S02.E03: Force Majeure

[Tara Ariano]

Chester's Mill faces a rapidly declining food supply, so Big Jim takes a census to forecast how long the town can continue to exist under the dire conditions. Meanwhile, a rainstorm brings much-needed water until it changes to acid rain and threatens the lives of everyone it touches.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Meanwhile, a rainstorm brings much-needed water until it changes to acid rain and threatens the lives of everyone it touches.

Won't it also threaten the crops -- the crops they just saved from the butterfly larvae with the magnetically modified feeding behavior ?  

 

I predict the acid rain's affect on the crops will NOT be mentioned for the entire episode.

 

ETA:  Saw a tv promo for this episode and it actually gets worse if that's possible.  Not only is there acid rain falling, it's red-colored so it looks like it's raining blood (and they even state in the promo "an event of biblical proportions" hits Chester's Mills). How incredibly lame is that ?

Edited July 12, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[FAU]

Won't it also threaten the crops -- the crops they just saved from the butterfly larvae with the magnetically modified feeding behavior ?  

 

I predict the acid rain's affect on the crops will NOT be mentioned for the entire episode.

 

ETA:  Saw a tv promo for this episode and it actually gets worse if that's possible.  Not only is there acid rain falling, it's red-colored so it looks like it's raining blood (and they even state in the promo "an event of biblical proportions" hits Chester's Mills). How incredibly lame is that ?

 

Very, now they're trying to be biblical all of the sudden?

[shapeshifter]

The episode's title may be, "Force Majeure," which literally translated from the French is "superior force" and legally is used for "acts of God," but I can't help imagining the folks who get to pick the titles sitting around a white board on which is the lone suggestion, "Big Shit," which gets changed to, "Big Manure," and finally, "Force Majeure."

[FAU]

The episode's title may be, "Force Majeure," which literally translated from the French is "superior force" and legally is used for "acts of God," but I can't help imagining the folks who get to pick the titles sitting around a white board on which is the lone suggestion, "Big Shit," which gets changed to, "Big Manure," and finally, "Force Majeure."

 

It might as well be.

 

ETA: And it is.

 

We get another annoying crazy religious fanatic stereotype, suddenly e-mails come in for some reason, and there's still more bs about the dome 'protecting' even though they're trapped there and people are dying left and right.

Edited July 15, 2014 by FAU

[ottoDbusdriver]

Wow, this show is stupid.  And not even just marginally stupid, but really, really, REALLY stupid !!

 

Julia is being bitchy to Barbie right after Barbie finds Dome girl going through his wallet -- you would think that Julia being a reporter would get both sides of the story before getting all judgemental.

 

Barbie is from the the same big city, Zenith, that Pauline Verdreaux is living in (and Junior has dreamed about).  Where exactly is the big city of Zenith supposed to be ?

 

Unless the high school or town hall has ditto machines, how did they print up all those questionnaires at the mandatory citizen registration ?

 

Fivehead is jealous of Joe's attentions of Dome girl.
Joe still has a working tablet at the high school -- after not having power for 2 weeks.  And it's fully charged ?

 

So Rebecca is going to build windmills as an alternate energy source -- where is the wind going to come from, they are UNDER A DOME !!!

 

Highly acidic red rain -- where's Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush when you need them ?
An abnormal algae bloom caused the red rain -- from the lake.  Sure it did Rebecca, sure it did. Because .... SCIENCE !!!!

 

How did the Scooby Doo gang get to the high school without getting acid rain all over themselves ?

 

That CGI red rain on the windows of Big Jim's car looked a lot like sperm.  And why weren't Big Jim's hands blistering from the acidic rain ? And why wasn't his clothing turning red from the rain ?  His clothes were simply wet, but that rain was bright red.  And for good measure, the sun was out during the rain storm while BIg Jim was being rescured.

 

Good call EMT Sam -- Big Jim is out cold due to anaphylactic shock from the rain.  How about he might have a concussion from the car accident ?

 

Blatant Microsoft Surface product placement.  I like the fact that Internet access was working at the high school -- how exactly ?  All landlines were cut and cell phones don't work through the dome, so how exactly was it suddenly working after 2 weeks of nothing ?  Better yet, why did they not contact anyone outside the dome telling them what happens, but they would rather check Twitter feeds and read e-mail. Idiots !!!  I'm starting to think the Scooby Doo gang are the dumbest of them all.  Better yet -- Joe's tablet shows the current weather conditions in Chester's Mill as 72 degrees and clear (despite the fact that it is clearly raining -- fucking Windows 8.1 can't do anything right)

 

How did crazy barber get outside of town to cause the car accident in the first place ?  He was helping out at the Sweetbriar Rose with the census.

 

Junior's mom is alive and leaving him video messages -- how did she get Junior's e-mail address ?  And Lyle Chumley used to bang Junior's mom -- and is crazy as a shithouse rat, going all Old Testament on Rebecca.  Crazy Lyle the barber gives Rebecca the spa treatment and she is non too appreciative -- as her back blisters from the acid rain.

How did the bowl of acid rain get from the floor (where Lyle placed it before the standoff) to Rebecca's lap when she threw it in his face ?  SCIENCE !!!
How did Barbie and Junior get their guns off the floor so fact ?  SCIENCE !!!

 

8 - 17 -1 -- Dome girl knows the combo to the mystery locker, and then the Internet disappears.  And it's Dome girl's old locker.  Priceless !!

 

Salination with some VH compounds -- that's good for the lake and all, Rebecca, but the entire town is soaked in acid rain.  And is she aware of how big that lake is ?  That truck full of hand-wavy compound wouldn't even make a dent in it.

 

Sam Verdreaux knew the dome was coming down. And told Lyle to lay low when it happened (well, he did lay low for two whole weeks).

 

This show is so incredibly stupid, no wonder the actresses that played Angie and Linda are happy they got out when they did.

Edited July 15, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[bmoore4026]

Ya know, I actually like Melanie the new girl. 

 

I don't like:

 

Crazy Sam

 

Softer, gentler Big Jim

 

Pissy Norrie

 

Social Darwinist Rebecca (though, admittedly, I am intrigued by how far she's willing to go)

 

Julia (in general)

 

Realist Barbie (though he is still cute)

 

Also, Dwight Yokum has a nice voice.  He's no actor, though.

[Accidental Martyr]

Why don't they just say, "The Dome turned the power back on!"? It would be much better than trying to keep up this pretense of the entire town running off generators, especially since the magnetism supposedly fried most of the generators. What are these generators (and cars) running off of? Lights, computers, tablets, security cameras etc. are all still working.

Why didn't the air bag go off when that car hit the tree?

[Rhetorica]

Wow, this show is stupid. And not even just marginally stupid, but really, really, REALLY stupid !!

Julia is being bitchy to Barbie right after Barbie finds Dome girl going through his wallet -- you would think that Julia being a reporter would get both sides of the story before getting all judgemental.

Barbie is from the the same big city, Zenith, that Pauline Verdreaux is living in (and Junior has dreamed about). Where exactly is the big city of Zenith supposed to be ?

Unless the high school or town hall has ditto machines, how did they print up all those questionnaires at the mandatory citizen registration ?

Fivehead is jealous of Joe's attentions of Dome girl.

Joe still has a working tablet at the high school -- after not having power for 2 weeks. And it's fully charged ?

So Rebecca is going to build windmills as an alternate energy source -- where is the wind going to come from, they are UNDER A DOME !!!

Highly acidic red rain -- where's Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush when you need them ?

An abnormal algae bloom caused the red rain -- from the lake. Sure it did Rebecca, sure it did. Because .... SCIENCE !!!!

How did the Scooby Doo gang get to the high school without getting acid rain all over themselves ?

That CGI red rain on the windows of Big Jim's car looked a lot like sperm. And why weren't Big Jim's hands blistering from the acidic rain ? And why wasn't his clothing turning red from the rain ? His clothes were simply wet, but that rain was bright red. And for good measure, the sun was out during the rain storm while BIg Jim was being rescured.

Good call EMT Sam -- Big Jim is out cold due to anaphylactic shock from the rain. How about he might have a concussion from the car accident ?

Blatant Microsoft Surface product placement. I like the fact that Internet access was working at the high school -- how exactly ? All landlines were cut and cell phones don't work through the dome, so how exactly was it suddenly working after 2 weeks of nothing ? Better yet, why did they not contact anyone outside the dome telling them what happens, but they would rather check Twitter feeds and read e-mail. Idiots !!! I'm starting to think the Scooby Doo gang are the dumbest of them all. Better yet -- Joe's tablet shows the current weather conditions in Chester's Mill as 72 degrees and clear (despite the fact that it is clearly raining -- fucking Windows 8.1 can't do anything right)

How did crazy barber get outside of town to cause the car accident in the first place ? He was helping out at the Sweetbriar Rose with the census.

Junior's mom is alive and leaving him video messages -- how did she get Junior's e-mail address ? And Lyle Chumley used to bang Junior's mom -- and is crazy as a shithouse rat, going all Old Testament on Rebecca. Crazy Lyle the barber gives Rebecca the spa treatment and she is non too appreciative -- as her back blisters from the acid rain.

How did the bowl of acid rain get from the floor (where Lyle placed it before the standoff) to Rebecca's lap when she threw it in his face ? SCIENCE !!!

How did Barbie and Junior get their guns off the floor so fact ? SCIENCE !!!

8 - 17 -1 -- Dome girl knows the combo to the mystery locker, and then the Internet disappears. And it's Dome girl's old locker. Priceless !!

Salination with some VH compounds -- that's good for the lake and all, Rebecca, but the entire town is soaked in acid rain. And is she aware of how big that lake is ? That truck full of hand-wavy compound wouldn't even make a dent in it.

Sam Verdreaux knew the dome was coming down. And told Lyle to lay low when it happened (well, he did lay low for two whole weeks).

This show is so incredibly stupid, no wonder the actresses that played Angie and Linda are happy they got out when they did.

Oh my gawd, Otto... You made this episode and the Weekly Calamity of Chester's Mill worth watching! Or better yet, I'll skip the show and just read your posts.

[xaxat]

I hate all of the people on this show. My favorite character right now is Julia's hair. Glad there is enough shampoo left to keep it looking good.

 

I thought the description of of shaking old people out of trees was hilarious! That's probably not what the writers were going for.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Why was no one thinking of how the acid rain would affect the crops ?  The crops they just saved the previous day.  

 

If the acid rain was strong enough to burn skin, how come clothes weren't melting off their bodies and paint dissolving off cars and buildings ?  Why weren't the leaves on the trees dissolving ?  I guarantee there will be no trace of any of the red rain next episode and no lasting effects -- no puddles or nothing.

[Pixiebomb]

Ok. I'm really mad because I can't get that stupid Peter Gabriel song off my mind now. Thanks Dome.

[thuganomics85]

Man, I just love it when characters start feuding with each other, and I hate all of them, so it really doesn't matter what happens. That is especially the case with Julia vs. Rebecca, which seems to be the big one.  Julia continues to be sanctimonious, pig-headed, science denier, who freaks out whenever someone dares to disagree with her.  I was cracking up over her outrage that Rebecca tossed acid rain on Dwight Yokum.  Do you even realize what Dwight was doing to her, Julia?  But, I can't be too upset, since Rebecca is a heartless, condescending, "hardass", who continues to play cheerleader for Big Jim, and smugly tout her awesomeness.  Also, I hate how she tried to hide her suggestion for so long, under phrases like "thinning the herd."  Just own it, Rebecca.  Shit is getting bad, and you just want to start killing people.  Don't pull shit like that.  Julia might be an idiot, but she's not that big of an idiot (Dearly Departed Linda though...)

 

Speaking of Dwight Yokum, his character was as preposterous as expected.  All this time, he was just hanging around Chester Mills, and we only learn about him now, despite the fact he was close to Jim, used to date Junior's mother, and was the town's barber.  Oh, and, of course, a big religious nut.  Characters suddenly "appearing" like this, is going to get very silly very soon, especially if it's more stunt-casting (maybe Willie Nelson can show up as a pot farmer.)

 

Sam is becoming more and more suspicious.  It sounded like he knew the Dome was coming down?

 

Meanwhile, the most interesting thing was the mysterious girl being this Melanie person, and being from the eighties.  I guess this could be somewhat interesting; the Dome bring people back from the dead (assuming, she die or something.)  It would even be hilarious if it was more recent folks.  Doubt they would do Angie or Linda (and I wouldn't wish that on the actresses), but it would be hilarious if Julia's dead husband came back.

 

Deputy Phil should go back to being a DJ, considering how little he's still used.

 

Under the Dome, you are such a silly, silly show!

[shapeshifter]

I thought the description of of shaking old people out of trees was hilarious! That's probably not what the writers were going for.

You young whipper snappers may be laughing, but I'm getting old was imagining myself hanging on to a banyan tree branch and wondering if I could. Heh. I guess that is a pretty funny image. ;>)

So were the director's instructions for this episode: Some of you, possibly all of you, have become psychotic. Got that? Okay, now, act! Or better yet, "knock 'em dead!" and maybe the younger actors took that literally. Heh.

Oh, Norrie, what are we going to do with you? Yes, this is a Steven King show, but you are a character and are not supposed to know that.

Edited July 15, 2014 by shapeshifter

[FAU]

 

Man, I just love it when characters start feuding with each other, and I hate all of them, so it really doesn't matter what happens. That is especially the case with Julia vs. Rebecca, which seems to be the big one.  Julia continues to be sanctimonious, pig-headed, science denier, who freaks out whenever someone dares to disagree with her.  I was cracking up over her outrage that Rebecca tossed acid rain on Dwight Yokum.  Do you even realize what Dwight was doing to her, Julia?  But, I can't be too upset, since Rebecca is a heartless, condescending, "hardass", who continues to play cheerleader for Big Jim, and smugly tout her awesomeness.  Also, I hate how she tried to hide her suggestion for so long, under phrases like "thinning the herd."  Just own it, Rebecca.  Shit is getting bad, and you just want to start killing people.  Don't pull shit like that.  Julia might be an idiot, but she's not that big of an idiot (Dearly Departed Linda though...)

 

Julia is certainly taking the reins now that Deputy Dumbass was off, last season she was just a bland non-entity, now they've made her even more annoying getting pissy at Barbie and we're supposed to care if/when she actually becomes the chosen leader?

 

As for Rebecca she was just annoying since episode 1 this season and I guess Jim needed a new dumbass cheerleader since the last one died.

[Blue Plastic]

I'm so tired of the writing trope of using characters who are Super Important but can't remember who they are or what they are destined to do, so I didn't mind Fivehead Norrie giving Mystery Girl Melanie a bit of a hard time.  It was about time someone did.  Julia was so laid back about it that she didn't seem to care if they ever found out why the girl suddenly appeared in the middle of the lake.  Also:  If Melanie didn't/doesn't know what she's supposed to do or who sent her, why did she apologize to dead Linda?  Why did she think she had some responsibility for Linda's death when she had just popped out of the lake with no memory herself?  Whatever!  Anyway, the previews for next week are giving a bit of a "Resurrection" feel to this show, which I don't mind.  This and whatever Dwight Yoakum might tell "James" are what I'm watching for at this point, aside from the chance to snark.

 

The acid rain thing was just done so badly - the effects, the jackets, the religious nut to replace the religious nut that Big Jim killed last year, the magic Internet connection that was not taken advantage of because only the reconfigured teen group noticed it and the whole town is too IQ-challenged to do anything right anyway, etc.

[Accidental Martyr]

The high school keeps a written record of which locker number is assigned to each student for the past 50 years?

[ottoDbusdriver]

Deputy Phil should go back to being a DJ, considering how little he's still used.

 

Where was DJ Chief of Police Phil for all this emergency red rain nonsense ?  He was in the background at the diner for about 30 seconds and then disappeared for the rest of the episode during the middle of an emergency.  Good job DJ Phil !

[shapeshifter]

The high school keeps a written record of which locker number is assigned to each student for the past 50 years?

For just such a time as this, don'cha know.

Not-so-big Jim Rennie tells his barber he has a date--with the school teacher who, in real life, is played by someone who is 25. Junior is played by someone who is 26. Dean Norris is and looks 51, and not a hot 51 either--unless maybe you are a hot 51 year old yourself.

We're supposed to forget now that both of Norrie's parents have died under the dome, right? Or would this make her a target for culling?

[Accidental Martyr]

We're supposed to forget now that both of Norrie's parents have died under the dome, right? Or would this make her a target for culling?

Mom #2 is still alive. We just haven't seen her or even heard her name mentioned since last season.

[ZoloftBlob]

Social Darwinist Rebecca (though, admittedly, I am intrigued by how far she's willing to go)

 

Oh I think one of the slightly clever things about the writing (I say slightly clever because overall this show makes The Following look intellectual) is that Rebecca is very clearly the driving force for the coming holocaust and her role is tear apart the peace that fell between Big Jim and Barbie/Julie. It's also quite fun how she's totally setting up Big Jim to take the fall as the monster.

 

The high school keeps a written record of which locker number is assigned to each student for the past 50 years?

I honestly thought this sort of petty bullshit was totally plausible. :)

[MomHasCooties]

Julia, you've known Barbie for two whole weeks!  And yet, you thought you "really knew him"?  Yikes.

[Dowel Jones]

 

I thought the description of of shaking old people out of trees was hilarious!

But...but...but I have an Immunity Idol!  It's not fair

 

I knew they would give Dwight a chance to sing.  Too bad he couldn't have launched into a rendition of "Streets of Chester's Mill"...

So, maybe someone should have reminded Crazy Lyle that, if the rain was there to wipe out the unbelievers, why was it necessary for him to wear a raincoat?

 

The high school keeps a written record of which locker number is assigned to each student for the past 50 years?

No doubt they put it to use at the alumni reunions to settle arguments and such.

 

So Rebecca is going all Dr. Strangelove on the town. Mein Fuehrer, I can walk!  Jim sure got a glint in his eyes in a hurry.  I do feel sorry for all the livestock that were judged to be unworthy.  They specifically mentioned the pigs, so that even if we didn't catch the Biblical anvil the first time around...

 

Email.  Twitter.  Facebook.  Gaaaah!  I half expected to see an entry like "Joe has updated his status".

[tv echo]

Every time either Norrie or Rebecca starts speaking now, I just want to slap their faces.  Then there's Julia with her reactive self-righteousness.

 

How did Rebecca even come up with her "only 75%" of the Chester Mills population can survive on the available resources.  If resources are really dwindling, then wouldn't that percentage slowly dwindle as well until you're down to maybe 1% and then zero?  Also, why should Big Jim be the one to decide who lives and who dies?  It's interesting that the ones who decide to "thin the herd" are never themselves the ones who get thinned - it's always someone else who's expendable.  If you're truly being cold and calculated, the most useless ones are the children and babies.  It's not like they need to repopulate the earth - there's plenty of people living outside the Dome.  But of course, they'll be weeding out adults that Big Jim and Rebecca deem 'useless'.

 

I know there are a few good actors on this show.  But something about this show makes them all come across like bad actors.  Even the background music is like the background music for a cheesy B-movie.

Edited July 15, 2014 by tv echo

[FAU]

Julia, you've known Barbie for two whole weeks!  And yet, you thought you "really knew him"?  Yikes.

 

 

Every time either Norrie or Rebecca starts speaking now, I just want to slap their faces.  Then there's Julia with her reactive self-righteousness.

 

How did Rebecca even come up with her "only 75%" of the Chester Mills population can survive on the available resources.  If resources are really dwindling, then wouldn't that percentage slowly dwindle as well until you're down to maybe 1% and then zero?  Also, why should Big Jim be the one to decide who lives and who dies?  It's interesting that the ones who decide to "thin the herd" are never themselves the ones who get thinned - it's always someone else who's expendable.  If you're truly being cold and calculated, the most useless ones are the children and babies.  It's not like they need to repopulate the earth - there's plenty of people living outside the Dome.  But of course, they'll be weeding out adults that Big Jim and Rebecca deem 'useless'.

 

I know there are a few good actors on this show.  But something about this show makes them all come across like bad actors.  Even the background music is like the background music for a cheesy B-movie.

 

Julia is so annoying, the nonsense she kept snapping at everyone about the dome protecting bs and about some girl you know even less about than Barbie.  She didn't even know about her husband last season.

[Primetimer]

It's raining (fake) blood in the Dome, and only religious zeal can stop it! WAIT, OR MAYBE SCIENCE!

Read the story

[xaxat]

If Science Lady is so damn smart, WHY ISN'T SHE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THE DOME!

[ae2]

Of all the insane, irrational, and impossible things that happen every week on this show, there is one I can't get over. For the second week in a row, little miss there's-a-scientific-explanation-for-everything-if-you-would-just-get-over-your-religious-zeal-and-climb-aboard-my-even-crazier-and-more-zealous-scientific-bandwagon-because-...-science-*snort* has claimed, "but Big Jim, you're so... big... and Jim-like... it is clear to me that this otherwise completely scientific dome chose you as the leader of this craptastic town."

And when is she going to realize that her mere existence disproves everything we know about science? There is no scientific explanation for the ongoing existence of this show.

It seems to me that they are building up toward a reveal that Sam, the recycled religious nut character whose entire presence is predicated on allowing him to belt out a tune at some point, and possibly Junior's not-so-dead-afterall mother, some 25 years ago, conspired together to kill a fellow student and buried her somewhere in Domeville, but the science-y dome had other plans and resurrected her so we could have some more false romantic tension, this time between the even more annoying teenage characters. It would make sense if they dropped her in the lake, since that is where we first found her, but the show loves to defy all things that make sense, so they probably cremated her and buried the ashes in a field.

When Julia finds out her new crush is actually a murderer, is that what pushes her back in the arms of Barbie, who we all know would never hurt anyone? Wait a second...

INTERLUDE

"Hey, guys. Guys. We have Internet. We should check Twitter on the brand new Microsoft Surface Pro 3. This tablet totes replaced my laptop from season 1, with its 12 inch display, up to 9 hours battery life, and optional keyboard, it can replace yours too. Oh, look, the Biebs is trending on Twitter. Good thing the Internet came back up for no apparent reason - quick, let me download some porn!"

BACK TO YOUR REGULAR SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

There was at least a brief mention of the precious crops being damaged by acid rain, but did we all forget there is an axe murderer on the loose? I guess he is just carrying out the Work of Science, after all.

Science Girl is all like, "we need to kill 25% of the townspeople in order to survive."

And no one is all like, "how do you figure? How long do we need to survive this wretch of a show... err, Dome? What did you do to get that number?"

To which she would verily push her glasses up on her nose and be all like, "you see, I went to every field in the entire dome and checked all the crops, taking into account my vast knowledge of Dome horticulture and the effects of red acid rain on fledgling grain; then I went to every house and business in town and took stock of all their pantries; I also stood in the woods and counted every deer, rabbit, and squirrel that went by; and read through our Nazi paperwork that we had everyone fill out (teehee, no one suspected a thing!); all of this I did in about 5 minutes while you were regaining your ability to speak; then I took all of that, broke out my abacus, and came to the conclusion that we need to kill a quarter of this town, but mostly those people that the audience has never seen before."

"Yeah, but how long will that let us survive?"

"Oh, at least until we need another food shortage to push along this lame excuse for a reasonable plot."

It seems that we're now stuck in an X-Files-like (maybe even Eureka or Warehouse 13) unexplainable catastrophe of the week situation. Except now we have Science Girl to solve it with some cockamamied plan based on a vague memory one of the writer's has from high school science classes. (Of course, to stop the acid rain, all we have to do is spray this lake that grew red algae overnight (wasn't Julia swimming in that just yesterday in show time?) with a basic solution. Spraying the lake always stops the rain, there's even a song about it, it's science *snort*.) It's only a matter of time before she dons the spandex and a mask.

Hopefully, with the culling, Junior's blackouts, and building up toward a cold case murder mystery, we'll move away from the anomaly of the week and back into some real interpersonal conflict. And not the "oh, Barbie, how could you not believe the Dome is here to protect us? It's only killed like twenty people and caused us to have food shortages to the point where we are even considering killing a few so the majority can survive. What kind of man are you becoming?" type of conflict either.

[FAU]

If Science Lady is so damn smart, WHY ISN'T SHE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THE DOME!

 

To have her spout out some technobabble and annoy us with her Big Jim cheerleading.

[Tara Ariano]

If I were Sherry Stringfield, I would be very offended that this show was making it seem like I was around the same age as Dwight Yoakam.

[LuciaMia]

 

If the acid rain was strong enough to burn skin, how come clothes weren't melting off their bodies and paint dissolving off cars and buildings ?

It;s one of tv's mysteries.  In the same way that when Dr. Bruce Banner turned into the Incredible Hulk, his shirt, socks and shoes were shredded...but never his pants.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I like how Rebecca used her mad science skillz to pump some goop into the lake (the polluted undrinkable lake water that forced that confrontation at Ollie's well) to counteract the acid in the rain, except that all that rain water will also drain down into the water table and become part of the well water.  Since that acid rain was as caustic as battery acid, treating just the lake won't help things.  They should run out of drinkable water in a few days -- just ignore all the blistering in your mouth, it's good for you.

[izabella]

It seems to me that they are building up toward a reveal that Sam, the recycled religious nut character whose entire presence is predicated on allowing him to belt out a tune at some point, and possibly Junior's not-so-dead-afterall mother, some 25 years ago, conspired together to kill a fellow student and buried her somewhere in Domeville, but the science-y dome had other plans and resurrected her so we could have some more false romantic tension, this time between the even more annoying teenage characters. It would make sense if they dropped her in the lake, since that is where we first found her, but the show loves to defy all things that make sense, so they probably cremated her and buried the ashes in a field.

 

Maybe it was the axe murderer who killed her, but Junior's mother had one of her blackouts and found the girl's bracelet under her bed and thought that she had killed the girl.  So she told her brother, and he and Lyle buried her so no one would find out.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Sam and Lyle "made a promise" 25 years ago, and Lyle is spouting contract law to get him out of the promise, because if there's one thing Chester's Mill has be known for since the dome came down it's obeyance of laws.  Sure, that also explains the near hanging of Barbie with no trial and no judge.

Edited July 15, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Good thing the Internet came back up for no apparent reason - quick, let me download some porn!"

I think you just put your finger on why the net went back down, or seemed to; it was the fault of all those other folks who noticed that it was back up and did exactly that.  :-)

 

 

The high school keeps a written record of which locker number is assigned to each student for the past 50 years?

It's not unusual for a high school to have something on hand showing current and recent assignments to each locker; just figure that whoever produced this one was computer-illiterate and could only manage to dump out the complete file. No good reason for the records to go back so far except somebody didn't want to be held responsible for missing anything when they computerized.

 

 

If the acid rain was strong enough to burn skin, how come clothes weren't melting off their bodies and paint dissolving off cars and buildings ?  Why weren't the leaves on the trees dissolving ?

Shouldn't something like that have totally ruined the engine of a car if you tried to drive anywhere?

[ottoDbusdriver]

 

Good thing the Internet came back up for no apparent reason - quick, let me download some porn!"

 

I think you just put your finger on why the net went back down, or seemed to; it was the fault of all those other folks who noticed that it was back up and did exactly that.  :-)

 

 

Who knew that the Dome had Time-Warner as its Internet provider ?  That would explain the shitty (and most times no) connection.  Maybe it was Comcast, they're just as bad.

 

Yet once again, no one has gone to the edge of the dome to investigate the banks of bright lights ringing the dome, or the military presence that they keep showing at the start of the episode.  

 

Looking at Junior's e-mail, some of it is just goofy.  People asking if they have food and water in the dome, that other's are praying for them, do they have power, did they feel the bomb go off, and of course the one from dead!notdead mom.  The completely random one is the e-mail from the Parish College Bursar's Department with the Subject Line "Waiting for a response" (in the pilot episode, Junior and Angie broke up because Junior was leaving for a college in a couple of days -- I guess Big Jim didn't pay up if the Bursar's dept is looking to hear from them).  And all the e-mail subject lines are nearly identical to the e-mails that Joe got in his e-mail (and they tend to repeat in the same pattern, but from different people).

 

And the biggest WTF -- on Fivehead's twitter feed, there's a tweet about the first vlog entry from under the dome -- which they haven't done yet.  There's also tweets about threats to go to war because of the dome, people road-tripping to the Dome for adventure, and the gov't conspiracy about the dome. Junior's mom is tweeting directly to Norrie (with the hashtag #SaveNorrie) -- how would she even know about Norrie ? Houndsofdiana, DOMEtruth, craziesbetalking, domeconspiracytheory, It'stoodamnhot, DomeforPrez, OutsidetheDome and RuinaChildrensBook (an @Midnight reference) are the trending topics.

 

Interesting that junior's mom has an e-mail address of 01@houndsofdiana.com, and if you go to houndsofdiana.com there's a video of Joe and Fivehead demonstrating electro-magnetism. Apparently the Hounds of Diana are supposed to be an alternate news site (like Vice).  A lot of people have @townofchestersmill.com e-mail addresses (sure they do), and Junior's e-mail address is jamesrenniejr@yoctomail.com (which is surprising since Microsoft is obviously a paid sponsor and he is using the Outlook.com portal to retrieve his e-mail).

Edited July 15, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[Accidental Martyr]

If I were Sherry Stringfield, I would be very offended that this show was making it seem like I was around the same age as Dwight Yoakam.

Are we supposed to believe that Dwight Yoakam, who is 57, was a high school student in 1988? Am I missing something, or isn't that what is implied by the picture of Sam, Pauline and Lyle from 1988?

[DrLar]

You guys know that houndsofdiana.com is a working page, of course from the show..

townofchestersmill.com isn't however, quickly register it and sell it!

[Rhetorica]

Snip

It seems that we're now stuck in an

"X-Files-like (maybe even Eureka or Warehouse 13) unexplainable catastrophe of the week situation.

At least X-Files, Eureka, and Warehouse 13's calamities of the week were unsolved cases based on paranormal activities, creative geniuses' ideas run amok based on science, and infused artifacts based on historical events. This "Sci-fi" show is based on nothing nearing science, paranormal, or credible fantasy tropes.

I watch to mock...

Edited July 15, 2014 by Rhetorica

[gaPeach]

 

Of all the insane, irrational, and impossible things that happen every week on this show, there is one I can't get over. For the second week in a row, little miss there's-a-scientific-explanation-for-everything-if-you-would-just-get-over-your-religious-zeal-and-climb-aboard-my-even-crazier-and-more-zealous-scientific-bandwagon-because-...-science-*snort* has claimed, "but Big Jim, you're so... big... and Jim-like... it is clear to me that this otherwise completely scientific dome chose you as the leader of this craptastic town."

I laugh out loud at this paragraph!  Loved your post and you should write an episode!  Jim-like HA!

[ae2]

At least X-Files, Eureka, and Warehouse 13's calamities of the week were unsolved cases based on paranormal activities, creative geniuses' ideas run amok based on science, and infused artifacts based on historical events. This "Sci-fi" show is based on nothing nearing science, paranormal, or credible fantasy tropes.

I watch to mock...

 

That wasn't meant to be a slam on those shows, as all 3 pull it off admirably. (I'm burning through my first ever watch of Warehouse 13 right now and loving every minute of it.)

 

With UTD, they are largely ignoring or breezing through all the more believable issues we would expect, like how they're going to cope without electricity, or what happens when the temperature starts climbing because they're stuck under a dome, why is the dome interfering with the ability for the townspeople to think for themselves, or even, I don't know, the fact that a week ago show time Junior was holding a girl captive in a dark cellar. Instead we get a lazy and unbelievable calamity of the week (magnetism! butterflies! acid rain! fight club?) that doesn't fit into the larger narrative, exists only because... dome, and is solved by a science teacher who apparently is the only one in the town with a modicum of brains. 

 

It's possible that my memory is failing me, but the first handful of episodes of season 1 were promising and maybe even good. I watch it now, like most, just to criticize and have fun. (Yes, I occasionally watch Syfy made for TV movies too. At least they know how awful they are :) )

Edited July 15, 2014 by ae2

[DrLar]

We already established the dome isn't sealed, it's breathable, otherwise they'll be dead by now and show's over..

 

- Water can get through

- Air should pass

- Has it's own atmosphere

- Smoke can get out

- Unlimited gas for cars and generators

[bmoore4026]

...and lo and behold, Melanie Cross is Drownsie! (But we can still call her Drownsie, right?)

 

But will Drownsie evolve into Hypno? (Sorry.  Couldn't resist the Pokémon reference.)

[Jordan27]

The two most annoying characters are Joe and his girl.   Could she be any more unlikeable with her interrogation of drownsy girl?

 

And who is writing Joe's dialogue?  Joe: Who will get us out of here?  Julia:  I don't know.  Joe: If you not you, then who?.....  Whatttttt?

 

Joe:  Don't go out into the rain.  It's dangerous.  (Next scene, he's out in the rain)

 

Notwithstanding the ridiculous plots, the actual dialogue is one of those ridiculous TV tropes where most of the characters don't speak like real people.

[SmallTownMom]

Just like "The Following", we started watching this show with such high hopes!  I am a Stephen King fan, but quickly became very disappointed.

 

It has become so lame and stupid that we only watch because nothing else is on, and it's fun to snark.

 

I never cared for Dwight Yokum, actually could never stand him or his music, so I hated everything about him last night.  I was trying to think who he reminded me of---and it is the scary old guy that comes after litlle Carol Ann in one of the Poltergeist movies. 

 

We also thought about the plants dying, and the 75% rule--who came up with that figure?

 

Excuse me, but I am going to find a sturdy tree and hang on for dear life!!!

[LoneHaranguer]

 

townofchestersmill.com isn't however, quickly register it and sell it!

Shouldn't the hostname for a town be a .gov? You can have a .com for paying fines and tax bills, but that's because it'll really belong to a financial services company hired by the town.

[Rhetorica]

That wasn't meant to be a slam on those shows, as all 3 pull it off admirably. (I'm burning through my first ever watch of Warehouse 13 right now and loving every minute of it.)

With UTD, they are largely ignoring or breezing through all the more believable issues we would expect, like how they're going to cope without electricity, or what happens when the temperature starts climbing because they're stuck under a dome, why is the dome interfering with the ability for the townspeople to think for themselves, or even, I don't know, the fact that a week ago show time Junior was holding a girl captive in a dark cellar. Instead we get a lazy and unbelievable calamity of the week (magnetism! butterflies! acid rain! fight club?) that doesn't fit into the larger narrative, exists only because... dome, and is solved by a science teacher who apparently is the only one in the town with a modicum of brains.

It's possible that my memory is failing me, but the first handful of episodes of season 1 were promising and maybe even good. I watch it now, like most, just to criticize and have fun. (Yes, I occasionally watch Syfy made for TV movies too. At least they know how awful they are :) )

I didn't think you were slaming them. I'm sorry if I came across that way. I'm just thirsty for some good Sci-fi. I, too marvel (mock) at how they forget the injuries. At least fivehead's boyfriend had a bandage on after a nail was ripped through his palm a few hours ago! Edited July 15, 2014 by Rhetorica

[izabella]

The two most annoying characters are Joe and his girl.   Could she be any more unlikeable with her interrogation of drownsy girl?

 

I am always annoyed by Joe + Norrie 4EvR, and I usually find Norrie annoying on her own.  But I find drowny girl even more annoying, if that's possible, so I was loving Norrie's interrogation of her. 

 

Now I need Norrie to go around interrogating everyone exactly like that, starting with the Sam and Lyle "Secrets R Us" duo.

[marieYOTZ]

What are the odds that everyone in the cast is BEGGING for their character to be one of the 25% that has to be offed for the town to survive???  

I wish they'd just go ahead and make this like the first ever "Choose your own adventure" show.  Or host a twitter "madlibs" each week to determine what the plot will be next week.  

[shapeshifter]

What are the odds that everyone in the cast is BEGGING for their character to be one of the 25% that has to be offed for the town to survive???

I wish they'd just go ahead and make this like the first ever "Choose your own adventure" show. Or host a twitter "madlibs" each week to determine what the plot will be next week.

The ratings would go through the (dome) roof if they did an American Idol-style viewer vote to decide who dies this week.

So please, everyone, don't give them any ideas. I need this show to get canceled because if I haven't stopped watching already, that's likely the only way I will.

Edited July 16, 2014 by shapeshifter