The drama goes to new heights in the eighth episode of the second season of Under the Dome. Big Jim attempts to figure out who, on his long list of haters, is after him; Barbie tries desperately to get back inside the dome; and Pauline, Lyle and Sam try to put Pauline’s paintings together to find out which anomaly the dome is going to hit Chester’s Mill with next.
There is no one in Chester’s Mill who loves power, fame and adoration more than Big Jim Rennie. I swear, this man lives for the appraisal from the townsfolk of Chester’s Mill or anybody who’s stupid enough to swallow his bullshit. He’s conceited and egotistical to the point that he believes the dome is trying to get his attention or ask something of him. He also doesn’t allow the residents of Chester’s Mill to grieve Barbie properly as he takes up the position of sheriff in a flash. Junior isn’t so keen on the idea of his father getting such a position but, frankly, there aren’t many options left and (thanks to the dome), Chester’s Mill is always in need of some kind of rescue team.
His first decree as sheriff is to hand out walkie talkies to “key people” in case of any disturbances in the town. When he does stuff like this, it makes you realize that Big Jim actually does things that benefit the town. The only problem is that most of the time he’s doing it to achieve some ulterior motive. Anyway, this “system” works pretty darn well as Rebecca phones in on the walkie about the torn down, makeshift windmill lying outside of the café. When Big Jim and Junior reach the scene, Big Jim is so sure that whoever tore it down must be trying to send him a message. The new rescue team doesn’t even get a chance to investigate as a woman phones about a fire.
While new incidents keep Chester’s Mill authorities busy, Barbie is trying to find his way back to Julia. In the last episode, Barbie’s father agreed to help him get back to the dome with the aid of his “resources,” but something seemed fishy about him. Barbie’s dad appears to be the loving father who will easily welcome back his prodigal son, BUT he also seems like the kind of man who puts his own agenda first. This assumption proves to be true as Barbie – with the help of his father’s handsome computer whiz – figures out that his dad added on to the message he sent to Julia. In the altered message, his father asks Julia to bring the egg to Zenith. Barbie – and the viewers watching the show – start wondering what on earth his dad would want with the dome egg.
I can’t stress enough how much I love the fact that the show decided to bring in the gorgeous hacker! Not only is he knowledgeable about everything that has to do with Barbie, but he is also the founder of the mysterious website and email “Hounds of Diana.” I thought that the directors of the show would just forget about the email that Junior received a few episodes back from that peculiar email address. However, ever since the protagonists of the show discovered the pit that leads to the outside world, the action and drama have dramatically increased. The hacker explains that his site is about revealing the fact that “the world is being lied to about the dome.” Unfortunately, hacker boy also has his own agenda and digs up files in Barbie’s father’s computer that could give him more info for his site. Barbie nearly gets found out because of this and has to stall his father.
Throughout this period of time, Julia and the rest of the Four Hands (excluding Junior) are trying to figure out if the message sent was truly from Barbie, as well as why they keep losing the signal. Apparently, the army are the ones responsible for the zero internet access in the town. They locked off the wireless so that only people with credentials (like Barbie’s dad) can get any email in the town. Still, Julia doesn’t believe that Barbie could really be alive and tries to decipher whether or not a miracle has happened.
Julia isn’t the only one who believes in miracles. Pauline believes that Lyle can come back to his senses with the help of some new drug the doctors are working on. The only problem is that Sam isn’t willing to help, and the doctors say that Lyle doesn’t fit the protocol so they won’t give him any. Pauline begs Sam to administer the drug to Lyle so that they can find a way to get Junior out of the dome. But all Sam wants is to restart his life now that he’s not locked up inside the dome. After a little more coercing, Sam agrees to help and after breaking into a medication closet, they inject Lyle with the drug. Amazingly, it works, and when Lyle regains his senses he tells the two about the postcards that Pauline kept sending him. Apparently, the post cards show the events that are happening and are about to happen in the dome.
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Back under the dome, the rescue team (Big Jim, Rebecca and Junior) try to come up with the names of people who might be after Big Jim and who might be causing disturbances just to unnerve him. After they come up with a couple names, Junior says that he knows there are more people after Big Jim than the ones they’ve listed, but they decide to start small.
While Rebecca and Junior decide to pay Tom Tilden (the farmer guy whose pigs got infected) a visit, Big Jim tails Julia. Apparently, Barbie got hacker guy to send a new message that only Julia could decipher and it told her to meet him at one side of the dome. Knowing Jim’s character and thinking best to keep Barbie’s existence a secret, Julia tells Big Jim that she’s going to scavenge whatever food she can find in Joe’s house’s debris.
Unfortunately, Junior and Rebecca have to deal with an irate Tom as he does not hide his hatred towards Big Jim. He’s so upset about the fact that people have now blacklisted him because of the pig incident that he tells Junior that if Big Jim was on fire, he wouldn’t even spit on him. The funny thing is that I know a lot of people in the town would agree with that statement! After talking to most of the people on their list, Rebecca and Junior decide to check in on Big Jim to see if he’s okay. And right as Big Jim’s in the middle of responding, he’s gun-butted by Phil (who escaped from the hospital). Phil takes Big Jim down to the jail cells and handcuffs him. He continues to lay his hurt down in front of Big Jim, and my heart really pours out to poor old Phil. I mean, he took a bullet for the man! In between Phil’s lament, Rebecca and Junior come bursting in, taking down Phil and freeing Big Jim. They lock Phil up in a cell and he doesn’t look the least bit surprised.
Coming to the end of the episode, viewers see Julia sitting on her bonnet next to the edge of the dome as she waits for Barbie. Barbie channels his inner Rambo as he uses his newly found resources (the hacker guy) to get him close to the dome so that he can warn Julia not to follow him with the egg. He goes as far as hitchhiking underneath an army truck but sets off an alarm when he makes a run for the edge of the dome. Before the army can accost him, he writes on the dome walls that it’s not safe on the outside and that Julia shouldn’t jump.
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Thanks to the helicopters that come along with the army to drag Barbie away, Big Jim witnesses Barbie and Julia’s meeting and realizes that Barbie is still alive.
After a whole season with nothing but unanswered questions and no developments, the directors of Under the Dome have finally graced us with some action! *sigh* I can’t wait to see what’s next for this poor little town.
Rating: 8.5/10
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