TV Review: Under the Dome 1×08 “Thicker Than Water”

In Under the Dome’s newest episode, “Thicker Than Water”, a lot takes place that tests the bonds of the trapped Chester’s Mills’ residents.

For starters, The relationship between Big Jim and Junior is put to the test when Big Jim finally decides to do something about Junior’s psychotic behavior; he kicks him out of the house. But I more-so believe that he did it to cover up his ass since Angie agreed that she wouldn’t tell anyone what Junior did to her if Big Jim kept him away from her. Before officially being forced to leave a place he once knew, Big Jim spits out the words that push Junior even more over the edge; he tells Junior that he’s just as crazy as his mother who died in a car accident.

On the same decibel, Big Jim has to find a way to gain back control of the town’s water resources so that he can reign over the town once again. This means that Ollie Dinsmore has got to go. But instead of murdering to get his way like he always does, Big Jim goes through the law which I think (if I was on his side) is an ingenuous way to gain the trust of the town’s peeps and to get what he wants. But things go haywire when Ollie proves that he also has his own team. And to add oil to the fire, Junior decides to join Ollie’s team.

While Big Jim and his team of vigilantes retreat and concoct a plan to take down Ollie and his bunch of misfits, Joe’s sister, Angie, befriends Norrie and tries to help her as she grieves over the death of one of her mothers. What I find is so cute is that they do this by breaking all of Angie’s snowglobes against the dome, signifying their frustration with being locked up in their own type of snowglobe.

Meanwhile, Joe tells Julia about the dome’s nucleus and being the journalist that she is, she demands to see it. When Joe does take her to where he and Norrie saw the nucleus, the egg in the mini dome structure is fully glowing purple now. Ofcourse, Julia feels the need to touch the bizarre glowing mini dome and instantly sees an illusion of Joe who keeps saying that “the monarch will be crowned” in perfect horror movie style. When she tells Joe about what she saw, poor little Joe is on the fritz since last time the mini dome structure was touched, an illusion of Norrie’s mother showed. And she died.

On the flip side, Barbie and Deputy Linda search for another way to take the well out of Ollie’s hands in a way that wouldn’t result in meaningless deaths. Finally, they get hold of an old map that shows where other wells used to be before Ollie’s family made it so that only they would be the only ones with a working well in the town. So what else would the two pacifists think of than to blow up a certain spot in Ollie’s well that will allow water to regain its normal route?

However, after explaining the passive aggressive plot, Big Jim is still instant that they take the well by force. Thankfully, Deputy Linda and Barbie already expected Big Jim to react that way and decided that Deputy Linda would try to distract Big Jim long enough so that Barbie could plant the bomb. When all hell breaks loose and the two groups of self-proclaimmed warriors knock heads, Barbie – after having a fight of his own- triggers the bomb.

While the war is being fought, Big Jim is knocked out and wakes up in Ollie’s house with Junior standing to one side and Ollie to the next. Junior has in his hands, the type of gun that could blow someone’s head right off and is pointing it at his father.

For the first time in all of the seven episodes viewer’s have seen, Big Jim is actually grovelling. Junior doesn’t ask for anything else but the truth about his mother or threatens to put a bullet in his own father. Ollie had told Junior that his mother had committed suicide and not just “died in an accident” like Big Jim had said. Just like that, Big Jim comes clean about the fact that Junior’s mother -not being on the right side of sanity- drove right into a tree. He emphasizes that she left Junior and himself.

This is when Ollie decides to jump into the convo (seeing as how it’s not going as he planned) and tries to get Junior to shoot his father. When Ollie sees that that’s not happening any time soon, he holds a gun to Big Jim’s head and is about to blow it clean off when Junior sends him flying into the wall with a shot to the stomach.

I don’t know why I’m always surprised when Junior does something that should be expected of him but for some reason, I’d actually thought he’d kill his own father. But then again crazy people are spontaneous so go figure.

Anyways, I’m not the only one who seemed surprise by Junior’s change in alliance. Big Jim takes a second and two to make sense of what just happened. Junior does nothing else but throw him back his gun and smiles.

Then, as the episode comes to an end, Julia and Joe try to make sense of what illusion Joe had said back in the woods. While they do this, the words “the monarch will be crowned” is said repeatedly and the screen does a close up on the butterfly tattoo on Angie’s back.

Ohhhhh! What does this mean? Both you and I will have to watch Under the Dome’s next episode airing next week Monday to find out.

Rating: 8/10