Under the Dome Season Two Opener Stephen King Cameo Stamp of Approval

The season two opener of Under the Dome has a Stephen King cameo that seems to show the author’s stamp of approval for the direction the show is heading. If that wasn’t proof enough that the writer likes the way things are progressing in Chester’s Mill, a behind the scenes clip, has King enthusiastically talking about how much fun he is having revisiting the denizens of the small dome enclosed community.

Fans of the show have learned to get over the fact that Angie manages to stay alive a whole lot longer in the TV show than she did in the literary version of the story. To be honest, the television version is pretty darn good regardless of how much it deviates from the source material. Even Stephen King seems to think so as he is one of eight executive producers on the show.

Season one’s finale saw Barbie aka Dale Barbara with a noose around his neck on the gallows with Big Jim urging Junior to hurry up and drop Barbara through the trapdoor. The pink stars, falling up, cause the darkened dome to lighten up while Jim Rennie tells his son to “Do it!”

Once the darkness is obliterated by the mysterious waterlogged egg, an unidentified ringing noise is heard by the citizenry of Chester’s Mill and this signals the magnetisation of the dome itself. People begin to pass out either from the signal or the magnetic pull. Meanwhile two new characters are introduced in the show. One from a cabin in the woods and the other is rescued from her watery appearance in the lake where Julia threw the egg in the season one finale.

Stephen King’s cameo in the season two opener, which certainly proves he has given Under the Dome his horror-meister stamp of approval, comes later in the episode. Before King appears, the show adds some mystery. For example, where did this young lady in the lake come from?

The magnetism of the dome causes the death of a much loved character and allows the dead to talk to another one. A science teacher tells Barbie that this phenomenon can cause hallucinations, which may explain why Big Jim Rennie sees Dodee in that underground shelter.

It may also explain Junior’s trip to Zenith, a city where his dead mother still lives and continues to paint those pink stars. Before the younger Rennie’s visit to another place, Barbie is set free, although not with Big Jim’s willing cooperation, and Dale goes to find Julia.

Angie, Joe and Norrie head to the McAlister house to check on Norrie’s mother. Unfortunately since the building is very close to the dome’s edge, the magnetic force is literally pulling the house apart. Barbie and the science teacher rush to the kids’ aid but not before Joe has a nail pulled through his hand by the dome.

While Julia leaves the lake, the science teacher has a plan to neutralize the magnetic effects of the dome and Chester’s Mill’s newest resident, the girl from the lake, wanders through the town. Before the tower can do its job more people pass out, including Junior who meets his dead mother.

By the end of Under the Dome Julia finds Barbie, Big Jim tries for a little redemption and Stephen King makes a cameo appearance as another resident of the beleaguered town. This stamp of approval for the show’s season two opener shows that the creator of Chester’s Mill and its denizens likes the direction the series is taking. Thus far, this televised adaptation of the book is very addictive. Episode two of season two airs on July 7.

By Michael Smith

Sources:

IMDb

cbs.com