CATCHING UP: Under the Dome (Season One, Episode Thirteen – “Curtains”)

First aired September 16th, 2013.

The season finale of Under the Dome finally answers the questions about the pink stars and the Monarch. Unfortunately, the big reveal is not very exciting and is an overall letdown.

Inside the mini dome, the monarch butterfly hatches and starts flying around, causing black spots to appear on it as well as the larger dome. Joe (played by Colin Ford) and Norrie (played by Mackenzie Lintz) go on the run with the mini dome to keep it away from “Big Jim” (played by Dean Norris). Angie (played by Britt Robertson) helps Julia (played by Rachelle Lefevre) escape the hospital and break “Barbie” (played by Mike Vogel) out of jail. Once everyone is together, the four kids use their hand trick to bust open the mini dome. The egg inside glows some more and seems to almost explode until Julia picks it up, revealing her to be the Monarch.

There is no real resolution knowing that Julia is the Monarch because we still don’t know what she is supposed to do as the Monarch. When that mystery is solved, then it will be possible to care that Julia has that role. The idea of the dome being plunged in darkness was cool enough that not knowing why it happened wasn’t too important. I couldn’t believe that Julia had a radio. She could have used it to tell Linda (played by Natalie Martinez) that Big Jim framed Barbie. Instead, she assaulted several deputies to break him out. That was a stupid move because now Julia has lost all of her credibility and is seen as his accomplice.

The blackout causes the town to slip into religious panic, which Big Jim uses to his advantage to instigate Barbie’s execution. Junior (played by Alexander Koch) snaps (again) and goes after the group to bring the egg to Big Jim. Julia and the kids escape to the woods and ask the egg what it wants and a vision of Norrie’s dead mother, Alice (played by Samantha Mathis), appears. “Alice” represents one of the beings who sent the dome, which is meant to protect them from something that “Alice” won’t elaborate on. She does tell them that they must protect the egg to remove the darkness from the dome.

One thing to be said about Big Jim is that he can adapt to any situation, planning to hang Barbie with a specially built gallows to match the religious panic in town. Junior is always alternating between being somewhat sane and totally unhinged. He may need to try medication. The reveal of the Dome People (as I refer to them) felt like an underused plot in the episode. When she appeared, she only added to the many questions the show wants us to answer. I think the dome people aspect should have been explored a bit more.

While Big Jim gathers the town to witness the execution of Barbie, Julia decides the egg would be safe in the bottom of the lake. Once she throws it in, hundreds of pink stars begin to fall (technically float) in lines into the air. When they all reach the top of the dome, the darkness fades away and Big Jim shouts for Junior to pull the lever to kill Barbie. That’s how the season ends.

I was disappointed that the big mystery of the pink stars was something so boring. They were played up so much all season and it was just because they were meant to bring the sun back to town. I hope season two has better storylines, and hopefully they’ll be nothing involving brightly colored stars.

Quotes/Thoughts

“You may think you’re some kind of God to these people, but I think we both know what you really are.”

The gallows was built incredibly fast.

Big Jim might be the new reverend. He’s definitely got the preaching part down.

“I have taken lives, but none that didn’t absolutely need to be taken.”

If you enjoyed Manny’s review and would like to read other pieces like it, you can find the rest of his work HERE. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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