Photo of Rachelle Lefevre in “Under the Dome”; photo courtesy of CBS
“Under the Dome” (CBS)
“Under the Dome” is great lightweight summer entertainment. For sure the CBS series, based on the novel by Stephen King, isn’t meant to be taken seriously. That doesn’t mean it is in the “Sharknado” category, but it also does mean this isn’t “The Good Wife”.
The current episodes run along the lines of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and feature Marg Helgenberger as the main baddie. Marg is having a high old time with her role of Christine and the audience is too. The more delirious the plot becomes the more fun the audience is having. Add in a lunky loser named Junior (Alexander Koch) who falls under Christine’s spell and you have some sexual tension added to the plot.
The first season of “Under the Dome” concerned the panic of the people trapped under a miles wide dome that covers the town of Chester’s Mill and can not be penetrated. That season was the most like King’s novel. Then came season two that had people actually escaping the dome. It was the least enjoyable of the seasons to date and almost convinced me it wasn’t worth watching. But that was before Marg and the body snatchers arrived this summer.
Ms. Helgenberger has added snap, crackle and pop to the show and has made the lovestruck Barbie and Julia (Mike Vogel and Rachelle Lefevre) interesting again. They had become deadly dull but now he has been somewhat taken over by the body snatchers and she has been reduced to relying on the villain of the piece Big Jim Rennie (Dean Norris).
This show is popcorn eating fun. You never know what direction it is going to take next, or which character is going to be totally eliminated. The body count in this show runs high, and the number of twists and turns is even higher.
So even if you never got into “Extant”, and “Zoo” has let you down after only a few episodes, give a look to the other CBS summer show. “Under the Dome” isn’t quite ready for prime time winter status but as light weight summer fun it makes the grade. Binge watch the first two seasons and come on into this summer’s session of shows. Believe me it is better than watching any of the other “new” shows for the summer.
“Under the Dome” airs Thursdays at 10PM on CBS.
