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Under the Dome has had its ups and downs since the fantastic pilot episode that captured everyone’s attention. Last week’s episode was a step in the right direction and this week the show reminded us why we fell in love with it in the first place. Secrets came to light, new questions arose and people’s true colors shone through in the wake of impending doom.
“Blue on Blue” gave the residents of Chester’s Mill an opportunity to reconnect with their loved ones outside of the dome – from a safe distance behind the police tape. People held up signs, mouthed words to one another and just took the time to appreciate being able to see one another again. But the military was not staging a reunion out of the goodness of their hearts.
Since this review is already a few days late (see Editor’s Note), I’m going to skip the actual recap portion and just talk about the major OMG moments of the episode because there were so many of them.
#7 Barbie learns the military is planning on hitting the dome with a bomb
How impressive was Barbie’s quick thinking getting the radio girl (I should learn her name) to read lips so he could find out what was really going on? As soon as they learned the military was planning on hitting them with a bomb, Barbie, Big Jim, Linda and Julia sprang into action to do what they could to get people underground. Normally, I complain about lack of panic, but this time, I thought they handled this perfectly. The leaders have to stay calm.
#6 Big Jim left Angie in the shelter…at first
I can’t say I was surprised by this. Big Jim isn’t exactly on the up and up and Crazy Eyes is his son. But I loved the haunted, sad look he had in his eyes when he was talking to Angie and explaining that he needed more time. He knew it was wrong, he knows Junior is insane, but he’s still his kid. Of course Big Jim had a change of heart and let Angie out when he thought a bomb was going to kill all of them anyway. I guess that sort of counts for something.
#5 Seeing Junior in a cop uniform is the scariest thing to happen yet
Seriously, when he walked into the house in his deputy uniform, I got a chill and not the good kind. There’s nothing scarier than someone who is certifiable, but has power over people. Barbie seemed to sense that as well since he got out of there as soon as he saw Junior in the uniform (smart). But poor Angie barely had time to celebrate being in her own house before Junior was sitting there in her bedroom with his gun. She just seemed so defeated when she comforted him instead of smashing his head in with a heavy object (fingers crossed for next week).
#4 Julia accepted her fate and is slowly forgiving Barbie
I feel bad for Julia because she doesn’t have the whole story, but it sounds like her husband was planning on leaving her thanks to the letter his sister showed her. I doubt that will make any difference when/if she finds out the truth, but at least she knows that her husband wasn’t a saint. It was also nice that she’s warming up to Barbie again because who wouldn’t want to?
#3 Norrie and Joe connected without having seizures
Joe and Norrie are not the most interesting characters, but their story is obviously important to the mythology of the series. It was nice seeing Joe being there for her after the whole thing with her dad (was that important or was it just a plot point to give her an excuse to run away from her moms? Time will tell, I guess). I also liked that she stuck by him while he was searching for Angie. Their end-of-the-world kiss was cute, but the realization that they weren’t having seizures after talking was more important. Why not? Did it have something to do with the bomb going off behind them?
#2 Big Jim is a bad man
We already knew this, but even if we could look past what he did to Angie because he was trying to protect his son or whatever, there’s no way to overlook the ending. The reverend was insisting that he was the one who repented and stopped the bomb and Big Jim calmly pressed his ear against the dome until it shorted out the cochlear implant and killed the reverend. Clearly whatever Big Jim is into is worth killing for, but damn. That was harsh (and also gross).
#1 The Dome Mystery
This thing is so weird. It attracted monarch butterflies out of season and they returned to it even after the bomb went off. It’s soundproof, it electrocutes people, but it can also let some water in. It goes underground and mainly just surrounds the town and it can withstand a nuclear bomb. Again, I didn’t read the novel and I know the producers changed it, but still. WTF is this thing?
Editor’s Note: I apologize for the delay in reviewing the episode. All blame lies with Justin Timberlake and Jay Z. I highly recommend their show if they’re coming to your city.
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