ALL CAUGHT UP: Under the Dome – Season Two, Episode Eight

First aired August 18th, 2014.

“Barbie” (played by Mike Vogel) managed to send an email to Julia (played by Rachelle Lefevere) that he’s alive and found a way out of the dome, thanks to his father, Don (played by Brett Cullen). But a man named Hunter (played by Max Ehrich) who works for Don tracks down Barbie and warns him things aren’t the way they seem.

The email was altered before it was sent, telling Julia to bring the egg with her when she jumps over the cliff and out of the dome. For whatever reason, Don and/or the military know about the egg and want to get their hands on it. Barbie sends another email with a coded message warning her not to jump and to meet him at a certain spot by the dome wall. Using a fake identity set up by Hunter, Barbie gets past the military guard on the outskirts of the dome and makes it there that night to see Julia. They have about ten seconds of face time before the military show up to haul Barbie away, but not before he writes to Julia not to take the cliff portal out of town.

First it was Pauline (played by Sherry Stringfield), mother of Junior (played by Alexander Koch), now Barbie’s dad is connected to this thing. Since the army has been monitoring everything happening inside, it’s possible they saw the egg and want to study it. But this egg goes back at least 20 years, so my bet is that this is part of a major government conspiracy of some kind. Hunter was pretty funny. He could be Barbie’s geeky sidekick on the outside. I’d like to see more of him.

I was worried that Barbie would get caught just before he made it to Julia, which would’ve been really bad, not because it would have kept the two lovers apart but because I didn’t want to sit through more episodes of Julia wondering if Barbie really was alive or not.

Meanwhile, in Zenith, Pauline is trying to work with Sam (played by Eddie Cahill) to find a way to get Junior out of Chester’s Mill. Sam wants to move on with his life now that he’s escaped, but Pauline makes him help her get Lyle (played by Dwight Yoakam), who lost his mind when he escaped. Sam’s hesitance comes from wanting to keep her from finding out he was going to murder Junior, but he helps her get Lyle a shot that makes him sane (well, relatively). Later, they go through the postcards Pauline had been sending to Lyle and she finds one she was unable to send before the dome came down. It has a picture of the red door from last episode. Their next move: find it.

So, the hospital just happened to have medicine lying around that could help Lyle and never gave it to him? I hope these three find a way into Chester’s Mill. I’d love to see what happens when Pauline comes into contact with the dome and reunites with Melanie (played by Grace Cox), her previously dead friend.

This red door has been vaguely hinted at for two episodes now and I’m really hoping whatever is behind it is worth the wait. I know whatever it is will be related to the dome, but I swear, if it’s another egg full of pink stars, I’m going to be really pissed.

Back in Chester’s Mill, “Big Jim” (played by Dean Norris) has appointed himself the new sheriff and is dealing with a string of vandalism. He realizes that whoever it is has been destroying things connected to him and makes a list of six people who hate him (I know, right? Only six?). Since the list consisted of Phil (played by Nicholas Strong) and five people who were not actual characters, it was obvious he did it. Phil was mad that he lost the sheriff job and got shot while going along with Big Jim a few episodes ago. He was quickly arrested again by Jim and Junior. Later, Big Jim follows a helicopter and finds the spot where Barbie and Julia were meeting and learns that he is alive and outside of the dome.

When Big Jim was making his speech about someone coming after him, I was convinced he was behind everything to gain some sympathy points with everyone. It was a genuine shock that it was Phil, only because he’s been absent for the last few episodes and I’ve forgotten all about him until now.

Big Jim now knows that Barbie is still alive, and whenever he knows information like this it’s not good for anyone. Barbie knows about all of the murders Big Jim committed, so he’s probably wondering if people outside the dome know and what that could mean, should he ever get out. This might be what pushes him back over the edge to the psychopathic murderer we knew from season one.

Quotes & Thoughts

“Everybody knows that nothing happens in Chester’s Mill without the hidden hand of Big Jim Rennie.” “If that were true, my hand would be hidden in your chest ripping your damn heart out.”

Norrie (played by Mackenzie Lintz), your reaction to Melanie not knowing about the movie The Notebook was priceless.

“You’re going to get me to the dome.” “The place where the National Guard shoots trespassers on site?”

Maybe that red door is how Barbie will get back into the dome, although if it were me I’d stay away after getting my ass out of there.

If you enjoyed Manny’s review, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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