Under the Dome: Season One (2013)

Under the Dome: Season One (2013)

Dir. Various | 13 episodes, approx 43 minutes each.

I'm so bored of 'edgy' US dramas, but I'm a huge fan of sci-fi and a sucker for a Stephen King adaptation despite their tendency to have a great buildup and then fall flat on their ass in the latter half. Under the Dome bucks that trend by falling flat on its ass even earlier. It kills off the most interesting character in Ep 01 and leaves the chaff to pick up the slack, meaning that from Ep 02 it drags its shitty heels through the corn.

It's the story of a town trapped under a mysterious dome. What that means for the people within differs depending on their ability to cope with disaster, the unknown, and the depravity of the secrets they want to keep hidden. Their focus is on getting out, naturally, but Season One's overall focus is on exploring the inner aspects of each individual and the community as a whole.

It's an interesting premise and a great starting point from which to build something that branches out in many directions but remains centralised by circumstance. It's a shame the makers didn't capitalise on it well enough. Instead, they milk it like a weary tit until there's nothing left but to throw in arbitrary events that may or may not matter in the grand scheme of things. If they do matter, it's because someone decided they liked the idea and wrote something new, not because the core plot demanded it.

A medium sized cast of regular clichés kept me mildly irritated. There's the army veteran with a violent past; a hateful investigative reporter who pokes her nose up everyone's ass; an enthusiastic female police officer who's as thick as two planks nailed together; a semi-genius teenager; a shady politician that only has two emotional states; and a few others that I don't care to remember. None of them are the least bit interesting, but the cast is only a small part of the reason it's so tedious. The bullshit scenarios that are supposed to increase the tension instead feel forced and unrealistic. The ease with which people give in to suggestion is laughable. And the amateur acting (especially those kids) is painful to watch.

Reportedly, it cost approx $3,000,000 (US) per episode to make. Just think about that for a minute. $3,000,000 averages out to $69,767 per minute! Christ knows how, why, or where the money went. Needless to say, I won't be watching or writing about Seasons Two and Three.