TV REVIEW: "Under The Dome" -- Premiered: June 24, 2013

Let me begin by saying I wasn't particularly looking forward to this premiere with much (or any) anticipation. To be honest,  I'm not sure anyone was looking forward to it aside from some casual interest or the few who thought the idea could actually make for a gripping summer series. Well, Under The Dome has arrived and its premiere felt mostly like a whole bunch of nothing.

Based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, Under The Dome tells the story of Chester's Mill, an idyllic small town in Maine with a lot of BIG SECRETS. If you didn't already know, if you live in a small town, it's actually impossible for there NOT to be dark secrets lurking behind every closed door –  especially if your small town is the focal point of a new "event" TV series on CBS. 

The pilot begins with a predictable glimpse of everyday life in Chester's Mill. We're introduced to Dale "Barbie" Barbara (Mike Vogel, fresh off his weird stint on A&E's Bates Motel), an Army vet who's just passing through town but also happens to be burying a body deep within the town limits of CM. We also meet "Big Jim" Rennie (DEAN NORRIS!), a used car salesman who holds a confident swagger, as only Dean Norris could, and a prominent political role in the town. We learn later, Big Jim also seems to be one of the central characters in a larger mystery involving mysterious propane deliveries. Yes, a central mystery in Under The Dome revolves around propane deliveries. I don't know, I guess we'll see where this goes?! I GUESS? We also meet the new editor of the local paper, Julia Shumway (Rachelle Lefevre); and young kind-of couple, Junior Rennie (Alexander Koch) and Angie McAlister (Britt Robertson). Junior and Angie had a little summer fling, but you see, summer is over and in the early minutes of last night's premiere Junior tells Angie he loves her. She doesn't return the favor and by the end of the episode, she's locked up in the Rennie's storm cellar. Junior is a very troubled young teen with ANGST.

About 10 minutes into the pilot, "the dome" crash lands over Chester's Mill and in the process, literally slices a cow in half. It's arguably the most campy moment of the premiere, and the special effects do a good enough job at retaining the seriousness of it all, but I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably and rewind the moment to watch again and again. What's strange is that after a few more big set pieces, revealing how the dome has affected the town while simultaneously establishing how far its encasing reaches, the residents reactions range from minor panic to simply mildly annoyed. In one scene, after an airplane crashes into the dome and almost kills Joe McAlister, Angie's brother, with its debris, Joe simply walks it off. Seconds later, he asks Barbie if his cell phone is working – super casual. Like, it's weird enough that two of these strangers are dealing with this chaos together, let's not make it stranger by brushing off these catastrophic events with a minor wipe of the brow. A certain sense of urgency and maybe some forward thinking would help? Maybe? Yes, I think it would! Moments like this continue throughout the pilot which makes for some very interesting tonal shifts and all the more confusing for the audience as we contemplate whether or not we should be taking any of it seriously. I think that's a problem.

Now my lukewarm reaction could easily be chalked up to the fact that I just finished Season 3 of Game of Thrones over the weekend thus amplifying all of Under The Dome's network drama silliness. Who knows, I may have warmed to it a tad more if I was coming off, say, a weekend marathoning FlashForward (R.I.P.). I definitely think there's some intrigue and fun to be had here. The pilot does a decent job of giving us enough of a taste of these characters, and this town, to make us interested in seeing what happens to them but I just hope in further episodes, the writers don't take the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach that seemed to be the motto for the pilot.

The show needs to build interesting conflicts and create some internal and external struggles for these characters amongst these fantastical events. If they create a good enough mix, I think it will be worth sticking around for the remainder of its 13-episode run. If not, at least I can savor the cow being sliced in half.

MOST HORRIBLE / AMAZING THING SAID:

Joe McAlister: What if the government built this thing? 

Barbie: I doubt it.

Joe McAlister: Why?!

Barbie: 'Cause it works.

OUCH!

GRADE: C+