Under the Dome: Season Two, Episode Nine – “The Red Door”

First aired August 25th, 2014.

“Barbie” (played by Mike Vogel) is being held captive by the armed guards who are from a private security firm hired by his father Don (played by Brett Cullen). When beatings don’t make Barbie convince Julia (played by Rachelle Lefevre) to bring the egg out of the dome, Don keeps him locked up and sends her a video telling her to trade it for Barbie’s freedom.

Barbie escapes and goes to lie low with Hunter (played by Max Elrich) but finds that he already has some houseguests. Sam (played by Eddie Cahill), Pauline (played by Sherry Stringfield) and Lyle (played by Dwight Yoakam) have been staying with Max, who, before he became a computer nerd, was one of Pauline’s art students. Barbie immediately reveals that Sam murdered Angie (played by Britt Robertson), which leaves everyone, especially Pauline, stunned. When Sam tells her that he believed it would have brought down the dome, she seems to accept that, but believes her paintings were responsible for his actions and that they have to go back to atone for their sins. The focus shifts to finding the mysterious red door that would likely take them back to Chester’s Mill. Their search doesn’t take long when Barbie recognizes it as the door to the root cellar in his family home.

I think it’s safe to say Barbie and Don won’t be breaking bread at the Thanksgiving table anytime soon. If it had been Junior (played by Alexander Koch) who Sam had killed, Pauline wouldn’t have been so able to put it behind them. There’s no way she should give him that much latitude, considering Junior was one of his targets. As for making up for the crimes, all Pauline did was paint some pictures of Sam as the actual criminal, and I don’t see how going into the dome is the way to make up for everything. Although it has been a pretty horrible place to live, so that in itself could be punishment enough for them.

That whole scene with Hunter researching red doors in Zenith was hilarious I can’t believe they tried that. Incidentally, could there be a worse spot for this door than the backyard of the man trying so hard to get this egg?

The group sneaks onto Don’s property and into the root cellar, and Barbie notices the entrance to a tunnel that was not well-hidden at all. Hunter decides to go with them to Chester’s Mill since Pauline is the only person he cares about and staying would mean facing Don’s wrath for betraying him. While walking through the tunnel, people are engulfed by a swirling mist (something Pauline drew earlier) and experience flashes from the past. Pauline finds herself in the pit where the egg was first discovered and sees Melanie (played by Grace Cox) there. Barbie remembers the day he met Melanie as a child by the red door because her mother sent her to meet him. Everyone emerges in the lake the same way Melanie did when she first came back, with the exception of Lyle, who has once again disappeared. Once they get ashore, everyone breaks off to handle their own separate business.

Don must never go into that cellar, because the tunnel was hidden so poorly, which is weird considering how the way out of the dome was an endless cliff. Maybe the dome needed an easy way for more people to get inside since they seem to be dying off at a pretty fast rate. I have no idea what the meaning behind all those flashes was. If there wasn’t any, it could have just been a “welcome to the dome” kind of thing. Melanie mentioned once that Barbie looked familiar, but there’s no way she could have recognized him as the little boy she met that one time. And if it’s true that Melanie’s mother sent her to meet Barbie then there is yet another family somehow connected to this dome, or her mother could be psychic the way Pauline is. Now that all of the principal players are back inside the dome, I hope these portals close up, if not for good at least for now. The general premise is that these people are cut off from the world by this thing. If they’re able to jump in and out whenever they want it defeats the purpose.

“Big Jim” (played by Dean Norris) knows Barbie is alive and, after seeing armed guards patrolling outside the dome, knows something’s up. He learns from Junior that they want the egg, so he does what he does best and hatches a scheme. Jim tries to make a deal to hand over the egg in exchange for everyone leaving the dome. When he’s told no, he asks that only him and Junior leave. They give Jim the egg’s location but it’s long gone by the time he gets there. Junior and Melanie hid it in the Rennie’s bunker because they knew Jim would be after it and Julia was planning to trade it for Barbie. Big Jim gets a second surprise when he goes home and finds his not-so-dead wife, Pauline, browsing through old photographs.

Big Jim has slightly changed for the better, since his first instinct was to get everyone out of the dome. Sure, he immediately gave them all up for himself and Junior two seconds later but the old Jim wouldn’t have even tried. Julia is becoming more similar to Big Jim by putting her own needs above those of everyone else. Yeah, she loves Barbie, but is he worth the whole town? Jim will be happy to see Pauline for about two seconds. After that, when he learns that she faked her suicide and why, you know there is going to be hell to pay.

Quotes & Thoughts

“I can’t believe I made it through. Now I’m really here in Chester’s Mill.” “Buckle up, kid. It’s about to get a lot weirder.”

Welcome to life under the dome, Hunter! It sucks and you’re going to love it!

“What’s the point of owning a security firm if it can’t secure a damn thing?!”

I give them about a week before they regret the decision to voluntarily enter the dome.

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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