CBS' Under the Dome - Episode 1.13 Curtains
Secrets of the Dome are revealed and Big Jim is determined to put an end to Barbie once and for all. Meanwhile, Junior, Angie, Joe and Norrie discover who the Monarch is after receiving a shocking visit from a familiar face.
Okay, now that was just a terribly anti-climatic ending. Nothing of real substance happened. The finale needed to start giving quality answers but it simply didn't deliver. It only further proved how lackluster and uneven this first season has been. It did nothing to make me want to see any more as the final cliffhanger was more bland than an exciting twist. A bland and forgettable ending to a bland and often frustrating season.The biggest semi-answer was that the dome was sent there to protect the people in Chester's Mill and yet the show still refuses to give any kind of concrete answer. The vision of Alice simply says that all will be explained in time. But Under the Dome, you don't have time to string this mystery out. I'm sure the writers want to stretch this out until the end of the series but audiences want answers now. That is the biggest disappointment from the first season. The finale basically answers nothing important! Sure, they reveal who the damn monarch was! But when was that ever a part of the mythology that we actually were given a reason to care about? And Julia is such a bland character too. The impact of her being crowned as the monarch simply doesn't land because we don't have that much interest in her.
Big Jim Rennie is the closest thing this show has to a franchise character - the most recognizable thing about the series. That is largely due to Dean Norris' performance. He is often the most entertaining thing about the series and the prospect of losing him in the finale like the visions predicted was a very interesting thread. But it was all for not as there was no way that the series would off its best character so easily. This is CBS after all. Based on the numbers they are perfectly happy with the show. Thusly nothing substantial is likely to change going into the second season. The show has sunk lower and lower quality-wise but with 10 million viewers still watching live why on Earth would anyone want to change it? That's what the producers are thinking and the biggest reason I don't think a quality leap will occur between seasons.
Some more thoughts:
- Someone please fire the entire music department! I'm begging here! Not everything has to be underscored in the most cliche and overly-dramatic way possible!
- At least the show explained why Julia was able to touch the mini-dome without being zapped.
- When and why did Joe, Norrie, Angie and Junior write "The pink stars are falling" in the barn?
- Did anyone (or everyone) secretly hope that the mini-dome killed Linda when she foolishly touched it?
- And apparently politicians are worse than criminals.
- And that concludes my Under the Dome reviews for the season. I stuck with it hoping it would get better but it never did. I don't know what the future brings with the show next summer. I'll definitely check in for the season premiere because it's being written by Stephen King but beyond that, who knows!
