Our newest feature here at SquidFlicks is our “Into The Dome” line of entries. Each week we will debut a review of that week’s episode of the new CBS series “Under The Dome.” I’m going into this without reading the novel, or any cliff notes of it in any form. Spoilers ahead!
Based off of horror author Stephen King’s book, Under The Dome is a true look into the human soul, where the only enemy lays within all of us. Going into the pilot tonight I know only the basic plot of the show/book. The town of Chester’s Mill falls out of the norm of their simple small town lives and is thrown into national and possibly international spotlight after a huge invisible dome-like structure mysteriously appears over their town.
We are quickly introduced to the set of key characters into the first five or ten minutes in. Mike Vogel plays a man, who from the first second of the show is up to no good, nicknamed “Barbie.” He seems quickly shows us he does have a heart despite shooting some poor chap in his and dumping his body in a perfectly dug hole.
The town locals will drive this show. We meet “Big Jim” (Dean Norris), who is a crooked politician and seems to be willing to leverage anything he can against anyone to get what he wants. A character I dug from the get go was “Duke,” the town’s sheriff. I hope he lives to get another pacemaker, I felt like the balance of the good vs. evil between him and “Big Jim” was instrumental in setting up a deeper plot line going forward and hope it gets that way.
Local newspaper investigator Julia is quickly into everyone’s hair, including Barbies. It seems that our solid love interest could be developing here. Julia invites Barbie to stay the night at her and her husband’s house. It seems that Julia’s hubby is having an affair, but wait! When we see a photo of her and her husband, we find out that HE is the one who Barbie was dumping off in the beginning. The plot thickens!
Now let’s move on to one of the more unique characters on the show. That’s Junior, who turns out to be Big Jim’s son. This guy is INSANE! Not only is he considering cutting himself because this girl he “loves” doesn’t say it back and he throws a hissy fit. He obviously has some issues: scouting this girl out, threatening Barbie because he was talking to her, kidnapping her, and locking her in his father oh so convenient underground bomb shelter in their backyard. He is clearly a character who does not provide either good or bad in the show. I feel he will provide that one aspect that is rarely seen and thats the nasty, cruel demons that lie within the sickest of humans. Time will tell.
All in all i feel like this was great pilot. We got a feel for the show, it’s characters, how the interact and will mesh or not mesh in the coming episodes. I definitely will be checking into the Dome for Mondays here on out!
4/5 Reels
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