Under The Dome Season 1 Episode 5
Sara Legath
Under the Dome is an American science fiction mystery drama television series developed by Brian K. Vaughan and based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Under the Dome premiered on CBS on June 24, 2013, and concluded on September 10, 2015. 39 episodes were produced over the show's three-season run.
The series tells the story of the residents of the fictional small town called Chester's Mill, when a massive, transparent, indestructible dome suddenly cuts them off from the rest of the world. Military forces, the government, and the media positioned outside the barrier attempt to break it down, while the residents trapped inside must find their own ways to survive with diminishing resources and rising tensions. A small group of people inside the dome must also unravel complicated mysteries in order to figure out what the dome is, where it came from, and when (and if) it will go away.
Under the Dome is an American science-fiction mystery drama television series. It premiered on CBS on June 24, 2013[1] and concluded on September 10, 2015.[2] The series was developed by Brian K. Vaughan and loosely based on Stephen King's 2009 novel of the same name.
Under the Dome tells the story of the residents of the fictional small town of Chester's Mill, when a massive, transparent and indestructible dome suddenly cuts them off from the rest of the world. Military forces, the government, and the media start positioning themselves outside the barrier in an attempt to break it down. As this happens, the residents trapped inside find their own ways to survive with diminishing resources and rising tensions. A small group of people inside the dome unravel the complicated mysteries to figure out what the dome is, where it came from, and when (and if) it will go away.
Under the Dome was an instant success for the network. The premiere in June 2013 broke the record as the most-watched summer drama premiere on any television network since 1992.[3] The show continued to enjoy high viewership ratings throughout its first season,[4] but the second and third seasons of the series had significant declines in viewership.[5] Initially, Under the Dome had a positive critical reception,[6][7] which changed into mixed reviews as the series progressed.[8][9]
The Kinship is an alien species that can take over any living person and exert complete control over every action. Another species had sought to take over The Kinship's world, during an event known as "The Great Destruction". To survive, The Kinship abandoned their own world, hoping to live on another life-supporting planet. They place an egg inside a meteor to transport themselves across the galaxy, hoping the meteor would crash on another inhabited planet. Once there, the egg would infect the first life form that touches it.
In 1988, the Kinship's meteor crashes in Chester's Mill. Teenagers Melanie, Pauline, Sam and Lyle find the meteor in the middle of the woods. As they approach it, four glowing hand prints appear, one on each side of the meteor. When the four place their hands on the meteor, it opens, revealing a glowing pink egg. Attracted by the egg, Melanie picks it up. However, Lyle pushes her into the meteor, killing her and stopping the Kinship's infection process. Melanie's friends bury her and the alien egg, swearing never to talk about the incident again.
In 2013, two archaeologists, Christine and Eva, search for an intact egg, which they believe to be located in Chester's Mill. They work for a large energy company called "Aktaion," which has studied other eggs that crashed on Earth. All of the other eggs they had studied were damaged by their impact.
Christine and Eva find the intact egg. As Christine holds it, the infection process begins. A large pink explosion occurs, and a dome lowers around them, with a mini-dome descending over the egg. Christine and Eva are sucked into a large cave and cocooned.
Over the next six weeks, many events happen within the dome. Joe and Norrie find the mini-dome and the egg within it. The Kinship chooses Joe, Norrie, James, and Angie to be "the four hands," people who protect the dome, the mini dome, and the egg, and interact with them. Pink stars, a visible energy source, appear many times throughout the life of the dome, most noticeably on the egg.
In season 3, Christine resurrects Melanie, whom Christine uses to lure the townspeople into the caves so they can be cocooned and The Kinship can infect them. Halfway through the transfer process, Big Jim breaks the egg, preventing a full infection. Over time, the townspeople become absorbed by The Kinship, except for a few who fight the aliens and try to escape. These remnants of the townspeople are known as The Resistance: Julia, Big Jim, Joe, Norrie, Hunter, Barbie, and Lily, an employee of Aktaion.
After a while, the dome begins to deteriorate because the egg is being destroyed. As a result, The Kinship and The Resistance must work together to escape; otherwise, the dome will turn to stone, and everyone will suffocate and die. They eventually bring down the dome. However, The Resistance plans to capture and kill The Kinship. Once the dome comes down, the government enters Chester's Mill and imprisons everyone, letting the non-infected people (The Resistance) remain free.
All is well until a year later when The Resistance discover The Kinship's leader, Dawn, is still alive, posing as a schoolteacher and traveling with children to find another egg and bring down a new dome. She finds an intact egg and says, "We'll come back another time."
The project was first announced in November 2009.[24] Two years later Brian K. Vaughan was hired to adapt the novel as a series, then set up at cable network Showtime.[25] Showtime entertainment president David Nevins felt that the series was not right for the network and suggested to Nina Tassler, his CBS counterpart, that she take on the project. Tassler was interested and picked up the series along with attaching veteran television producer Neal Baer, who was under contract at CBS, as the showrunner. It was announced in November 2012 that CBS had bypassed ordering a pilot and given Under the Dome a 13-episode straight-to-series commitment. "This is a great novel coming to the television screen with outstanding auspices and in-season production values to create a summer programming event," commented Tassler in the official CBS press release.[26]
A teaser trailer was created specially for Super Bowl XLVII. Instead of showing footage, the teaser directed viewers to the show's official website, where they could enter their street address and postal code to view photos of what their homes and neighborhood would look like "under the dome".[27]
In the first season, Brian K. Vaughan and Stephen King served as executive producers along with Baer, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Jack Bender, Steven Spielberg, and Stacey Snider. Danish director Niels Arden Oplev produced and directed the pilot. Baer served as the showrunner for the series.[28] Vaughan exited the series before the premiere of season two, citing personal reasons. However, he had helped plan the second season with Baer and King before he left.[29] Tim Schlattmann joined the series as an executive producer for season three.[30]
Days before the series premiere aired on U.S. television, the cast and executive producers of Under the Dome met in Wilmington, North Carolina, on June 20, 2013, for an advance screening of the pilot episode. During the presentation event, the city's mayor, Bill Saffo, declared Monday, June 24, 2013, as "Dome Day", and awarded Stephen King a key to the city.[31]
On June 24, 2013, the night of the series premiere, entertainment website Vulture published an article about the economics of Under the Dome; to bring the expensive production (an estimated $3 million per episode) to life, CBS had struck a deal with Amazon Video that would bring new episodes to the platform four days after they debuted on CBS. That deal, estimated at $750,000 for each episode, covered one-quarter of each episode's estimated production cost. Additionally, the article says that foreign markets also played an important role in the financing, bringing in about $1.9 million, and with the North Carolina state tax credits the show earned for filming in the state, an estimated $400,000, meant CBS had already earned back the money they paid for each episode before the episodes even aired on TV. CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves described the deals: "Combining Amazon with the international syndication deal makes Under the Dome profitable immediately".[32]
On July 29, 2013, the series was renewed for a 13-episode second season, with executive producer and Under the Dome novel writer Stephen King announced to be writing the second-season premiere episode.[33] The second season premiered on June 30, 2014,[34] with King making a cameo appearance in the episode, as a customer in the Sweetbriar Rose diner. The second season ended on September 22, 2014.[35]
On October 9, 2014, the series was renewed for a third season.[36] During a CBS press briefing in May 2015, showrunner and executive producer Neal Baer promised answers in the new season. "We will tell you why the dome came down and what it's about", with new executive producer Tim Schlattman adding, "You'll see how these puzzle pieces form a puzzle that may be different from what you thought it would be".[37]
A month later, Baer provided some insight on the series as a whole, saying that each season has "an overarching philosophy". "The first year was faith, fear and fascism. The second year was faith vs. science. This year, it's the individual vs. the group, with the theme being the enemy within."[38]
The third season premiered on June 25, 2015.[39] Following information from CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler in August that "The Dome is coming down at the end of this season", speculation started that the third season would also be the final season,[40] which CBS confirmed at the end of the month.[2]
c80f0f1006