Under the Dome (2013–2015) User Reviews

Starts off great, but...

[ecatalan98 · 7/10 · 21 July 2019]

Most of the terrible reviews here are basically for season three, which ultimately ruined the show for good, but few mention that season one was actually good, very good! If it had been just a one-season series it would've been up there with the best of them. It was witty, suspenseful, weird, dramatic, etc. Unfortunately, season 2 takes an unsolicited left turn. While still featuring some good episodes, the damage was done. When season 3 came out, it was too late, with some of the worst writing ever, featuring some painful plot twists that made no sense at all. It's as if the creators wanted to destroy their show on purpose.

Watch season one ONLY!

Under Something That's For Sure!

[TheMediumC · 6/10 · 22 July 2014]

How the hell is this show gets worse and worse? How is this possible? And with an outline by Mr. King? With an amazing plot like that? How?

Even though I am a very busy person I spend almost every free time watching TV shows.Yeah, kinda sad. But that's my thing and I am happy so... I watch TV series varies all kind of genre and topic from sleepy hollow to the good wife or from major crimes to being human OK? I rate them, like them OK or don't like them sometimes because you know, not everything is for everyone right? But... Under the dome? This is certainly my kind of thing however I am having a really hard time loving it.

OK let's start. Acting couldn't be any worse. And those actors, we saw them before right, they were good no? Even the camera angels irritates me sometimes and the show is all over the place, it seems like they can't keep it together. The writing is childish and the dialogs can not convince or satisfy anyone who has a little bit of drama taste. And don't get me started on the special effects. Please, do they think it's OK to have that bad CGI or something with a show like that? And the last but not least, the music. It is so bad, sometimes I wish that they just do it without it. It would be radical but it could actually be better.

Especially since the second season started, it gets worse and worse. The only good thing still is the plot. And I badly want to like the show so please, I am begging the producers now (like would they read that but hell) do something and do it fast!

great premise, interesting start deteriorates

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 6 September 2015]

An invisible impenetrable dome descends upon the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine. The residents inside struggle to survive and discover the cause. Big Jim (Dean Norris) is the bully businessman trying to take charge. His son Junior is completely unstable. Julia Shumway (Rachelle Lefevre) is a local reporter who falls for mysterious Barbie (Mike Vogel). Norrie Calvert-Hill is the daughter of a lesbian couple who got caught while traveling through town.

This is a great premise from Stephen King. As long as it deals with the characters struggling with each other to survive, this TV show works great. When it tries to explain the dome, the show stumbles. Then it goes into that explanation where all those episode are fake memories. It's a bad move but the show couldn't write a good explanation anyways. It starts off as an 8 but it keeps sliding all the way to the end.

How could it be so bad?

[Velocity90 · 17 October 2013]

It is difficult to understand in this day and age, and given the author of the story and who its the progeny of (amblin and CBS)- that something like this could be ruined to the state of disrepair that the final transmitted version became. The book wasn't one of King's finest, but it was a good enough story, that looks like it was given to group of 6th grade kids as a community project to "improve." If I had seen this first I would never have read the book, so at least I got that right. I watched the series in growing disbelief at the dreadful story lines, the total revision of a decent plot and the turgid and often abysmal acting. Dean Norris isn't going to look back on this as his finest hour. It was like watching a train wreck, and being unable to turn away. Quite why anyone voted more than 3 for it astonishes me, its really, really bad. Please can it before it gets any worse.

Great at first but ridiculous at the end.

[paperandbooks · 6/10 · 17 February 2016]

Soo... The first season was pretty good: entertaining, with and interesting topic and relatable characters. I taught that the problems of being under a dome could have been better exploded, but still, the first season was good. Then the second season came, and it was soooo good. I really truly love that season, it was so intense, action-packed and I had all the feels! So after the second season, my hopes were pretty up. When I started the third season, I was so sad the show was canceled... until I actually watched the third season. In it's last season, the show turns ridiculous, and so damn confusing; but not confusing in the good way, I mean confusing like: "I don't understand a sh¡t, let's go watch something else." And I just don't know why to build a good plot in two solid seasons, to throw it all to the trash in the third one. I think the writers were in drugs or something when they wrote the last season; otherwise, I don't see how they could screw it up so badly.

I don't understand why this series attracts so much hate

[cherold · 8/10 · 14 November 2018]

I liked Under the Dome right away. It created an interesting mystery, had fairly complex protagonists, and developed an unusual mythology.

It wasn't until a couple of years in that I discovered lots of people absolutely hated it. I mean really, really hated it. Hated it the way people hate The Big Bang Theory (which has been a huge hit for years and leaves open the possibility that people who hate things are a lot more vocal than the people who like them).

It's been off the air a few years now, and I just happened to notice I'd never written a review. It's hard to write a review in any detail now because it's a bit fuzzy in my head, but I did want to come on and just say it was a terrific, fascinating show.

Starts well but goes downhill somewhat

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 15 September 2015]

Chester's Mill is a typical New England town… until one day a strange invisible and impenetrable dome descends over it. There is no obvious explanation as to what happened or why; at least not initially. Cut off from the outside world the people must figure out how to survive. The only member of the town's council; used car salesman 'Big Jim' Rennie assumes control through bullying and intimidation. Other key characters include his son, Junior, who locks his 'girlfriend' in a bomb shelter before the dome even appears, Dale 'Barbie' Barbara an Iraq veteran who is in town to kill somebody, newspaper woman Julia Shumway and police deputy Linda Esquivel to name just a few. As the series progresses so of the town's teenagers discover a 'mini-dome' that responds to their touch; contact with the outside is established and it becomes apparent that a sinister corporation appears to know more about the dome than they should and ultimately we learn of alien involvement.

When I first saw this series advertised everything looked positive; an interesting idea and the involvement of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg suggested it might be worth watching. The series opened well, quickly setting up the story and introducing a fairly large cast of characters. As the story progresses it gets more and more melodramatic as we learn that this apparently typical town seems to contain a greater than average number of atypical people. Early on we get more and more problems of the week as the population; while this is going on there is also the mystery of the mini-dome and its connection to the larger dome; this latter story is more interesting. As the story goes on it starts to feel like the writers are just trying to find new ways of extending the story and when major characters are written out it ceases to be dramatic and starts to feel like the actors may have found something better to do. Strangely, despite all that, I was rather disappointed to watch the last episode of season three, which is clearly not meant to be the series finale, and learn that the series had been cancelled… it is a shame that we couldn't even get a wrap-up miniseries like 'Farscape' got. Overall I'd say it was okay but squandered some good ideas and given that it doesn't have a proper ending I can't really recommend starting watching this now.

Time of death: season 3

[the_real_smile · 5/10 · 29 August 2015]

I watched all seasons, season 1 was nice. The pace was very slow, but on the edge of tolerable. You could compare it with Lost. The progression of the episodes was logical, how about air, food, water etc? Then season 2 came, some key players disappeared and the book of tricks was necessary to fill in the gaps. This decision did the story not much good. Than season 3 appeared, broke with the first seasons by introducing some sf nonsense and the burden of a artificial created memory. The biggest fail in season 3 however is the introduction of new characters that impossible could have been there all the time. This mixed with the by now stupid story makes you want to skip this series as soon as possible. My advise, watch season 1, try 2 and stop then.

Love it!

[bradleypeerpema · 9/10 · 22 July 2013]

I really like this show, i am officially hooked. I have not read the book and I have heard that there are some pretty drastic changes, however, I also know that Stephan king has given his approval for these changes and that he is urging fans to embrace them and try to enjoy the story as it is retold by someone else. I can see how the show could come across as predictable, however, I still thoroughly enjoy watching each episode and then sitting down and discussing what I think will happen next with the family members of mine who watch it. I really feel like i am starting to get to know the characters and their personalities/motives. I say give it a try, it my not rock everyone's boat, but there are people out there who are really enjoying it. Also, I suggest that it you are a SK fan and are upset by the changes made, take his advice! Sit down and try to watch the show as if you hadn't read the book!

The Dome Falls

[politicon2003 · 7/10 · 27 June 2013]

First of all I rate the pilot episode of 'Under the Dome' as a clear 8.0. I am an admitted avid Stephen King fan and bought a copy of the book in Picton Ontario in January 2011 during the festive season vacation. It is not one of King's best novels but it is far from being his worst. For the horror genre his works are pretty mild and I have never found them spine tingling. In general I like King's works mostly because of his style and the small town characters in them. From such an amazingly prolific writer there are bound to be some duds. I think that the all-time best Stephen King book and mini TV series was the apocalyptic 'The Stand'. Until now the most recent of King's made-for-TV movies I watched and enjoyed (having read the book) was 'Bag of Bones'. I enjoyed 'Under the Dome' as a novel but cannot recall many details, just the general situation and plot. The book version of Under the Dome contains a map of the fictional Maine town of Chester's Mill (most of the Maine locations in Stephen King novels, such as Castle Rock, are fictional. In 'Stand by Me' - aka 'The Body' -Castle Rock is moved to Oregon!) The map of Chester's Mill was helpful in reading the novel to follow where the diverse action was happening outside and inside the dome. Chester's Mill is a small country town. The two North Carolina towns where the series is shot are not unlike Picton itself so I was able to enjoy the book by a blazing fireplace in my son's rambling house and sprawling acres overlooking Maine-like woods and a lake. During the 42 minute of the pilot I watched enthralled. I do not remember enough of the book I read two years ago to tell from the pilot to what extent King may have diverted from his novel but surely the poet himself is the one who is allowed poetic license in such cases. A TV family den audience is different from a one man-reader seated by a fireplace. The action was continuous from the start and the special effects were brilliant (I would not recommend reading the sour puss and nit picking comments on this site). Unlike in many other Stephen King screen works there are no big name film stars but several familiar faces from other TV series and a few young newcomers. Nevertheless, the standard of performance is pretty good. I wonder if King himself will make a cameo appearance in the series as he has often done in others... CBS promises 13 episodes and I am looking forward to all of them purely as light entertainment.

Really, really bad writing for an otherwise interesting premise

[jon-1749 · 5/10 · 6 July 2014]

This is an interesting show with an interesting sci-fi / fantasy premise. Unfortunately, the episodes' writers and production team themselves suffered from a "we don't know what the heck we're writing here, we're just gonna keep you entertained in each individual episode". There is a story that moves forward from episode to episode, but several nuances and even aspects that were very huge just a few episodes prior become completely abandoned and betrayed.

** SPOILERS BELOW **

For example, in one of the middle episodes of season one, the world outside put on a big show of "goodbye" which it turns out because the military would nuke the whole village, but this strange dome ended up protecting its contents. For the next couple episodes, as I recall, the whole area just outside the dome was, well, nuked, completely barren. But by the last few episodes, the whole town just outside the dome is back again, green and lush with the same neighborhood that was there before it was all nuked, as if nothing back then had happened.

The whole "the butterfly is the monarch!" thing followed by the "you're the monarch!" and "he's the monarch!" and "she's the monarch!" played like a horribly played game of duck-duck-goose.

Some of the main characters are utterly unbelievable as human beings. "Junior", a fully grown young man who jumps from insane and imprisoning a former lover, to sane and competent and entrusted with a badge. A female top cop gullibly believes everything one guy (Big Jim) says and does the most ridiculous actions no cop would ever do, like tell everyone not to touch an alien lit-up device but then she goes and touches it herself, for no reason, at her own injury.

The show retained my attention to cause me to binge-watch, but by the end of Season One I was mostly irritated I got suckered into such a stupid mess of sometimes-consistency-sometimes- betrayal-all-the-time-just-entertaining "whateverness".

HUGE Under the Dome fan!

[underthedomeseries · 8/10 · 26 June 2013]

I've always been a big fan of Under the Dome. I first read the book 3 years ago and shortly after I heard rumors that it would be turned into a TV series.

I was torn on that. Half excited, half nervous.

After watching the pilot episode... I'm hooked! Aside from a little bit of amateurish acting, I think the cast is great.

Stephen King is a phenomenal writer, as you know, and has a hand in producing this show. I can't be more happy about that.

The master of anxiety & fear back on TV!

[fathersonholygore · 6/10 · 25 June 2013]

Stephen King may be one of the absolute best writers at creating a large parade of characters within a town who all have their own little lives, their own little fears, their own secrets and skeletons hiding in the closet. Dean Norris plays Big Jim Rennie, and I'm looking forward to watching him through the series; he is a great actor who is underused, so hopefully we get to see him shine here. I'm interested to see how the acting holds up.

From the moment you anticipate the dome dropping, this story is full of anxiety, and a gripping fear. As Barbie (Mike Vogel) watches it fall, a cow is dissected right through the middle, and we see it slowly separate, as our leading man starts to wonder what everyone soon is- what the hell is going on here? The first episode really hit the spot for me, and I'm hoping it continues on in the same fashion. Looks like a lot of suspense and tension to come. I think if it continues to be so well done, and ends in the same fashion, I'll have to update my rating to slap a big 10 out of 10 stars on it. Highly recommended! I'll have to kick myself in the ass after this, and finally read the original novel. Stephen King is certainly a master of his craft.

Just Awful

[jlthornb51 · 1/10 · 22 April 2015]

Really terrible television which revitalizes its reputation as the "idiot box." So poorly written that it is hard to believe that Stephen King would allow his name to be even remotely associated with it, the intriguing plot is frittered away as this mess meanders into utter ridiculousness. The acting ranges from breathtakingly bad to laughable, with overacting being the most entertaining aspect of the proceedings. This monumental disaster drags on and on with the "writers" coming up with more implausible and downright stupid plot contrivances simply to pad the show's length and extend its run. What could have been and should have been a limited series based upon King's book is a bloated but empty bit of stunning mindlessness that has disconcertingly stayed on the air and continues to go nowhere very, very slowly.

After jumping the shark, the 3rd season jumped the whale too.

[Dr_Sagan · 26 June 2015]

There is no words to describe this crap. It's like the writers are a bunch of kids who invent thing as they go. This has nothing to do with Stephen King's story, despite the fact he guested in a previous episode.

Spielberg is to blame for this I think. He must be pulling some strings to keep this on air. There isn't an adult out there who might be interested.

There is no suspense. Who cares about Barbie's imaginary girlfriend who you see for a first time if she is pregnant in the virtual world. Who cares if Sam is stabbed to death when he is actually in a pod a-la-matrix.

This series goes nowhere.

So why bother?

A Very Boring Show...

[mzcherrymary77 · 7/10 · 11 July 2013]

"Under the Dome" is based on Stephen King's novel. In the town of Chester's Mill, a dome is placed on top of it with no sudden explanation. The characters scramble to try to find an escape, but with no luck.

Personally, I never read the book, so I wouldn't know what to compare it to. I can say one thing, though. This show isn't the greatest or the most interesting. By the third episode, I was yawning my eyes out. The characters are flat, and the dialogue is very boring. The only character making me laugh is Ben Drake in the show with his idiotic comments. This show will be over before you know it. That 5 I give is VERY generous.

Great show, but this is definitely not the book

[carmstrong2183 · 8/10 · 23 July 2013]

OK for all of the people giving this show low scores because it does not follow the book and is missing characters I have to completely disagree, OK yes it would be more dark and perhaps even a little better, but then we would be watching another Game Of thrones, where we already know who will die and already know whats going to happen, so the changes they made actually made me happy knowing that even tho I have read the book many spoilers remain unknown or at least open to debate. Also lets get real this is a network TV show, we are not going to have Jr. raping a corpse on network television. I believe that its a great show I have enjoyed it more and more as it has progressed and cannot wait to see how it all pans out.

Watch at your own risk! Don't start or you have to finish to know the ending!

[Gabeszosz · 6/10 · 31 August 2016]

I've just finished watching the series, so here it goes...

First of all, I've wanted to binge watch this series for a long time now. I have been toying with the idea of watching it probably since season 1. So I started reading the book, it looked interesting, then I started watching the series. The book and series don't have too much in common, you should regard the separately.

The first season started of pretty strong, I liked the fact that Dean Norris, probably best known from Breaking Bad, played the bad guy, Big Jim Rennie and of course there is the never missing American hero protagonist, Barbie, played by none other than Mike Vogel. I didn't have problems with the acting, but I didn't quite understand the story-line. The were a lot of major plot holes and inconsistencies with regards to the plot. Jim went on random killing sprees, although everybody knew he killed of tons of citizens, he was somehow always forgiven. What really bothered me, was the random fires, somehow I can't contemplate why they had to put fires multiple times in the story-line. Couldn't they come up with something else?

In season two a lot of new characters are introduced: Sam, the town's drunk; Jane Doe, the egg lady and Rebecca, the teacher, a.k.a. the mysteriously overqualified science lady, who always has a scientific explanation for everything. The dome creates a strong magnetic field? Let's fix that with science! The micro-climate changes? The random spinning of the dome is causing in inversion in the temperature, science b**ches! The magnetic field of the dome causes the monarch butterflies to speed up their life-cycles, so let's burn down the crops to kill the caterpillars, science! Or maybe let's spread some insecticides from an airplane that will kill the caterpillars instantly! I believe the biggest problem in this sci-fi series is the fact that they try to rationalize everything.

And here comes season 3. The season that shouldn't have been made. The plot is simple: aliens infect everybody by putting the into cocoons then they all serve the kinship having a collective mind, controlled by an alien infested blonde. FYI, Marg Helgenberger's acting is terrible.

On the whole, the biggest flaws of the movie was the fact that the motives of the characters were unfathomable and story-line line was not consistent, though, I still enjoyed watching the series, because the characters were likable. I liked the ending of season 3, the cliff-hanger was a good move from the creators.

As the Stomach Turns, the soap opera version

[jimlacy2003 · 3/10 · 16 September 2013]

If they made the show a mini-series I might be here writing a review giving it at least a 7 or an 8. Instead as I feared they decided to make the "Under the Dome" adaption into some contorted series. It is clearly the wrong treatment for such a good story.

The cast is great, the settings, special effects were fine. I could have easily given the first six episodes a 7 vote. But each episode was painfully drawn out further and further. Soon (around the 8th episode) it was all to evident they were going to stretch everything out ad nauseum.

It would have been better titled: "As the Stomach Turns", "Under the Dome: The soap opera version".

Now compare the episode rundown to the excellent "The Stand" 1994 adaption. The total large adaption of the epic book was only done in around 5 or 6 hour episode mini-series. Here 13 episodes and there is no conclusion, no end in sight, and it's not even close to the same depth of story.

This is what happens when corporate suits combine with art. They destroy it. In their dimwitted money driven tunnel vision they thought they would just exploit the heck out of the story and people would keep watching.

I'm sure the plan is/was to just keep milking it until people stop watching and the ratings drop too low. It's insulting that these suits think they are smarter then the viewers and have some sort of "eye for art" when clearly they do not.

Now since these suits don't actually respect their viewers, and don't bother to think beyond the dollar a minute mentality they completely miss the mark. If they actually just made the story a nice 5 or 6 episode mini-series they would have made good advertising revenue all the way through the end. Then there would have been DVD sales of it too. Finally they would have earned the respect of the viewers for the network (that will remain nameless). Instead they leave you in shame of it and much more weary of watching anything of theirs again.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to take these conceded corporate network execs and shove them all under a their own mini- dome to rot.

Skip the aggravation and boredom, read the book instead.

The beginning of something great! It's got a seal of approval from King himself!

[chapy004 · 10/10 · 24 June 2013]

I've heard the first gripping episode of the Stephen King adaption deviates quite far from the book, yet that shouldn't lower you're hopes for this new TV series because being a part of the project himself as executive producer beside Steven Spielberg, and the mastermind that penned the novel, Stephen King has APPROVED THE SLIGHT CHANGES made to the story through the tough adaption from book to 13 episode TV series. AND BOY, DOES THE FIRST ONE DELIVER.

This sure is the beginning of something great! From the moment the dome drops to the last frame that leaves you stunned, the ride goes uphill, and fast. By the end of tonights episode, I would be shocked if you didn't have at least one cliff hanger that left you scratching, more like attacking your head for answers. I'll tell you there was one of those moments that left me gawking at the TV screen with eyes and every opening in my face hanging wide open! Is this the next Lost? I can't say that yet, but it looks to be something that rivals your favorite TV show, whatever genre it may be.

'Under the Dome' turns a humdrum Monday evening into a fun Friday movie night!

Not a fan of season 3

[bluesquirrel2004 · 7/10 · 13 February 2024]

On the whole, there was good pacing and narrative for Seasons 1 and 2. The slow unravelling of the storyline was enjoyable. The majority of the cast were well chosen and suited to their characters.

Season 3 was a let down. There really wasn't any complexity to the season 3 storyline, so trying to fill 13 episodes would have been difficult and that becomes obvious with long scenes, and scenes about nothing - some talking, some arguing and fighting, that adds nothing to the storyline, but does fill time.

Season 3 is at least six episodes too long- the entire season 3 storyline could have been revealed in eight episodes or less instead of 13 episodes.

Promising start, should have finished sooner.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 1 April 2018]

I'm not surprised by all the negative reviews. It's one of the most frustrating series I've ever watched, the premise is fantastic, a wonderfully clever plot, but after the first few episodes it seems to lose the plot completely. Series one was pretty decent I thought, watchable, Series two was more of the same, but felt a bit lethargic, Series three was an abomination, and shouldn't have been made, it totally lost the plot.

The acting was patchy, it started well, then seemed to go off the boil as it went on. I think had it been a single series, with a definite explanation it would have worked better, the usual criticisms with shows like Lost, Walking Dead etc is they milk them until they kill them, and have no choice but to cancel, sometimes less is more, in this case it would have been.

Interesting at the start, a few good bits, but way too many missed opportunities, all I can remember thinking was if I saw that cow once more I'd switch off, however I saw it through to the terrible conclusion.

A waste.

Read the book, love the show.

[drchristianaz · 9/10 · 9 July 2013]

I read the book and I am watching the show...while the book is different (my imagination is not the same as the show's director and/or writers) but it has enough there and what is different is enjoyable.

The concept is original, the characters believable and there is plenty of room for growth. I do see a few thinks they messed up, like having wind but hey, it's a TV show and they can only do just so much.

The CGI is fine, the accident effects are very realistic and they are keeping elements like the military's presence on the other side of the dome low key, a bit lower than I'd expect. If this were to really happen, I suspect we'd see a much larger government presence that a few Army Humvees and tents.

Oh, I wish they kept Jeff Fahey.

Two seasons great, third different and far from as good

[karlosslaj · 7/10 · 26 May 2020]

In the first two seasons, you are thrilled to see what happens next. The whole story is shrouded in mystery and creates a great atmosphere. By the third reason, main protagonists kind of lose that role and it feels different. Perhaps even weird. I recommend to watch first two, a third one wasn't as good.

I'm Rooting for the Dome

[pfogertyca · 3/10 · 13 July 2013]

What could have been an intriguing story has been ruined by a terrible script and even more terrible acting, not to mention a ridiculously over-the-top attempt at political correctness.

Chester's Mill, a beautiful town in the middle of nowhere with cute little houses and perfectly manicured lawns, is probably also the most diverse place in the entire world. This sparsely populated village that fits neatly under an invisible dome has Caucasians, African Americans, Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, and mixed race lesbian couples! The only group that seems to be missing is single Sri Lankan gay men.

Everyone seems to co-exist just fine, even though it's not clear if anyone in the town actually has a job, except for Beth Broderick, the local diner waitress who pours coffee all day, Natalie Martinez, the most incompetent cop ever to make it onto the force, and the dreadful Rachelle Lefevre as the local hard-as-nails journalist who spends most of her time skulking around through open fields and taking pictures of air. No wonder she lost her big city newspaper job and ended up under this plexiglass shield.

Once that darned dome comes down, Chester's Mill becomes a modern day Peyton Place and everyone's deep, dark secrets begin to surface. The problem here, though, is that none of the characters is compelling or sympathetic. We just wanna find out what's up with that dome, but instead, we're forced to watch these poorly conceptualized folks interact with each other with eye-rolling dialogue like, "So they say you're passin' through town. What are you runnin' from?" Every now and then, someone mentions they're worried the dome may collapse onto Chester's Mill. Frankly, my fingers are crossed that's exactly what will happen. No town this boring should be allowed to stay on the map.

Dome = 1 Chester's Mill = 0