Domicilic

After a slight dip, the ratings have been holding for the CBS summer miniseries Under The Dome, but I think I'm out.  When I watched the premiere I wasn't too impressed, but it's only gotten worse since.

The characters are still mostly cliches, but it's the action that truly fails.  A mysterious, impenetrable dome has descended over a village, which might make for a compelling narrative. Instead, we get pointless, ugly or nonsensical plotlines.

First, there are all these subplots that would be happening whether or not the Dome was there. I'm sorry, this is a show about a Dome, I don't want to waste 75% of the time on non-Dome-related activity.  Most loathsome is the disturbed young man who chains up a girl he wants to love him in an underground shelter.  Are we supposed to get sadistic pleasure in her plight?

But worse is the general reaction of the public.  When they're not panicking for no reason, they're acting as if nothing much has happened--going about their way, even going to work.  I'd think an event of this magnitude would pretty much end business as usual.

Instead I would think, almost immediately, there'd be a town hall meeting. What would they discuss?  Everything they could about the Dome. After figuring out who's in charge, they'd set about finding out its dimensions, how deep it goes, what effects it has, etc. Instead, we get this character or that investigating such things, but no concerted effort, when the town should be thinking of little else.

And how about a census of who's still in town, names and numbers?  And some sort of list of all the food and water available, as well as drugs and related medicines, and gas and electricity, and so on.  Then they should figure out if they can find or create new sources if their supplies run out.

And, of course, all along they should be trying to get out of the Dome and, failing that, contacting people outside the Dome.

I don't know if the plot is taken directly from the Stephen King novel, or if the producers have changed a lot, but I don't care.  As long as these people are wasting my time, why should I watch?