TV PREP: Under the Dome – Season Two, Episode Eleven

First aired September 8th, 2014.

The egg has wound up on the playground in Zenith and some hazmat guys learn the hard way that it doesn’t like to be messed with. Perhaps in response to the loss of the egg, the dome begins rotating and making it colder by the minute.

According to, Rebecca (played by Karla Crome), the rotation is causing cold air from atop the dome to descend from it. It will eventually freeze everyone to death. By nightfall, the weather is so cold that being outside for more than a few minutes gives people frostbite. Since the clinic was destroyed in the recent earthquake, Rebecca and Sam (played by Eddie Cahill) turn the high school into an improvised treatment center. Meanwhile, “Barbie” (played by Mike Vogel) and Julia (played by Rachelle Lefevre) take an ambulance to save some of the town’s food supply before it freezes over. Barbie loses control on the icy roads and they crash, causing a piece of metal to pierce Julia’s leg. She nearly freezes to death, but he gets her to the local diner and gets her warm. Back at the school, things go from bad to worse when the power cuts out and people start freezing to death.

There have been many dome disasters this season, but I’m glad there’s a reason for this latest one instead of the usual random chaos. The dome lost its egg and it’s really pissed because the egg is its power source, or possibly its offspring. There hasn’t been a proven theory yet.

This show has gotten somewhat lazy with showing how deadly these events are. Last season there would be guest stars who would be killed after a few scenes. Now, we have an unnamed woman whose face we don’t even see who’s announced to have died from hypothermia. Melanie (played by Grace Cox) is still severely sick, but that’s more to do with her deep connection to the lost egg than the extreme cold. Looks like she bonded with it so much that being separated from it was literally bad for her health.

“Big Jim” (played by Dean Norris) is universally hated (again) because, after he threw the egg over the cliff, it sealed off and took away everyone’s only hope for escape. Pauline (played by Sherry Stringfield) is especially upset and tears into Jim for his need to be the hero while really acting in his own self-interest without regard for others. She admits to lying about wanting to get back together and only said that to keep him happy while she got Junior (played by Alexander Koch) out of the dome and away from him. While out that night getting fuel for the school generator, Big Jim spots Lyle (played by Dwight Yoakam) drowning in the frozen lake. Because of his connection to Pauline, it looks as if Jim is going to let him die, but in the end he pulls the man from the lake. Lyle starts going on about the world being covered in walls of fire, how beautiful it was and that the end of the world is coming. Saving him redeemed Big Jim slightly in Pauline’s eyes, putting them on somewhat better terms. Soon after, the weather began to get warm again.

And so we’re treated to yet another episode wherein everyone hates Big Jim (as they should) but one good deed makes up for it. Destroying everyone’s way out of the dome because of his do-what-I-want attitude is actually the worst thing he’s ever done, I can’t believe people didn’t toss his ass out into the cold. Rescuing Lyle could be considered the right thing, but he’s the town’s second worst psycho next to Big Jim. And, judging from his rant, he’s still crazy.

I’m starting to get annoyed with the trend of the dome disasters ending after someone does something courageous or “right.” If the dome wants something done, send one of the creators (who we haven’t heard from since the first season finale) to talk to someone. I want to see more human related storylines and not just people trying to survive the weekly dangers this dome manages to come up with.

Elsewhere, Joe (played by Colin Ford) and Norrie (played by Mackenzie Lintz) have been bonding with computer nerd and newest resident Hunter (played by Max Elrich). However, while searching through Hunter’s things, Joe sees that he has been emailing Barbie’s father Don (played by Brett Cullen) re the egg and believes he’s a spy. He and Norrie follow Hunter and see him writing messages to soldiers just outside the dome. When confronted, Hunter shows them that he’s been giving the soldiers false information in the hopes that they leave egg alone. The dome begins to emit a loud piercing sound and, suddenly, contracts inward, causing Chester’s Mill to grow smaller by the second.

Hunter being sent into the dome as a spy but secretly working against his bosses was a nice twist (although not all of the information he gave them was false. If you look at the messages on his phone, he tells Don where the entrance to the dome is). He may be trying to remain in their good graces by providing actual information, but telling them how to get into the dome wasn’t the smartest move. Since they are having trouble with the egg, they could send people in to forcibly acquire some answers, the joke would be on them though, since now there’s no way out. On top of that, not two minutes after surviving the deep freeze, the dome decides to start closing in on everyone. I wonder what miracle will save the town this time.

Quotes & Thoughts

“I wish I’d known you were mid-Glacial Period when I came here from Zenith. I would have packed different clothes.” “Did you pack any clothes?” “No.” “Then shut up.”

How smart does a person have to be to know that you don’t stick your hand on an overly frozen surface?

“I dropped that egg to save you.” “No, you dropped that egg to save the day, to be the hero you always want to be. That’s not love, that’s narcissism.”

It’s only his second day under the dome and already Hunter has suffered from frostbite and is now in danger of being crushed by the dome. I bet living in Chester’s Mill isn’t looking so glamorous anymore.

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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