Under The Dome Miniseries Premier Review

The first episode of Stephen King’s Under The Dome premiered on Monday night. Here’s a few of the highlights:

• The earthquake-like vibrations before the dome hits was interesting and entertaining.
• The dome landing and laterally bisecting a cow was much better than the woodchuck being cut in two in the book.
• The pissed off fireman rushing out of the cab ready to kick the main character Barbie’s ass was good acting.
• To a lesser degree, the tail section of the Cessna 172 almost hitting the kid on the farm and the severed leg landing nearby was cool.

That aside, the whole one hour episode moved too fast attempting to introduce a plethora of characters and motivations. The worst offender, to me, was the switchblade-flicking son of the wealthy car salesman. He’s totally unconvincing when he confronts Barbie after Barbie had a brief and benign conversation with the kid’s girlfriend. Too great a manufactured conflict.

In the end, it boils down to the cast. Compare Under The Dome to an earlier King story, The Mist, released in 2007. The Mist was adapted and directed by Frank Darabont. For what the film lacked in budget it made up for in casting, with Thomas Jane as the main protagonist, Marcia Gay Harden as a religious fanatic, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn and Melissa McBride in supporting roles, among many others. The cast of The Mist had presence and depth, and it’s probably no coincidence that most of them wound up on The Walking Dead (during the Frank Darabont seasons). Thomas Jane would have played a great Rick.

The cast of Under The Dome, at least right now, lacks charisma and empathy which is all important to the survival of a series. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trashing Under The Dome. I like it, but too much was thrown at the audience too rapidly. I just wish Under The Dome would have been produced by a cable channel, such as AMC rather than a mainstream network which reduces everything it touches to the lowest level, common denominator form. Why is that?

Bottom line: Under The Dome is well worth watching, but let’s hope the pacing improves.

Grade: B-