We return to the troubled town of Chester’s Mill tomorrow, but what is in store for all of our favorite characters this season?
Update: Read our recap of Monday night’s premiere episode!
Where we left off in season 1 of ‘Under The Dome’
When we left off in season 1, Barbie was about to be hanged for crimes Big Jim committed, while Junior seemed to be having a sudden crisis of conscience. Julia, the newly proclaimed Monarch, dumped the egg into the lake, which made those oft-referenced pink stars fall from the sky. The stars made the dome turn a bright white from its previous black. We also learned from one of the dome’s emissaries, disguised as Alice, that the dome is meant to protect the residents of Chester’s Mill…but from what, exactly? Surely not from themselves.
What’s coming in season 2
Ramifications
Aside from wrapping up the season 1 finale’s cliffhangers, season 2 is going to focus much more on the characters’ behavior, and how the dome is affecting them. “This is a season of transformation,” executive producer Neal Baer tells USA Today. “Last year was a season of secrets being revealed about our characters. Now, they really have to cope with the ramifications of what this all means, since it doesn’t look like they’re getting out any time soon.”
That’s not to say no one’s getting out though: “Maybe someone might possibly get out and someone might get in as well this year,” Baer says.
‘What is the dome trying to teach us?’
The dome seems to have developed a new super-power in the season 2 premiere: magnetism. And when you think about what might happen when an entire town is surrounded by a giant magnet, you can imagine the results are not good. Not only does Chester’s Mill contain a lot of metal things, but as Baer told reporters at CBS’s Summer Junket Day, “This is about ecological disaster pending – that magnetism has caused many things to happen.” Such as? “Biblical problems of pestilence and bloody rain” are among the adventures we can look forward to in season 2. “[The] characters haven’t been the stewards they should be, of protecting the land and each other. What is the message the dome is trying to teach us?”
The good and the bad
Not only that, but the season 2 premiere is going to be a killer, literally: two familiar characters will not make it out of the first episode alive. If you’ve been paying attention to casting news, you may have an inkling who will be going, but it will be shocking to see it all the same.
Also something to look forward to: an “unexpected kiss.” There was no shortage of kissing last season, between Julia and Barbie, and Joe and Norrie, but what will be interesting to see is what makes this kiss so unexpected. Is it the pairing, or the circumstance?
Trust in the King
Season 2 begins a journey all its own, as the series has now passed the events of Stephen King’s original book. But King fans needn’t worry, they’ve found the perfect person to pen the season 2 opener: Stephen King himself. Not only did he write the second season’s first episode, “Heads Will Roll,” but he will be seen in a cameo appearance in the town’s diner. In the cameo, the author, who has made brief appearances in other adapted works, “is just a citizen of Chester’s Mill for at least the moment.” For at least the moment? Who wants to put money on Stephen King’s character being the source the dome?
New Faces
While Under The Dome faces the same challenge Lost did of how to introduce new characters into a seemingly isolated setting, a few new faces are still going to manage to crawl out of the woodwork this season.
Sam Verdreaux (Eddie Cahill)
Sam Verdreaux is a recluse who has been hiding out somewhere inside the dome, but interestingly enough, happens to be Big Jim’s brother-in-law.
Rebecca Pine (Karla Crome)
Rebecca Pine is a teacher who brings some scientific knowledge to the table, and will also be helping Big Jim out in some way.
Melanie (Grace Victoria Cox)
Julia pulls Melanie from the lake after she dropped the egg, and afterwards becomes completely invested in her.
Cahill and Crome have both been added as series regulars, so it looks like the handsome recluse and the brainy teacher will be hanging around Chester’s Mill for a while.
‘Under The Dome’ Season 2 Preview
Under The Dome season 2, episode 1, “Heads Will Roll,” premieres Monday at 10 p.m. on CBS.