TV REVIEW: Under the Dome Sees Three “Going Home”

There was no attack of hungry caterpillars, no out of control magnetism, and no blood/acid rain attacking those beleaguered residents of Chester’s Mill in this week’s episode of Under the Dome. In a change of pace, the Dome-covered citizens did not face a test of biblical proportions. Instead, answers were given and many events that happened in the last episode were un-happened. Let’s take a look.

Everyone’s Happy (For a Few Minutes)

Barbie wakes up from a bad dream in Julia’s bed. Apparently, everything is back to all good with these two. Remember, Sam jumped off the cliff beneath the lockers last week, so Barbie can sleep easy. Not really. He’s having nightmares about the Sam leap although Julia seems good with it.

Everything is also good in the teen couple department. Junior’s snuggling with Melanie (who changes boyfriends like Taylor Swift) while Joe and Norrie snuggle on the couch.

Barbie and Julia interrupt the lovefest to tell Junior about his crazy Angie-killin’ uncle, Sam. He refuses to believe it saying, “You didn’t know my uncle” and rushes off. Melanie chases after him. Barbie goes on another spelunking, body recovery mission. He wants to find Sam’s body because… well, it’ll just be cool to go back down under the lockers.

Barbie Takes a Fall

Rebecca is suddenly at the locker caverns and says her compass is spinning out of control. Barbie rappels down a whole two feet with science teacher asking what she sees. Something pulls Barbie down dislodging the rope from the rock wall, but Julia and Rebecca grab the rope, saving Barbie. He tells Julia to let go, not wanting the women to go over the cliff. She refuses, so he cuts the rope and falls, an instant replay of Sam’s descent. Julia lets out the mother of all screams as she watches him free-falling. She calls for him over and over with Rebecca comforting her with comments like “There’s no way he could survive a fall like that.” Guess she’s already scientifically calculated the distance, speed, velocity, etc. Julia decides they need to keep Barbie’s death a secret, so Big Jim doesn’t try to take control of the town again.

Junior asks Melanie if she thinks his uncle did it. She says the old Sam was sweet but the new one has something darker in him. Big Jim overhears and says he’s sorry. “Your uncle was always ‘off’ that’s why we didn’t get along.” He explains that they are special. “The Dome chose me, and you’re my son.”

“Why do you always have to make everything about you?” asks Junior in the most intellectual (for Junior) comment he’s ever made.

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The Hunks (and one country star) Survive!

Barbie is alive! He fell to a sunny playground in a big city with people scurrying all around. He sees a billboard reading Dome Day 17. Wait, is he outside the dome? The tunnel doesn’t lead to Narnia, it leads to the outside world!

Even better news, Sam is alive! He’s also walking around in this sunny, city paradise. We follow him to a hospital where he asks for his sister, Big Jim’s wife, Junior’s mom, Pauline. She’s in the ‘locked ward’ teaching a painting class. Their eyes lock and a tearful reunion of them hugging it out ensues. “We have so much to talk about,” Pauline suggests.

He tells her about the Dome and falling off the locker cliffs. He leaves out the whole leap thing. She says she did all this, fake her death, send postcards of her artwork, to save the town. She reveals that Lyle also got out of the Dome. What?

Pauline takes Sam to a mental hospital where Lyle is in a catatonic state calling “Melanie” over and over. Something happened to him when he went off that cliff, but nothing happened to Sam. Or did it?

Julia tells Joe and Norrie about the Barbie “death.” Joe doesn’t accept it. He says there was a just a plain old basement under the school before. He thinks the Dome dug the tunnel and now he wants to send a robot he made in Geek Club down there.

Meanwhile, because we don’t have enough of a story going on, Barbie is caught by the thugs he double crossed before this whole Dome business occurred. They beat him up and don’t believe his whole “I’ve been stuck under the Dome” story. He works a deal with them and says he can get the info on Aktaion Energy they’ve been waiting on. He leads one of them to dear old Dad’s place.  Does Brett Cullen play everyone’s Dad in every television show and movie? Just checking.

Dad comments they haven’t seen each other in two years. Barbie tells him he needs a favor; he wants to get a message inside the Dome. Dad says it’s impossible because the National Guard has a ten mile no go zone around the Dome, so he can’t help. They talk revealing tidbits about Dale joining the Army and Barbie’s mom getting sick when he came home. Barbie begs his dad to help him, admitting that he wants to get a message to a woman. Dad says he knew the second he came back that he was changed and in love. Dad’s going to help. “I understand what it feels like to be separated from the woman you love.”

Image © CBS

The Big Bad Jim Is Back

Big Jim creeps into Rebecca’s house telling her how he should have never trusted her. He proselytizes about being chosen by the Dome, drawing closer and closer to her. He backs her into a wall and asks about Barbie. “Where is he? And do not lie to me again. Ever.” Bad Big Jim is back.

“Barbie’s dead,” she reluctantly admits.

Big JIm decides to put together a quickie memorial for Barbie. He says it’s a big loss for everyone. Now it’s time for everyone to come together. And time for a prayer. Jimbo offers up a speech/prayer. Can the campaign be far behind? Or was this the first step?

Image © CBS

Pink Stars Falling (Yawn)

Joe says he’s been thinking more about the Dome. “Something doesn’t add up.” You think? To heck with the Dome, where did that tunnel come from and why is it here?

Joe sends his flying, hovering robot to the bottom to see what’s below. They lose the signal. Joe gets a quick signal back and sees the shadow of the playground. Norrie recognizes it as the obelisk outside the Dome.

Junior and Melanie (with egg in hand) go exploring in the dark high school with a flashlight. They meet up with Joe and crew. The egg starts glowing and zaps out (complete with a zap out sound) like it ran out of power. Oh, wait, it starts up again with pink stars falling (again) and an image of the obelisk appearing (again).

The final scene shows Sam and Pauline talking in her studio looking like they will soon re-enact that pottery scene from Ghost (if they weren’t siblings), and Barbie and Dad walking through the woods on the way back to the Dome.

This week was an excellent (never thought I’d use that word in a Dome review) change of pace with some surprising reveals and a calmer tone. Sam lives, the couples were happy (relatively speaking) and Big Jim returned to his evil roots. The corn was kept to a minimum (for the Dome) and we had a few characters actually escape from under the Dome.

Next week’s preview shows the three escapees trying to return to the Dome, one for love, but why the other two would want to return is beyond me. What did you think of “Going Home?” More importantly, do you think we’ll have more escapees before summer’s end? And most importantly, will Norrie’s killer one-liners be back soon?

Under the Dome Airs Mondays on CBS at 10 pm