Film fans are on the cusp of an upcoming onslaught of cinematic adaptations for some of Stephen King’s greatest works, and book fans are eagerly awaiting his next novel Mr. Mercedes. And though Season 2 of CBS’ Under the Dome doesn’t really have anything to do with King’s source material anymore, TV audiences can still expect for the prolific author's influence to be felt. Especially since he’ll have his very own cameo in the first episode.
That bit of news and more – including the first look seen above – were announced today at CBS’ first Summer Junket Day, where CBS Productions Television Studios David Stapf apparently said, “Summer is the new fall,” according to Deadline. (No, no, it isn’t.) It was previously announced that King was writing that first episode, and now we know a little bit more about where this season of “transformation” will be going. And shit is gonna get pretty weird in Chester’s Mill; even weirder than an invisible dome covering a city.
Season 2 will cover another two weeks in the lives of its characters, the same as the first, and will focus on the Dome turning magnetic, which has a predictably dramatic effect on all the town’s metallic objects, including cars, knives, crowbars and assumedly metal plates in people’s bodies. This is where at least one of the teased character fatalities will come in. If it all sounds a little ridiculous, let’s remember that King is (no pun intended) the king of turning inanimate objects into pillars of horror. But let’s also remember that Season 1 of this series was pretty awful. Especially the early kidnapping plot involving these guys.
“This is about ecological disaster pending – that magnetism has caused many things to happen,” said Baer, who also pointed to “biblical problems of pestilence and bloody rain” showing up. This will probably be connected to the impending battle between the faith-infused Julia (Rachelle LeFevre) and new character Rebecca (Karla Chrome), a teacher whose Dome approach is based solely in science, while the duplicitous Big Jim Rennie (Dean Norris) is caught in the middle.
Speaking of new cast, EW is reporting Person of Interest star Brett Cullen will be joining the series as Barbie’s (Mike Vogel) dad, Don Barbara. In case you’re wondering, like I still am, about how we can have new characters in such a closed-off setting, Baer also teased that someone (or perhaps more than just one person) may be going in and/or out of the dome this season.
For a non-plot-heavy fun fact, Baer created the long-running drama ER, and that show’s Sherry Stringfield will star this season as Big Jim’s wife Pauline, while former co-star Eriq La Salle is directing Episode 10. Somebody get George Clooney and Anthony Edwards involved, stat!
There’s no word on whom the cameo-friendly King will appear as, sadly. Will he be a minister like he was in Pet Sematary? Or maybe a pharmacist like he was in Thinner? Can we hope for something more Creepshow than that?
Under the Dome is set to pull you to its magnetic pole on Monday, June 30. Don’t get caught outside.
