CATCHING UP: Under the Dome – Season Two, Episode Five

First aired July 28th, 2014.

Julia (played by Rachelle Lefevre) is preparing a public trial for “Big Jim” (played by Dean Norris) and Rebecca (played by Karla Crome). One citizen appoints himself executioner and tries to shoot them but is put down by radio DJ-turned-sheriff Phil (played by Nicholas Strong).

Julia chastises Phil for killing the man and uses her newfound position of authority to replace him with “Barbie” (played by Mike Vogel). Phil doesn’t take that lying down and conspires with Big Jim and others still loyal to him to make Julia look like a worse leader than Jim. He blows up the building she’s using for a food drive and blames her for not checking the “frayed wires” while, in reality, he hides all the food. Barbie finds out what Phil is up to and, after a quick fight, shoots him in the shoulder. Julia finds enough food to feed the town for months in the home of local woman Andrea (played by Dale Raoul) and everything is resolved. She even frees Big Jim and Rebecca, saying the town needs to let go of the past and move forward in order to survive.

Big Jim and Rebecca nearly pull off a genocide but it’s not “unforgivable”? Are you freaking kidding me? How Barbie or Julia could give Big Jim another free pass when he keeps proving them wrong is beyond me, especially with the all those people still fanatically loyal to him. Rebecca at least showed remorse when she realized that genocide, no matter the reason, is murder, and she didn’t back up Big Jim’s claim that he didn’t know about Phil’s plan. Phil was completely irrelevant until this episode and it looks like his season storyline is being a Big Jim disciple. Andrea keeping some emergency food is one thing, but having every inch of her house packed with food? I don’t buy that. I felt it was a quick and easy way for the writers to solve the obvious food shortage problem.

Junior (played by Alexander Koch) is working with his uncle, Sam (played by Eddie Cahill), to solve the murder of Angie (played by Britt Robertson), but only the audience learns the truth. Sam murdered Angie because she was one of the four hands needed to open the mini dome. His sister, Pauline (played by Sherry Stringfield), who predicted the dome, used to talk about four hands keeping up the dome and without them it would come down. Sam believes that if he kills the other three the dome will go away, Junior tells him who the other hands are (and that he is one) but Sam is unable to kill Junior. When they go to the scene of her murder (yet again) they find out the locker she was investigating contained a secret tunnel that goes deep underground.

This latest twist not only explains why Angie was murdered but also answers the question of why Melanie (played by Grace Cox) was brought back to life. Melanie was part of the original dome group when she was alive and, once Angie died, Melanie was brought back as a ringer to ensure there was a fourth hand. Sam clearly draws a line at murdering family, so maybe he’ll save Junior for last and see if killing the other hands in the group will be enough first. That secret tunnel looked like something from the movie National Treasure.We’ll have to wait until the next episode to see if there are any booby traps in there.

Meanwhile, Melanie is also involved in some teen drama with the other hands Joe (played by Colin Ford) and Norrie (played by Mackenzie Lintz). Joe and Norrie are trying to learn why Melanie came back so they have her touch the dome for answers. That doesn’t work and, when Norrie makes her cry, she runs off and ends up making out with Joe. They’re caught by Norrie. After breaking up the catfight, they go to the school to compare his blood with Melanie’s to see if there are any differences but realize they didn’t pay enough attention in class to do it. Rebecca offers to help but gets distracted when she hears Junior and Sam breaking into the mystery locker.

That entire subplot was a waste of time, meant almost solely to set up a teen love triangle. It was like watching an episode of 90120, and I hope there’s less of it as the season goes on because I could care less who Joe ends up with. Their mission of trying to figure out why Melanie was brought back was also pointless because it was basically spelled out earlier with Junior and Sam. Maybe the blood will somehow prove Melanie is the same girl from 25 years ago, but I doubt they have access to DNA testing.

Quotes & Thoughts

“You were moaning. Nightmare?” “No just a dream. Not as scary as waking up to you two standing over me.”

It’s too bad Nicholas Cage isn’t in the dome to help check that tunnel.

“Mom as Big Jim’s lawyer, he’s so totally guilty.” “Everyone deserves a fair trial.”

With this new forgiveness thing, Phil will probably get off with a stern warning.

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.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Friday Fiction: Snowfall In The Living Room
• “It Came From The Archives” Doctor Who Special Reviews: The Church on Ruby Road
• Review: Lucky Girl, How I Became A Horror Writer by M. Rickert
• Friday Fiction: Frozen Army
• Foundations: The 5 Best Artifact Cards