This series is based on Stephen King's novel and it ran for three seasons from 2013 to 2015, and I was hooked almost immediately from the very first season.
The series is basically about a community that is trapped when a dome suddenly appears encapsulating the whole town and trapping everyone under it. It sounds very similar to a series that is currently airing too, I’ll mention it underneath. The thing I loved about Under the Dome was the mystery. I’m a sucker for thrillers and mystery movies/series. The show doesn't simply ask, "How do we escape?" It keeps adding more questions. Why did the dome appear? Why Chester's Mill? Is it natural? Is it supernatural? Is somebody controlling it? and what exactly does the dome want from these people? Every time you think you're getting close to an answer, the show gives you another mystery. That constant feeling of "Okay, but what the hell is actually going on here?" is what makes the early episodes so addictive. Even critics at the time described the opening as intriguing and addictive.
Then there are the people trapped inside it, which is where the series becomes much more interesting. You have Dale trying to keep things together, Julia trying to understand what is happening. My God, Big Jim!! Chester's Mill could have had the perfect emergency response team, but instead they had people with secrets and questionable decision making skills. The dome basically removes the outside world and forces everyone's personalities to become much more important. When there is nowhere to run, the real danger can sometimes be the people you trapped with like a prison.
I also really enjoyed how the series slowly turned the dome from a simple science-fiction mystery into something else. At the beginning, it almost feels like a disaster movie. People are confused, resources are limited and everyone is desperately trying to understand what happened. Then the supernatural elements become increasingly important, there is also plenty of drama, politics, betrayal and personal conflict happening at the same time. The series is sort of like the series “FROM”, almost very similar concepts with both people trapped only that with under the dome , it’s a dome trapping them.
Season 1 is easily my favourite because everything feels fresh and mysterious. The problem is that once the show starts answering some questions, it has to create even more questions to keep itself going. Season 2 became more uneven, and the series sometimes felt like it was stretching the mystery rather than naturally developing it. Still, I can't pretend I didn't enjoy the madness.
Would I say Under the Dome is a amazing and mind blowing? Nope. It has some questionable decisions, some characters make you want to scream at the television with how they reason and the story eventually becomes much more complicated than it probably needed to be but if you enjoy mystery, supernatural stories and watching ordinary people deal with an extraordinary situation, there is still something here for you. For me under the dome is dope, you wont regret watching it
Rating: 72/100