At the end of the first season of Under The Dome, Barbie (Mike Vogel) was about to be hung by Junior (Alexander Koch) and Big Jim (Dean Norris) but pink stars rose in the dome and exploded into bright white light when Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) threw the egg into the lake putting a halt to the proceedings. Does Barbie live? What do you think? The show would be pretty silly to kill off its main character wouldn’t it?
The second season of Under The Dome picks up the story exactly where it left off and whilst Barbie lives to see another day, the same can’t be said for all of the season 1 cast. We won’t name any names but there are a couple of surprise deaths in the first episodes of the second season. The mystery around the murder of one character forms the story arc for the first half of the season as the residents of Chester’s Mill, led by Barbie and Julia, try to find out who is responsible.
Under The Dome’s second season unfortunately isn’t on a par with its first season. Whilst we acknowledge the show is a bit ridiculous, the first season embraced that and took us on an entertaining journey that required our attention but not our brain. Sadly season 2 tries to take itself too seriously and the end result is a bit of a mess with plot holes so big we’re surprised some of the characters didn’t escape through them.
There are far too many convenient plot twists and the characters act in stupid and often unbelievable ways. The team behind the show has tried to up the stakes but by doing so they’ve made the show a complete mess. One of the worst aspects of season 2 is the introduction of school teacher Rebecca Pine (Karla Crome) who apparently knows how to do pretty much anything the storyline requires her to. Not only is the character annoying but the way she’s written is so inconsistent it’s near impossible to figure out if you’re supposed to like her or not.
On the plus side Mike Vogel and Rachelle Lefevre are still fantastic leads and actors who manage to get you rooting for them no matter how ridiculous their plots are. We also liked the addition of Eddie Cahill as mysterious new cast addition Sam. He has a past he’s not upfront about to begin with but as the season goes on it is slowly revealed and we think he’s great in the role.
The boxset is packed with special features including deleted scenes, a gag reel and a wealth of behind-the-scenes featurettes exploring how the show is made and the storylines told in the season.
We don’t mind a silly show to watch during the week but Under The Dome has really jumped the shark with its second season. The show will return for a third season in 2015 and if it’s to go beyond that the creative team really needs to reboot and get the show back to what made it a hit in the first season. There’s just enough interest from us to ensure we’ll watch the third season but if it plummets further into absolute nonsense then we’ll be tuning out.
