Dome’s showrunner, Neal Baer, had a lot to say at Thursday’s Comic-Con panel in Ballroom 20, though nothing was perhaps as big as promising the demise of several characters.
“We have kept the body count down a bit at the beginning of the season so we can rev it up at the end.”
As for the show’s future, Baer says that they’ve planned for a run somewhere between 7 to 5 seasons, with a possibility of taking the show even further. “Under the Dome” hasn’t been quite the ratings juggernaut it was last year, and I suspect that’s because a lot of people were under the impression that it was going to be a one-and-done miniseries like the King “events” from yesteryear. I know that I was surprised to discover the show had been renewed for a second season.
Still, the show remains successful enough, and Baer is taking advantage of what he sees are possibilities. “We have a lot of stories left to tell and we can tell them in cool ways,” he said.
Deadline also attended the panel and reported that a five-minute clip of Episode 7 was shown that hinted with Mike Vogel’s character Dale “Barbie” Barbara falling into a deep cavern that the dome may prove not to so impregnable. “One of our characters might get out of the dome this season, literally,” said Baer. “We just finished shooting last week and we know the ending but we won’t tell you.” The episode airs August 14.
I’m not sure I’ll ever tune back in to find out, but I certainly wish the production well.