The viewing myth created in the first season of Under the Dome is more surprising than the plot: the number of North American viewers in the first episode of the first season was as high as13.5 million, which broke the viewing record of the first drama at that time and subverted the traditional concept of "summer American dramas don't make money" in Hollywood. Faced with such high ratings last season, the crew and publishers must be under great pressure. After all, in the first season, the story has been dragged away from the original horizon. How can I bring back all the foreshadowing and details of the second season? As the saying goes, it takes a person who tied the bell to solve the problem. Stephen King personally wrote the script for the second season and made guest appearances, which is also a major selling point of this season.
The second season of Under the Dome has already aired three episodes. After the first two episodes were broadcast, the ratings dropped by 15% compared with the previous season, but they still led the mainstream American dramas on Monday night 10. Before the show started, producer Neil Bell flew to Los Angeles from the shooting location in North Carolina with the starring roles of Rachel Lefebvre (as the explosive girl with red hair) and Dean Norris (as the bald Jim) to attend the "Summer Media Meeting" hosted by CBS, which made the hit show gain momentum again. The Morning Post reporter interviewed the producer and starring of Under the Dome.
New tricks on the top of God.
In the first season, a bare glass cover trapped the whole town below. Its magical powers include: cutting off fat cows with one knife, gathering monarch butterflies, incubating eggs quickly, generating destructive magnetic fields, calling for rain, and finally watching a pink meteor shower with you. As a result, the residents of the town are isolated from the world, fear spreads rapidly, living resources are gradually scarce, and medical equipment is extremely short. The audience was completely turned into a technical emperor by the universal magic wand dome, and came up with various ways to escape from the dome. Among them, the play has refused: dig a tunnel, blow up the dome, find the button to close the dome, and pray for its inexplicable disappearance in the most desperate way.
At the end of the first season, we know that four young characters: James Jr., Angie, Angie's younger brother Joe and the big-headed foreign girl Nori have become the "four hands" to solve the mystery of the dome. Together, they reveal Julia's true identity-the human monarch appointed by the dome. Her task is to protect the little black eggs produced by the rupture of the small dome and lead the residents of the town to obey the will of the dome, which may be the experimental base for aliens.
Oriental Morning Post: What mysterious power will the Dome show in the second season?
Bell: This season will focus on revealing all the dome magnetism inspired by the special natural resources of the town. Monarch butterfly will be a key magnetic vane. The audience will see all kinds of devastating natural disasters, and the townspeople must overcome these difficulties to survive. Julia will also learn how to control the energy between her and the dome.
Dean: What does the dome convey to aliens? This is a question that will continue to be discussed in the new season. I think all kinds of wonderful phenomena to be revealed are very similar to the destruction and rebirth described in the Bible.
Oriental Morning Post: Rebirth? Is it possible for everyone to die
Bell: Stephen King is good at destroying some important people, so the audience never knows who will go and who will stay. The second season focuses on how the dome tests the townspeople. Of course, we will bid farewell to some roles, but it also gives the story space for new roles, such as the mysterious new role played by grace victoria cox. She doesn't remember who she is, but her appearance will change the relationship between the key characters in the play. Where did she come from? Is it coming from outside the dome? Why did little James's mother draw this girl 20 years ago? Doesn't that sound wonderful?
Oriental Morning Post: The first season has explained that the dome is indestructible, so how will the story explain that all kinds of new characters have inexplicably fallen from the sky this season? The resurrection of the dead, or is it all in the past?
Bell: In the new season, Big Jim's brother-in-law Sam has been hiding in the Woods, and he was forced to appear; I can only say that the mysterious girl may come from outside the dome, but we must realize that the concept of "outside the dome" is very broad. In the third episode of the new season, Big Jim and Little Joe will receive a text message from someone outside to prove that the magnetic field of the dome is leaking. It is not until the eighth episode that everyone can see who sent the text message. We now call him the "digital figure" of the play.
Who is the lucky one who rushed out of the dome?
Is the dome itself an object that can be explained by human science? Is it perfect? This is what everyone wants to reveal. Fans who have watched the first two episodes of the second season know that two important characters have been deleted, but the crew revealed that they will reappear as souls possessed by alien forces. On the basis of this understanding beyond the emperor of science and technology, the story will take the small town school as the carrier of the scientific information of the play, and also introduce the long-awaited mixed-race actress Karla Crome, whose role is Rebecca, the school physics teacher.
Rebecca's appearance makes the relationship between Julia with red hair and Barbie, the new hero, tangled. Obviously, Barbie is also a good boy who respects science. Although he knew that his girlfriend Julia saved the town by the will of the dome, she was also impressed by Rebecca's rigorous physical research results. Rebecca thinks that the center of the small town school reflects the energy release frequency of the dome, which is the only safe place in the town, and may also be the place where the dome leaks.
Oriental Morning Post: Rebecca worships Big Jim very much. Will her scientific ideas help villains take full control of the dome?
Dean: Evil? Thank God, Big Jim finally has fans. Next, the competition between the characters is mainly reflected between big Jim and Julia; Big Jim always thought that the arrival of the dome made him the ruler of the town, but soon in the second season, he will learn that Julia is the monarch chosen by the dome. This not only destroyed his ambition, but also ignited his desire to leave the town. Rebecca is definitely the source of strength to encourage Big Jim to rule the town and resist Julia, but I wonder if Big Jim will successfully break through the hole in the dome and leave the town after meeting the mysterious figure. The crew hasn't given me the script for that episode yet, haha.
Oriental Morning Post: Rachel, your role is the new favorite of the dome and the monarch of the town. Will she be the first person to escape from this town?
Rachel: I'm sure Julia is looking for many answers herself. After all, she didn't know what power the dome gave her. What I know now is that she can attract monarch butterflies, which shows that Julia has her own magnetic field like the dome. I don't think she has the idea of leaving this town. She is honest and hopes to get into trouble with the residents. Under the Dome, the screenwriter also considered the rationality of the characters' emotions when arranging the details of the dome's "can do" and "can't do", so Julia won't change her mind at once. If she wants to leave, she will take everyone with her.
Oriental Morning Post: If someone goes out or comes in, what opportunities will it bring to the town?
Bell: For the townspeople, they will immediately face two major problems: lack of food and difficulty in breathing (caused by the smoke produced by Rebecca after burning monarch butterfly eggs). Big Jim, Barbie and Julia all have to find ways to supply food and cigarettes. If the mysterious digital man can come in from the outside, the townspeople will be saved. However, as you know, most of the troubles in the play are caused by the selfishness of the townspeople. In troubled times, it is inevitable.
Rachel: I think it's very difficult for writers, because they can't repeat the natural disasters in the first season, haha, so as to give "nerd" fans enough freshness.
Bell: Don't forget, in the second season, we will have the mother of the little prophet James. In the second episode, it is revealed that she is a figure outside the dome. But everyone in town is sure that she is dead. Her paintings will be a way for the audience to find answers.
Same story principle, different ways of playing.
Bell revealed that the second season will continue the story principle of the previous season, that is, "the dome tortures people and the residents are played." The dead will reappear in the second season, bringing an alien message: Big Jim doesn't have to die, but he must sacrifice his own interests for the town. It seems that the dome is affecting trapped humans, and when the earth is destroyed by alien forces, these people can understand and live in harmony.
Oriental Morning Post: Will the harmonious theme of the dome dilute the strong sci-fi color of the original work?
Bell: The audience may think that the dome is trying to influence the townspeople through various tests, but no one knows whether this is the purpose of the dome. Every episode of our script has to be reviewed by two producers, Stephen King and Spielberg, who have repeatedly emphasized the increasing sci-fi elements in the play. So we have more visual wonders in the second season. Through the trailer, we all know that the metal products in the town will be adsorbed on the dome wall, which is more exciting than watching Hollywood blockbusters.
Dean: Maybe you'll see Big Jim wearing tight swimming trunks, because it's a summer play, haha.
Oriental Morning Post: Haha, that must be very exciting. The original work Under the Dome has an ending. Are TV plays going in the same direction?
Bell: We hope to go all the way to the end of the original, at least that's what Stephen King thought. The time span of the original is one week, and we have been in the first season for more than a few months, so in the second season, in order to strengthen the sense of compactness, the time span of each episode is one day. In this way, next year's dome story and TV series will be filmed on 15. What we lack is not the story inspiration, but the TV schedule.
Oriental Morning Post: In the original book, there were only 26 survivors. Will TV series change this number and the characters it contains?
Bell: As I'm sure you can see, we adapted some very small characters in the original into very important characters, but like Alice, the survivor, we killed her a long time ago and revived her into a ghost. This kind of play will be many. Invariably, we will keep the young role of Xiao Qiao (one of the original survivors), because the discussion of politics, education and environment in the original can be well reflected from young people, and I hope the audience can see their growth.