Though it started out looking like a summer-long "event series" for CBS, we've known for a while now that the small screen adaptation of Stephen King's Under the Dome could be extended beyond the run of a season. Between the writers' comments about the possibility that the story could move forward, to the recent mention that Season 1 will end with a cliffhanger, not to mention the show's ratings this summer so far, renewal was looking more and more like a probability. And today comes confirmation. Not only is Season 2 a go, but Stephen King will write the season premiere!
GiveMeMyRemote dropped this little piece of news today, stating that Under the Dome has officially been confirmed for a second season. We were hoping we'd hear word of this at Comic-Con, but it wasn't meant to be, though we did hear about the mentioned finale cliffhanger there, which was an indication that the writers were moving forward as though there was a solid chance that the show would as well. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait much longer than that. Even better news is word that King himself will pen the Season 2 premiere.
Word of a second season further indicates that the series will continue to branch out and deviate from the novel on which it's based. King himself has shown support of the changes so far. But what does a second season mean for the story? We've heard that King once envisioned the story to span months or years with the residents of Chester's Mill trapped beneath the dome for an extended period of time. Of course, if you read the novel, you know that his story only goes for a couple of weeks before the situation peaks. The TV series is already looking like it will surpass that time-frame in its first season, but does a second season mean the dome won't come up anytime soon? It's hard to say, really. Given the "rules" of the dome, there's only so much time the residents could believably be trapped under there before supplies and food begin to run out, right? And then what? This show could veer into greater apocalyptic territory if that's the case. Or maybe the dome will come up and then drop back down again at some future point, allowing the opportunity to refresh supplies (and bring some outsiders in). We really don't know what the writers have planned in terms of where the story will go. And given all of the changes we've already seen to the plot, there's no reason to assume things will end the way they did in the book. So we'll just have to wait and see.
The sixth episode of the first season airs tonight, and based on the preview, it looks like at least part of it will visit the supermarket run, which is one of the darker moments from the book:
