The Leftovers - Don't Give Up On This Show!

The Leftovers – Don’t Give Up On This Show!!!!

Here we sit halfway through the first season of this new HBO show and I have decided that I am all in for the long haul. For the uninitiated this show takes place 3 years after the sudden vanishing of 2% of the earth’s population. I know I am in the minority for deciding to stick with this show as many people have decided to quit this program while many more never even gave it a chance. Just yesterday a whole article on the EW website was about why that author was no longer going to view this program; this shows you what I am up against with my views. My own wife just the other day declared “no more!” to "The Leftovers" meaning I now have to find time on my own to watch this show, a tough but not impossible task. Yet, I will find the time as I think this program is worth it. There are countless reasons people have decided to jump ship and I will attempt to discuss each of those points throughout the rest of this post.

Let me start with one of the biggest gripes I have heard so far, “Why do we have to follow the Garvey family, they didn't even lost anyone in the departure”? I believe the fact that this family did not lose anyone from their immediate family is exactly why they should be the main focal point of the show. Yes, it would be easy to follow someone like Nora who lost both of her kids and husband in the departure because she is someone the audience can instantly sympathize with. We would all say to ourselves, “Who cares what she does, its justified, she lost her entire world”. Yet, when you think about it, wouldn't we as an audience actually be able to relate to a family more like the Garvey’s. Only 2% of the population vanished making it a good chance that in this situation most people may not have lost anyone in this event, but in the end everyone on earth was affected one way or another.  How could anyone go on living in a world when at any moment now someone could just vanish? That fear alone would make us all question ourselves and the world around us; nothing would be the same anymore. I have gathered must people have no issue with the father Kevin Garvey (he seems to be doing his best keeping the town safe and his family intact) or his daughter Jill (she is moody but we get that since she is a teenager and her mom just joined the town cult) so I will spend my time on the two most hated members of this family unit. Let us start with Tommy Garvey who even annoys me and seems like an idiot for following the “Cult of Wayne” but I understand it.  Here is a kid who was abandoned by his biological father at an early age, he grew up with a mom who suffered from depression, and he then witnessed college kids committing suicide after the departure. This is a kid without a tether who went looking for any meaning in this new world. It sucks that he found his answers and put his trust in what seems to be a creepy guy who is having sex with underage girls; but Wayne seems to be offering relief to people around him.  Then there is of course the mom Laurie Garvey. From the very first episode she has not been a fan favorite.  She was always going to be a tough character to like from the fact she abandoned her family to join the “Guilty Remnant” cult; a cult that is so infuriating I will write more on them next. We learn in the first episode she left her family and she didn’t even “lose” anyone when the world vanished.   I don’t understand why the audience would need her to lose someone to be affected by this event.  There are countless reasons why she may have snapped after the vanishing. First we learned she has always been prone to depression before the world changing event, second the father of her first child left them (maybe even beat her), and finally her current good husband Kevin cheated on her. When you add all these facts up, one can see how the certainty of what the Guilty Remnant believe could be enticing to her. She is a very flawed woman, but won’t that make her journey hopefully to redemption throughout the series that much more gratifying.  There was a moment at the end of episode 5 where you finally thought she was coming to her senses and getting ready to re-join the world, that if she had, man, everyone would have cheered. The fact that she remained with the cult was sad; yet the show worked, I was feeling for her as a character on television.  When one looks at all the facts it is easy to see why following this family makes sense.

I will now tackle one of the most talked about and hated aspects of this show, “The Guilty Remnant”, The chain smoking, stalking, and quiet cult members that infuriate the towns citizens and viewers all across the world.  I hate everything about this cult too, and I am supposed to feel that way. There is something that just stirs up so much hate as smug assholes who wear nothing but white stalk families who lost a loved while at the same time smoke cigarettes.  Every time they appear on screen I just want to punch one. The thing is, I am pretty sure the writers want us to feel that way so that we can understand why everyone on the show hates them too. The audience and the characters on the show each feel the same hatred and therefore we can relate to one another and understand.  Viewers have questioned why the members of this cult would want to subject people to such sadness and make them remember what they are trying so hard to forget and move on from. Perhaps the “Guilty Remnant” do not want people to move on like we as a society have done many times.  Countless times major tragedies have happened to the United States; the moment after that the world is united; a few months later the world has moved on. Try and remember all the cars that sported American Flags after 9/11; now try and think of the last time you saw one.  The difference between past real tragedies and the one in the show is that in the real world, we know what and who caused the bombing of buildings and planes. We have bad guys we can capture and hold accountable for their crimes and help us move on. Yet, in this show 2% of the world has vanished and no one knows why it happened and who did it. This is not something you should just forget. This act should transform everything you ever believed and turn your world upside down. Are there better ways to make people remember then what the cult does; of course, but they do what they think needs to be done. I hate them but I understand them.  The real brilliance is I hate them so much that I actively cheered when one of them was stoned to death in a previous episode. I saw this as an act of catharsis and I was just watching a show. These maybe the least sympathetic character's to ever grace a television screen. 

Another thing I have heard is that the show “is too depressing”, “moves to slow” and “I don’t know where the story is going”. I like the fact that all of these issues are true.  This may be the most depressing show HBO has ever done and they once had a show centered on nothing but death.  I would expect this show to be sad, a horrible act happened that offers no closure and no hope.  This is how I fully expect a town to react when everything from normalcy to religious faith has now been questioned. Every day you walk the earth in this universe you will always ponder "why did that person vanish", "why didn't I vanish", "who took them", and "will they ever come back".  Secondly, I know the show can be a bit slow but I am invested in that slowness. This allows each scene to be played out and allow the drama to percolate the whole hour. I never know what could happen at any second and that leaves me on the edge of my seat.  Finally, some have found this show aimless as so far none of the big questions are even discussed about the departure or the larger meaning behind it.  I believe at some point the show will get around to answering the big questions questions but in the meantime I sit and wait for the answers the same way these characters are also stuck in purgatory unable to move on from the departure because they still don’t understand it. That in essence is the brilliance of the show, the viewers and characters are in this journey together. What was frustrating with a show like “Lost” was someone always had the answers but just refused to tell us, here, no one knows anything and we are on this journey together.

The biggest thing going for the show is its unpredictable and strangeness.  One never knows what type of episode you will get.  One second a huge plot point could be the sheriff focusing on whether someone stole his bagel or if he is crazy and left to ponder if he ever even had a bagel to having a whole episode centered around the great character of Matt Jamison played by the amazing actor Christopher Eccleston. That episode as we follow Matt trying to save his dying church should alone show you the potential this program has. That episode had me captivated the whole time and I never knew I would care so much about the outcome of  a game of roulette as Matt bets everything he has to try and raise the money he needs. This episode also went and showed us that even though you may not lose someone physically when the the vanishing happened does not mean your world is forever changed. Matt's wife is still around but is basically comatose because the day of the vanishing caused her car to crash. In addition Matt is a priest and once the vanishing happens he loses most of the city as they now all question their faith in god.   

I know this is not the most exciting show, it sure doesn't have the action of “Game of Thrones” or “24” both programs I love but this is great for other reasons. In a world full of  "Case of the Week" Cop Shows and shows that insult our intelligence such as “Under The Dome” I like this look deep hard look at a world full of broken humans while I root for their recovery.  

*On a side note please do not forget that this show does have some sense of humor, I mean the whole cast of “Perfect Strangers” are part of the departed!!!  

Someone Must Save Us From The Ape Uprising!

Someone Must Save Us From The Ape Uprising!

I remember watching the first “Planet Of The Apes” when I was younger with my father and loving it even though the ending was spoiled for me long before thanks to a certain episode of “The Simpsons”. Once I finished the first movie I immediately watched the next 4 I as was just enamored with this universe. I know the movies have lots of crazy elements, political allegories, and take some weird tangents but as I kid I didn’t notice any of this; I just saw entertaining movies. That being said, I was actually excited for the 2001 Tim Burton remake. I remember seeing the posters for the movie and expecting a bigger version of the movies I loved so much. Of course, the movie came out and it was horrible.  Now 10 years later we finally have the start of a new Apes franchise and so far it has delivered. “The Apes” franchise being one of my favorites I decided I cannot just write a review of “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” but instead rank and discuss all of these movies that have entertained us since the 1960’s. I spent the last week re-watching all the “Apes” movies to get ready for this new one and that helped me put in context where this one ranks amongst them all.

HONORABLE MENTION – “Planet Of The Apes – The Musical”

Suffice it to say this short “Simpsons” clip has brought me joy my whole life. I sweat I had the “Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius” musical number in my head for the last month with the buildup of the new film. This short clip of the musical the show gives us is just a clever take on the original movie and has made all fans of that movie happy since it aired.

8.) Planet Of The Apes (2001) – Tim Burton

There are not many good things to say about this movie. The one and only positive aspect of this entire film was that at least the monkeys were not CGI but men in costume. The CGI is great in the new films but it felt really cool to see someone take the practical approach of the original series and improve on it with all the new techniques that had been discovered in that time. Outside of that this movie just had too many flaws, more then I care to mention as others have rehashed them since it was released. I will say my biggest gripe was that the humans all talk. The original “Apes” had humans treated as animals because for all intended purposes they were. Those humans could not talk and did not have rational thought. The Apes saw them and treated them as animals because that is how they acted. That is why Charlton Hesston’s character confused the Apes. He was man displaying abilities they had never seen in humans before. In Tim Burton’s version, the humans clearly have the power of speech and thought and yet the Apes treat them like morons who don’t have a soul. An Ape even states in the movie “Humans have no soul”. I completely believe if in our world Apes who could all walk, talk, and reason, we would not treat them the way we do right now. We would understand that apes are intelligent creatures and not something to be tested on. So why do the “Apes” in Tim Burtons movie treat humans like idiots I have never understood. Also what makes the humans different then Mark Whalburg once he arrives on the scene is not clearly evident. Someone suggests they see “something in his eyes”. I guess Mark’s eyes just scream intelligence or something, I am not sure. As you can see there is a lot wrong with this movie beginning at the basic idea of what the original movie was trying to say. However, if you are into seeing the budding romance between Mark Whalburg’s human and Helena Bonham Carters Ape then go ahead and watch this disaster.  

7.) Escape From The Planet Of The Apes

 Right off the bat I understand this may be a controversial decision. Many people believe this to be one of the better “Ape” movies in the franchise. I have placed this movie at 7 not because it isn’t enjoyable but because of its purpose in the franchise. This film is very entertaining as it shifts from comedy to dark drama so suddenly and does it well. This movie poses lots of ethical questions, like is it ok to murder innocent Apes if mankind may be saved from disaster hundreds of years into the future. This movie also has one of the darker endings as the humans murder our two hero apes and their just born child in cold blood. As viewers we care for these apes; they have been our audience surrogate since the first movie in the franchise. Cornelius and Zira have been the voice of reason for 3 movies and never hurt a fly. I should not care if they live, I should be rooting for the humans here as they are looking out for the race I belong to but I just do not. The apes here represent the good I want in the humans while our people show us exactly the root of our problem. We take drastic actions out of fear; fear that if we don’t kill these apes our future as the dominant race will end. Yet, by murdering the innocent we actually start in the motion the future we feared of.  That being said, why then do I place this movie so far down the list? The answer is that this is less of a movie and acts more like a bridge between the first 2 movies in the original franchise and the last 2 films of the franchise. This movie was made to find a way to extend this series after the earth was destroyed in #2 and achieves that. The series would go on after this and it still does today. As a bridge movie this film works, but it is still just a bridge movie. Also this is the only “Apes” movie that had only 2 apes. When I see a “Apes” movie I just need more Apes!  

6.) Battle For The Planet Of The Apes

This movie to me had the most potential that almost fulfilled its promise but was let down by a lack of budget. When this movie came out the “Apes” franchise was dying and so budgets were cut which really ate into this ambitious movie. The theme of this film was to finally see the beginnings of Ape culture and have them living side-by-side with the remaining humans in a sort of peace. From their view Apes let the humans live but under strict rules since they do not trust the race of men who until recently had enslaved them. Throughout the film we see some Apes beginning to act against Apes which shows that in the end all intelligent races will always end up being the same; there will be good and the bad. With the promise of a new intelligent species we witness also the beginning of history repeating itself as all races will repeat the evils of what came before. In addition, the Apes have to deal with a band of mutant humans who were altered by nuclear blasts as they try and reclaim the earth. In the end we have a battle of humans vs. apes vs. mutants and for some reason it all makes sense. This movie also continues to display the dark themes of this franchise as Caesars kids is murdered by another Ape to start a revolution among their clan.  For all these positive things, the film ends up being a little hokey due to the small budget. One wonders what might have been had the producers had the money to make what they wanted.

5.) Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes

Thanks to the constant marathons of the original franchise on SYFY in the last few weeks I have now seen this for what seems like 10 times. This film had the most action of any of the original movies and was just a bunch of fun. There are of a course a bunch of loop-holes and silliness that exist in this movie but I tend to ignore them. I mean what type of disease wipes out just all domesticated dogs and cats; are lions and wolves spared this mayhem? The movie also claims that in like the span of 10 years humans quickly made apes their pets and then just decided to make them our slaves. This movie takes place in an Ape conditioning center which means we were really efficient in starting this system so fast.  Add in the fact that I am supposed to believe Caesar gets all the Apes o understand him so fast is just ludicrous. Yet, for all these issues, the film is just a fun Ape vs. Man ride. That is pretty much the whole story as this movie had the smallest plot of almost all of the Ape movies. Add in what is an incredible performance by the great Ricardo Montalban as Armando and you will be entertained for the full running time.

4.) Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

I have been debating for days if I enjoyed this movie more than its predecessor “Rise” and came to the conclusion that it just does not rate higher. This is the second movie in the new and updated “Ape” movies and it is fantastic. This film is quite possibly the best movie of Summer 2014. As I watched this on screen I found myself just buying into everything this movie was selling. The basic plot of this movie is that it has been 10 years since the Simian Flu and the Apes who have a makeshift early society outside of San Francisco find out that there are in fact still humans on earth today. The conflict arises because the Apes do not trust humans and want to be left alone but the humans need a power plant nearby to become operational for their own survival.  Both sides have leaders trying to work things out and keep the peace while also having detractors who stir up trouble. What is great about this movie is that as an audience you can understand why each side is weary of the other, and don’t fully blame the detractors for starting trouble. For example, Koba is an ape who was used for experiments all his life by humans and he will never trust them. Suffice it to say things go wrong and both sides up at war.  What is so powerful though is that as a viewer is I didn’t want war. Sure I came to the movies to see an action flick, but an hour into the movie I liked both sides so much I didn’t want anyone to get hurt; that is some powerful filmmaking. Then once you add the brilliant special effects and the effective smaller side stories (such as Caesar’s son Blue Eyes learning that actions have consequences) I could only give this film an “A”. The question becomes then why didn’t I rate this higher than “Rise”?  I concluded that I believed everything going on in this universe because the world building of “Rise” was just so good. I rooted for the Apes because their origin story was so strong. I have re-watched “Rise” countless times and it always holds up. For those reasons I just couldn’t place it higher. The action here is stronger but the smaller moments within the Ape society just didn’t affect me the same way it did with Caesar hanging out with John Lithgow in “Rise”.

3.) Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

This was the movie that re-ignited the Apes franchise with a bang in the Summer of 2011. Going into the summer, everyone was skeptical about this movie; I was not. I was floored by the trailer and went into the movie expecting greatness. This film delivered an amazing origin story to a franchise I hold dear. Sure the special effects were great but that’s not what I rank a movie off on. The relationship between Caesar and his surrogate father played by James Franco and his surrogate Grandfather played by John Lithgow was excellent. Then you have moments that are breathtaking as we get to watch Caesar discover his true strength and ability for the first time in the Redwood Trees. This all happened during the first half of the movie, the second half deals with Caesar learning to become a leader with the others Apes that are trapped with him inside this “Ape Sanctuary”. I should add that how sad it is when Caesar is taken from his home due to a misunderstanding is heartbreaking, and that is the true strength of this movie. As a viewer you fall in love with a CGI Ape and root for it to kill humans. As I said, you don’t care about the sequel unless this movie set up Caesar in a way that makes you love him. This was the first in now what I hope is many more Ape movies because I bought this universe hook, line, and sinker.   

2.) Beneath The Planet Of The Apes

At first view people may be confused why I ranked this so high. The answer is quite simply because this is the one of the most weird and dark movies in the entire franchise.  When  I was younger I never thought this was a great movie, I figured it was just basically a rehash of the first film but with James Franciscus taking the place of Charlton Heston as the astronaut Brent. I recently re-watched this movie and discovered how wrong I was. Yes, the film repeats some of the same beats as the first movie but with one added dimension; mind reading mutants who worship an atomic bomb. It was always going to be hard to top the original movie, but by going weird this film is able to come real close. This allows all the future movies to be able to go for broke as well because this film proved you can take this universe into off-beat directions and audiences will come for the ride. The plot was pretty basic as it was Apes vs. Mutants with our heroes stuck in the middle. However, it’s quite sad that as much as we change as a society, we always end up back at the same place, war. This movie took war one step further and just decided to blow up the earth. As anyone could tell you, the last 15 minutes of this movie is about as genius as it gets and as dark as this franchise may ever end up going. To have a narrator end the movie mentioning the earth’s destruction and have it sound insignificant is like a punch in the gut. For all these reasons, I decided to make this my #2 Apes movie of all time.  

1.) Planet Of The Apes (1968)

Like there was ever any doubt that this would be ranked #1. Without this classic none of these other movies on my list would even exist. This was just a masterfully done film with a great performance by Charlton Heston.  By now everyone knows the plot of this movie and the twist ending that truly turned everyone’s word upside down. The more amazing thing is that even without that surprise ending, this movie is dam entertaining, You feel so angry that the Apes treat Hestons character of George Taylor so bad once he shows he can talk. You wonder why they refuse to believe he has a soul and act as if he doesn’t matter. To the Apes the humans are nothing but animals to be used at their will and no one (not even a smart human) will change that. That’s what is so great about this movie, its basically an allegory showing us how slaves were treated back in the days as owners just ignored these people their human rights. People forget that Rod Serling was a master of not just a surprise ending but by also using genre stories to show us the truth about our culture. I am not sure we will ever find a creator as genius as Serling and having him and Heston work together was just the perfect combo that made this silly movie idea work and be extraordinary.

A Tribute To Bill Paxton: True American Hero
In Honor of Sarah Marie Entin

Over the 4^th of July weekend my wife and I got into a discussion about just how great “Independence Day” is while we watched it per our usual tradition for this holiday. At one point we were joking around that truly Bill Pullman is the best President the United States has ever had and he is a true American Hero. However, during this conversation my wife accidentally said Bill Paxton not Bill Pullman was the hero. We both know who she meant, but it got me thinking about Bill Paxton and that she may have just been right the first time.  I have not seen all of Bill Paxton’s work but whenever he pops up in a movie or television show I instantly know that whatever I am watching will be worth it.

To truly appreciate Bill Paxton I must start off with the only movie I have seen with him as the overall lead; “Twister”.  “Twister” is a ludicrous movie built around people who chase tornadoes trying to come up with a warning system for Tornadoes to give people a real chance of fleeing areas where they are about to hit.  Bill Paxton plays Bill Harding a founding partner of this group of tornado chasers that left but just happens to come back at the exact moment that 5 different tornados are going to hit in the span of 2 days. Suffice it to say all hell breaks loose, debris is thrown, houses are destroyed, cows go flying, and romances are made. Bill Paxton does an amazing job keeping this movie as grounded as possible where he has two face two villains; tornadoes and just for good measure a smarmy Cary Elwes who is trying to beat Bill Paxton’s character to the punch.  If you ask me Bill Paxton had a tougher job in trying to handle all the different things going on in “Twister” then Bill Pullman had to do in “Independence Day”. Some will say taking out aliens is a tough task, don’t tell that to Bill Paxton who survived an F5 twister with nothing but his belt! At the end of the day, yes “Independence Day” made more money in the summer of 1996 and is viewed annually by millions of people, but “Twister” survives today too as an amazing attraction at Universal Studios Florida entertaining millions of people.

Bill Paxton has a way of playing the same character a lot of the time. Outside of “Twister” and a few other pieces of art, Bill Paxton plays some sort of sleazy/smarmy guy you just want to hit. Look no further than his character in “True Lies” as he tried to seduce Jamie Lee Curtis with lies that he is a secret agent. Then of course is his role in “Vertical Limit” (under-appreciated movie) where he is an evil tycoon who has no problem trying to kill people in his climbing crew just to stay alive.  Finally there is his role in “Aliens” as Private Hudson as a cocky soldier who also can be a really big coward at the same time. This to me was his big break. He took a character you really should hate; a soldier that talks the talk but when push comes to shove actually is a horrible solider.  I mean Private Hudson is such a scared little man that you realize the little girl Newt has more courage than him. However, Mr. Paxton was just do dynamic that you end up just loving his character. He is able to make you root for people you should hate. You want to spend more time with these villains because they are played by Bill Paxton. All three movies I listed didn't star Bill Paxton but he sure made them better.

What makes Bill Paxton so great though is the fact that he can go beyond his archetype to deliver solid performances you never see coming.  The movie “Club Dread” was awful, no way around it. The only redeeming feature for that entire flick was Bill Paxton who played a Jimmy Buffet inspired Coconut Pete.  He steals any scene he is in. His character owns a spring break type island based off his hit song “Welcome to Pina Coladaburg”.  As you watch this movie you can tell Bill Paxton is just having a good time. I would rather watch a movie based off this character then the horror-parody this film was trying to be.  Finally for a real gravitas performance for Bill Paxton go no further than “Frailty”. Bill Paxton plays Dad Meiks a good and honest father who all of a sudden enlists his two sons to help him murder people he claims to be demons. I will not spoil this movie which is a truly under the radar gem but Bill Paxton truly sells the earnestness of his character and the devotion in carrying out these acts he believes to be true.

To conclude I think this has been such an easy topic to right about because Bill Paxton has been popping up a little more as of late reminding Americans how much spark he truly adds to things. This year on “Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” it wasn’t until Bill Paxton guest starred during the back half of the season did the show really take off. He played John Garrett a member of SHIELD. He was good at playing the hero alongside the star Agent Coulson and was even playing the big bad later on. He gave the show a much needed dose of adrenaline and made it a must see program late in the year.  Mr. Paxton was even fun in his little role in “Edge Of Tomorrow”. His character does not do much but he worked great as someone for Tom Cruise to bounce lines off of.  You could tell he was just having fun with this role and really showed.

Is Bill Paxton really an American Hero probably not, and he probably will never get to headline a movie like “Twister” again. Yet, he is one hell of an actor that somehow always ends up in great material and adds to it. 

Under The Dome: Seasons 2/Episode 1 – “Heads Will Roll”

Under The Dome: Seasons 2/Episode 1 – “Heads Will Roll”

I have to be honest when I say I almost did not watch the second season  premiere episode; It came down to the wire for me to even decide to record this episode. I am a huge fan of all things Stephen King and love to read everything he writes and watch all the shows/movies that are made out of his books. To this day my favorite mini-series of all time remains “The Stand”. Yet, my love for Stephen King goes beyond that. He has a way of creating worlds and characters that feel real and is never afraid to have his stories go to some dark places. I always tell people to watch the “Storm of the Century” mini-series from back in the day. It is an over-looked Stephen King masterpiece that shows that happy endings do not always come true.  With that said you may ask "why I didn’t want to come back to “Under The Dome”".  For starters I should admit I am a fan of the book; I even do not mind the controversial ending. I loved this idea of what would happen to a town that is in theory still part of the USA but actually now on its own.  To me this story is like Stephen Kings own take on that classis Twilight Zone masterpiece “Monsters on Maple Street”. Throughout the book it is easy to see that this town becomes their own worst enemy. 

Why did the show fail in season one where the book succeeded? I think the biggest reason was that CBS was not sure if this show would be successful. This lead them and the writers to make a 15 episode season based on the book and call it a “limited series”. This philosophy made the first season a weird mix of adding new elements to the story but also trying to stay true to others from the book.  The biggest example of this problem can be found best in the character of Junior. This is a kid that is unhinged in the book. We are told he has some sort of raging tumor inside of him that keeps getting worse and sending him further into madness. In the book this causes him to out-right murder his girlfriend Angie during the first day the dome is down and then keep her hidden from everyone else. There is no grey zone with Junior; he is a murderer and a villain in the book. The character of Junior on the show is a whole different story. In the show he didn't murder Angie but just locked her up in a basement as his prisoner for the first half of the season.  He is a little crazy on the show but its more due to probably being raised by his father Big Jim and not a tumor. Then of course the show became a huge hit last Summer and CBS knew they would be bringing it back this year. All of a sudden Junior in the back half of the season is seen as slowly changing sides and even is mentioned as someone who has been pre-destined to help bring the dome down. I feel the writers realized that having crazy characters just acting nuts and never learn anything can work in a book that has an end point but the character of Junior as he was written just will not do on the TV screen.  Look what works on one medium does not always transfer to another.  However, as I have said, during the first season “Under The Dome” was trying to serve two masters and the show just become a jumbled mess. The show became boring and characters became annoying. I still do not understand how the normal sane cop Officer Esquivel became so easily and annoyingly stupid and went along with a plan from Big Jim to HANG the character Barbie in the public square based on no evidence and no trial in a matter of days. So suffice it to say, there were a lot of reasons stopping me from tuning in this past Monday.

I am happy to say that in the end I am glad I tuned in and can report I think the show may be moving in the right direction.  Before I go any further I am going to avoid spoilers on this episode as some people may not have gotten to it yet. To begin with this episode was able to replicate the big scale and craziness of last season’s opener which had the dome coming down. This time the show opens with the dome being magnetized. This sets in motions a lot of dangerous flying objects and big action pieces. Overall the episode dealt with trying to find a way to stop the giant magnet in the sky and try and get the town back into some sort of normalcy. It is with this episode a new character is introduced, a never seen before Science Teacher Rebecca Pine who has a scientific way to stop the madness. Of course other characters believe the only way to stop the magnet is by “listening” to what the dome wants. In the end no one knows for sure how the magnet was stopped and it seems to me the rest of the season will be a thinly veiled debate on religion vs. science.  

There were other positive developments in the opening episode including characters dying off that had lived past their usefulness. In addition, this show really likes to play with the absurd and has fun with it.  Of course while all the townspeople are fainting due to the magnetized dome the last man standing has to be our hero just because. I like that all of a sudden there are ghosts talking to people and try and get them to do absurd acts such as hanging themselves. The biggest improvement so far is that for right now it seems characters are finally acting normal and not ready to just hang people based on someone’s word. I want my big sci-fi show to be nuts but I did not enjoy un-realistic people populating it last year.

Of course, there were still moments that were just put in place to annoy the audience. All of a sudden we have a 4 person love triangle between our hero Barbie, love interest and possible savior Julia, science teacher Rebecca, and previously never before seen and obviously shifty Uncle Same (Juniors Uncle).  I should mention I was ok with having not known Rebecca existed last year but how the hell did no one know Sam was under the dome last season. The show doesn't make it seem like a big town so I find it hard to believe no one discovered his house on the lake when they were searching for fugitives last year. In addition for someone who was clearly hiding last year, his motivation for just announcing himself to his family with such simplicity did irritate me.  Sam’s motivation is a mysterious girl that appeared in a lake that he seems to know and she is just present this episode to be eerie looking and walk around town not speaking.  I still think with all these issues the show has taken 2 steps forward because its back to being fun and like just half a step back.  I look forward to seeing where this season goes because nothing that is happening now has anything to do with the book and I get to be surprised like everyone else.

P.S:  I would like to see more of how the world is reacting outside the dome sometimes. We don’t get much of that in the book but this show is clearing its own path and it would be interesting to see how this affecting the world.