In the space of two of episodes, Under the Dome has transformed from a show with a lot of potential to an example of wasted potential. There’s time to turn things around, but this is certainly not the way to do it.

Trapping your characters inside a dome should increase the stakes. There should be urgency, tension; a sense of scarcity and claustrophobia. Instead, two major plotlines this episode only have a thin thread connecting them to the dome. A teenager worrying that maybe his house party is going to get out of control is not that interesting; especially when it seems no-one has considering that, I dunno, given people are trapped here forever, generators might be useful for more than Windows 8 product placement?

The titular manhunt was similarly dull, despite the best efforts of the actors involved. Firing guns doesn’t automatically make a storyline interesting (though fleshing out characters like Big Jim is a start). The manhunt felt more like a stroll in the woods – it was under-developed (it’s like everyone’s concern over the dome has been collected in one psychotic cop) and the conclusion was spectacularly clichéd. And the less said about anything involving Junior, the better.