Under the Dome: Season Two, Episode Thirteen – “Go Now”

First aired September 22nd, 2014.

The dome is continuing to close in on Chester’s Mill and, to make a bad situation worse, the weather has started acting up again, this time sending bolts of lightning at people. It seems the town’s only hope is the newly formed crater that two minutes ago swallowed Melanie (played by Grace Cox) whole.

Before everyone starts leaping down the crater, Joe (played by Colin Ford) and Norrie (played by Mackenzie Lintz) check it out to make sure it’s safe. Hunter (played by Max Elrich), always the dome aficionado (and probably tired of living inside it after all the dangers), tags along. While the crater does lead to another tunnel, there is a fork at the end. The appearance of a monarch butterfly flying down one passage convinces them that’s the way out. It’s also enough to convince “Barbie” (played by Mike Vogel), who starts rounding everyone up and sending them through. However, because things weren’t already difficult enough, a gap opened up in the floor and started growing steadily wider as everyone tried to get through.

With all the crazy weather this dome is creating, people should start carrying first aid kids instead of umbrellas when they see clouds. Considering how easy it was to get out of town through the other tunnel, all these obstacles suggest the dome really wants everyone to stay. Although I think that, because they lost the egg, this tunnel could lead to some form of punishment. But let’s be honest, the best punishment would just be to keep them all inside the dome suffering through each weekly disaster it comes up with.

Meanwhile, at the high school “Big Jim” (played by Dean Norris) and Junior (played by Alexander Koch) are trying to help Pauline (played by Sherry Stringfield) after she was fatally stabbed by Lyle (played by Dwight Yoakam). Knowing she will die, Pauline sends them away so she can speak privately to Rebecca (played by Karla Crome). Pauline believes the dome is done with her and asks that Rebecca euthanize her so she can die peacefully. Rebecca gives her a fatal overdose of morphine. When Big Jim finds out, he becomes enraged and beats Rebecca to death with a hammer. He gives the dome an ultimatum: either bring Pauline back to life or he will kill all the people connected to it. When nothing happens, Big Jim destroys all of her vision paintings and sets up a trap to capture Julia (played by Rachelle Lefevere). Julia has always been seen as a chosen one for the dome and Big Jim thinks killing her would be a great way of messing up whatever plans it has.

Big Jim going on a killing spree isn’t anything new, but this time you can almost sympathize with him. In his eyes, the dome took away his family, so he is going to hurt the dome any way he can. But when you take a second to remember what kind of person Big Jim is, it’s hard to feel too sorry for him.

Pauline was an interesting character (something lacking on the show) and I think she was killed too early. There was more to her story about how she began having visions and her connection to the dome.

Overall, Rebecca never seemed to fit in on the show. I always felt she was forced into storylines and never connected with any of the characters. Of course she did somewhat connect with Big Jim, but since he ended up killing her, that relationship can be considered a wash.

Julia escapes and heads into the woods and is met by Junior and Sam (played by Eddie Cahill). She tells them Big Jim has gone on a murderous rampage (again). Junior stays behind and confronts his father over his actions, shooting him in the shoulder to slow him down and leaving him to die. Unfortunately, the gap in the tunnel has become too large and Junior and Julia can’t safely get across. She forces Barbie to go on without her, believing he is the chosen one Pauline mentioned earlier that can lead everyone out of the dome.

When Barbie guides everyone down the passage, they find a large collection of monarch butterflies that fly away to reveal a stone wall. Everyone is devastated, but when Barbie touches a rock it glows and the wall crumbles, revealing Melanie on the other side. She says she is taking everyone “home.”

This finale was definitely an improvement over the last one. The episode ended with genuine cliffhangers that left the fates of some characters in question. However, people like Big Jim and Julia are almost guaranteed to be safe. Julia is like an ambassador for the dome and Big Jim is the show’s biggest antagonist who brings much of the drama. But I prefer a predictable cliffhanger to a bunch of pink stars floating everywhere.

Melanie is so connected to the dome and the egg that when she said everyone was going “home,” I knew it wasn’t going to be very far from the dome. My theory is they’re going to the other side where she was after she died, because that’s what the dome wanted (which is the reason behind almost everything that happens).

Quotes & Thoughts

“I’ll miss my wife forever. No one’s going to miss you.”

Assuming Big Jim survives, I wonder what he’ll do to gloss over his latest psychopathic rampage. Maybe he can have save a kid from a burning building.

“If you bring her back right now, I won’t murder every single one of your special little friends. I would slit Julia’s through, shoot Barbie in the heart and burn those kids alive.”

I hope for season three (if there is one) the show focuses more on character driven storylines as opposed to weekly dome disasters.

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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