Faux reality show more compelling than Under the Dome

TV Monday: Siberia lost in the ratings wilderness, but worth finding

Faux reality show more compelling than Under the Dome

Siberia — the thriller hardly anyone is watching — has grown in intensity Photo: NBC

Alex Strachan

Published: September 2, 2013, 2:08 am

Updated: 5 days ago

There are two Monday night dramas right now that have all the hallmarks of a Stephen King thriller: An incompatible group of people are suddenly cut off from the outside world. They find themselves surrounded by mysterious, dark forces while trying to survive.
Under the Dome, adapted by King from his novel, began brightly but, inevitably, given early reviews and sky-high ratings, has flagged in recent weeks. The seams are starting to show.
A second season is already confirmed, to air next summer, but King fans and Under the Dome followers alike are probably hoping the story finds a second wind between now and then.
The other drama — and right now the more entertaining, tension-filled and tightly wound of the two — is Siberia, a thriller King has nothing to do with but is now as eerie, mysterious and frightening as one of King’s better short stories.
The concept is so simple it’s a wonder no one thought of it before — unless one counts Agatha Christie, long before reality TV existed. A group of 16 would-be reality contestants from around the world are dropped by helicopter into the Siberian wilderness, with only the clothes on their backs. They think they’re about to compete in a Survivor-type reality show, complete with camera crews and hot food for the asking. Instead, they’re immersed in an extreme survival crisis, where mistakes cost lives and a dark, malevolent force is stalking them at every turn.

Johnny Wactor, left, Joyce Giraud, Sam Dobbins and Daniel Sutton on Siberia.

In last week’s hour, an impenetrable mist settled on Siberia’s winterscape — mist is a constant in many Stephen King tales, though King had nothing to do with Siberia — and the few survivors who remain at this point were quickly disoriented. The group split up, against all survival advice. Four of them stumbled into an abandoned research station, where they took shelter from the elements. The remainder huddled in the snow over the makeshift grave of one of their own, where they will likely starve or freeze to death, unless found. Worse, possibly, both groups have spotted odd tracks in the snow, tracks resembling no creature on Earth.

Joyce Giraud, left, Johnny Wactor and Sam Dobbins in Siberia

As Under the Dome has lost its energy, Siberia — the thriller hardly anyone is watching — has grown in intensity. That’s the way TV often works. If a show draws a big audience on its opening night, it can take time for that audience to drift away. If hardly anyone watches a show in the beginning, it’s hard for that show to draw viewers later, no matter how good it becomes — unless, of course, the word gets out.

Siberia

In Monday’s episode, the stragglers who’ve found the research station make a grisly discovery, while the group stranded in the snow start to feel the effects of starvation and constant terror. The acting is uneven, and the production a little threadbare at times. Compared with the slick, glossy look and feel of Under the Dome, Siberia looks as if it was shot on a Blair Witch Project budget.
Story matters, though. And, right now, Siberia is by far the more compelling of the two stories. (NBC, 10 ET/PT)
http://o.canada.com/2013/09/02/tv-monday-siberia-lost-in-the-ratings-wilderness-but-worth-finding/