (an extract from my SFF blog: http://sciencefictionfantasy.blogspot.co.uk/):


Based on a Stephen King novel (which I haven't read), *Under the Dome* is set in the present day and concerns events inside a small American town that is suddenly and mysteriously sealed off from the world by an invisible dome-shaped force field several miles across. Cue some dramatic crashes and slicings-in-half as the dome arrives. 

The focus in the early episodes (I've seen the first three so far) is entirely on the impact of this event on the townspeople and visitors who are caught there, with all sorts of personal stories and devious schemes being gradually revealed and people showing their true colours under the stress of the situation. We are not shown anything about what's going on outside the dome (except for the sight of biohazard-suited people performing tests on it) nor is there any hint as to how or why it might have appeared. Bizarrely, there is no attempt by those outside the dome to establish communications with those within, which if anything like this happened in reality would be a first priority. While radio waves don't reliably penetrate the dome, it would be simple and obvious to erect message boards on both sides. 

Also, apart from one brief mention, no-one has so far expressed any concern about what would rapidly become the priorities as a result of the shut-down of mains electric power. First there is the piped water supply. If the source were outside the dome, it would be cut off immediately. If inside, the towers providing water pressure would soon run dry as they need electric pumps to keep them filled. Then there's the availability of food. Shops normally keep only a few days supply of food (rather less for perishables) and much of that will be frozen or refrigerated, as will be the food in people's homes. With no power, except for a few places with their own generators, that will quickly spoil, so only dried and tinned food will be available, plus whatever happens to be growing – and ripe – in fields and gardens. While there seems to be plenty of farmland and a lot of cows within the dome, it takes months to raise crops, and people might get tired of nothing but beef to eat. And incidentally, when the generators run out of fuel, how will they be refuelled? Without power, the gas stations won't be able to operate. You could probably get around that issue by moving one of the generators to a gas station, but nothing like this has even been mentioned. In fact, the main problem with the loss of power identified so far is that teenagers can't recharge their phones and media players (without which, of course, their world comes to an end), and the only response to potential shortages has been someone bulk-buying cigarettes. 

As a result of this peculiar omission of such obvious practical issues, so far it's just a routine "disparate group of people trapped in isolation" story, with the mysterious dome being merely an excuse for this. There's no evidence in the first few episodes of anything that we haven't seen before, but it's just about interesting enough for me to persevere with for the time being, in the hope that it improves.


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## JagLover (Sep 22, 2013)

As above there isn't really any sense of the realities of such a situation. Water, food etc, but I am hoping they are building towards it.

Bearing in mind this is a storyline that it supposed to run for some months there is still time.

Last episode was better I thought.


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## Anthony G Williams (Sep 23, 2013)

I agree, the story is beginning to become more interesting.


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## Anthony G Williams (Nov 22, 2013)

I have commented on *Under the Dome* before, which I criticised after seeing the first three episodes because I felt that the events depicted bore little relationship to the likely course of events if a town was indeed abruptly separated from the rest of the world. In particular, the shortage of water and food would begin to hit home far more quickly than was shown, especially with the lack of power ruining all of the food in freezers and refrigerators within hours. However, the various personal dramas and conflicts that have dominated the story held my attention sufficiently to keep watching, and the shortage problem did eventually take centre stage – in episode 6! It took even longer for any progress to be been made in discovering what might have caused the dome to appear, but that proved to be very mysterious and mystical. Only in the final episode of the first season did the SF element start to take centre stage, and the episode finished on as contrived a peak of suspense as could be imagined. It isn't great SF but has been just about worth watching so far for the performance of the major characters. I gather that a second season is on the way, but I just hope that it isn't going to be stretched out until it dies of futility, as so often happens.

(An extract from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy)


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## Ursa major (Nov 22, 2013)

It isn't at all clear to me how much time has passed during season one. Sometimes, it seems like only a few days have passed. Other things - e.g. the missile attack - suggest a much longer timescale. And the periods covered by the individual  episodes may vary a lot (because drama tends to show only the dramatic and relevant events, and not the stuff in between).

Given this, it's very hard to determine whether some things have taken too long to happen or not.


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## alchemist (Nov 22, 2013)

I really lost interest halfway through the series. The lack of SF irked me and the characters seemed like archetypes. The practical issues, as Anthony detailed, also appeared to be ignored.


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## Jo Zebedee (Nov 22, 2013)

It went so far from the book that I got fed up with it, to be honest.


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## Anthony G Williams (Nov 22, 2013)

The secret of enjoying any screen adaptation is *not* to read the book first….


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## ctg (Jul 2, 2014)

It's back.


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## svalbard (Jul 2, 2014)

ctg said:


> It's back.



They made two series out of the book?


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## ctg (Jul 7, 2014)

They will probably make three series if everything goes well with this season. And after seeing first episode I'm kind of glad they're doing that as there are a lot they can explore with all the possibilities the "dome" and "alien" connections can offer. Plus this time, they show at the end of the first episode what's going on at the other side of the dome.


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## ctg (Jul 29, 2014)

I'm questioning now at the half-way point in the second season why they always seem to find a solution to the bad thing. And, why King cannot take it to really dark place and let the people of Chester's Mill suffer so much that bringing down the dome is their only way to survive? 

I understand there are reasons for giving the characters and situation some hope, but not letting anything to go really bleak, that's bad. And what the producers are doing, is just letting this potential show go in ruin instead of showing the darkness of Steven King's world come to a fruit. But I also realise that not everyone might see the darkness in the same way, and to them the bad scenarios are enough of proof that one can survive, no matter what.


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## WordSpinner (Jul 29, 2014)

I watched the entire first season with mixed feelings, I really liked the premise of the story but the script was lacking. I give the first season a 7/10. I have only watched the first episode of season 2 and am not impressed so far. Hopefully this series will get better.


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## MontyCircus (Aug 19, 2014)

***Spoilers if you haven't seen the show***

I've seen every episode.  It all seems very, very, very derivative of *Lost*.  I keep waiting for the actors to slip up:  "We have to do what the island...I mean...the dome...wants us to do!"  They even found a mysterious hatch!    And they've found a way off the island...I mean...well, you get the idea.

Just saw the newest episode and I had forgotten that last week they'd found a way out of the dome.  So it doesn't seem very involving if I can't remember huge plot points like that.  I'll keep watching though, in the faint hopes that it all ends up to be worth the time...which in the end I couldn't say about *Lost*.


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## markpud (Aug 26, 2014)

This show does give the impression that the writers are winging it week to week, highly inconsistent popcorn tv! No idea how closely it sticks to the source but I can't imagine its a lot! 



Spoiler



I am happy that some of the characters have found their way out, and back in, now. But can they now avoid the egg falling into the scary badguys' grasp!?


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## ctg (Aug 26, 2014)

I still haven't watched the latest episode. The story seems so .... I don't know how they are going to wrap it up satisfactorially.


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## markpud (Sep 27, 2014)

So... do we think this show is getting renewed? I wouldn't be too sad if it didn't!

It's just a shame to see "Big Jim" chewing the scenery when we know what the actor's capable of from Breaking Bad (name escapes me at this moment).


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## Alysheba (Oct 25, 2014)

I never read the book but my best friend did and said it's nothing like the show. I enjoy the show but I wonder how limited it may end up becoming.


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## Ashaman (Oct 26, 2014)

I watched the 1st season and liked it. Not a lot but enough to watch the 2nd too. Now I wish I had not spent soooo much of my time watching it. I have to finish it, due to my curiosity but it's getting worse and worse every episode that goes by. I mean some of the dialogs are really cheesy and there are soooo many inconsistencies. And I am still only at the 6th episode of this season. Damnnnnnn


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## ctg (Oct 27, 2014)

Ashaman said:


> I have to finish it, due to my curiosity but it's getting worse and worse every episode that goes by.



It's okay to stop watching series if you want to. I couldn't finish second season either. It was just too awful. And shameful taken that this was based on Mr King's book. So maybe the producers lost it when they got his blessings or maybe the network put their fingers in the soup and made the producers dance to their tone. Don't know what is the truth but what came out at the end was something seriously awful.


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## Ashaman (Oct 27, 2014)

I am curius to see where they take it. I go through each episode as quickly as possible


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## ctg (Oct 27, 2014)

Ashaman said:


> I am curius to see where they take it. I go through each episode as quickly as possible



I was quite enthuestic about it when it started, but as they progressed further and started deviating from glorious first season I stopped completely. So, therefore, I don't think it might watchable under fast forward either. It's better to leave it on first season and think cancelled it for whatever reason.


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## Major Eazy (Nov 2, 2014)

MPorter said:


> Anyone else watch?
> 
> ~Mike



I do not remember how I first became aware of it, either I spotted a trailer which showed a cow being cut in half, and of Barbie pressing his blood covered hand against the dome and leaving a handprint on it, or I read about it somewhere, which talked about people living under a dome, and wonder about it. Since I'm too late to watch the pilot and the first season on British television (I found out it was first shown last year), I decided to download the pilot to try it out, then decided to download the next two episodes. I'm thinking of trying out the rest of the first season.

For me, I can't judge on what I think of it from the first episode, usually I would have to watch more and more until I get interested and hooked or until I get bored of it. I did kept watching _LOST_ until I got bored of it and gave up, it's just the way I am. So for me, I can't tell if I like it or don't like it until I try out the first season.

But one thing I can't understand is why is it a dome? I meant, why call it a dome? A dome is like an upside down bowl, kind of a fish bowl turned upside down right? So surely if they dig underground and under the dome but as seen in I think the second or third episode, it seems the dome do go down into underground mines, one would think it is really more of a ball not a dome? What someone on the outside were to dig really deep down and tunnel towards the town, and dig up, say under the edge of the dome, but find that they still get stopped, it would be more of a ball?

I meant, a dome got edges right?


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## BAYLOR (Nov 2, 2014)

ctg said:


> I was quite enthuestic about it when it started, but as they progressed further and started deviating from glorious first season I stopped completely. So, therefore, I don't think it might watchable under fast forward either. It's better to leave it on first season and think cancelled it for whatever reason.



They should have done a limited series based on the book and not tired to stretch it out .


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## markpud (Nov 6, 2014)

Major Eazy said:


> But one thing I can't understand is why is it a dome? I meant, why call it a dome? A dome is like an upside down bowl, kind of a fish bowl turned upside down right? So surely if they dig underground and under the dome but as seen in I think the second or third episode, it seems the dome do go down into underground mines, one would think it is really more of a ball not a dome? What someone on the outside were to dig really deep down and tunnel towards the town, and dig up, say under the edge of the dome, but find that they still get stopped, it would be more of a ball?


It would be a spoiler to answer that... but the gist is that there's no way in or out by digging!


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## Phyrebrat (Sep 1, 2015)

Under the Dome will not be returning for season 4. It has been cancelled. 

No surprise there, really. I watched it and kind of enjoyed it but it was a total mess. 

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/under-the-dome/36784/under-the-dome-cancelled-not-returning-for-season-4

pH


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## alchemist (Sep 1, 2015)

4?!?! You mean it got 3 seasons?? I was actually surprised it got 2, and gave up before the end of the first.


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## Phyrebrat (Sep 1, 2015)

I know. I knew it was rubbish watching it but I sort of got myself tangled up in a game where you had to say 'Jesus Christ, Marie' every time Dean Norris came onscreen, and started to enjoy it too much 

pH


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## Jo Zebedee (Sep 1, 2015)

Yeah, me too. It just got sillier and sillier, and then it killed off my favourite character from the book and I just thought meh...


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## megamaniac (Sep 6, 2015)

Man, did the show become a big mess or what?  Something about cocoons, aliens, some Queen.  Just plain a mess.  Glad it wont come back.  Too bad The Returned was canceled too.


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## Droflet (Sep 6, 2015)

alchemist said:


> 4?!?! You mean it got 3 seasons?? I was actually surprised it got 2, and gave up before the end of the first.



Ditto. Suffered through most of the first season, but when I found myself unconsciously tapping a blade to my wrist, I knew it was time to get out of Dodge. What a shemozzle.  
.


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## REBerg (Sep 6, 2015)

Droflet said:


> Ditto. Suffered through most of the first season, but when I found myself unconsciously tapping a blade to my wrist, I knew it was time to get out of Dodge. What a shemozzle.
> .


Guess I dodged a bullet on this one. Never even started watching it.

The premise seemed too much like a supersized _Big Brother_ -- put a bunch of people in a confined space and see what happens. Sometimes, you don't need to take a bite out of apple to know it's rotten.


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