‘Under the Dome’ season 2, episode 7 review: Barbie and Sam escape the dome

So far this season of “Under the Dome” just hasn’t met up to our expectations. Season 1 was such a thrill ride that kept pushing forward, where this season feels more like it is scrambling and doesn’t really know what to do with Dean Norris’ character of Big Jim. Let’s see if they can get it together with tonight’s episode shall we?

When Barbie tells Junior that it was Sam that killed Angie, he doesn’t believe him. Barbie decides to go back into the tunnel (fully equipped with mountain climbing gear this time), to find Sam’s body so that he has proof of the scratches Angie left on him. When Barbie starts the descent into the seemingly bottomless cliff that Sam jumped off of, the darkness below pulls Barbie down and he tells Julia he loves her right before he cuts the rope and disappears.

Julia and Rebecca decide to keep the information of Barbie’s disappearance into the cave a secret, but Big Jim knows he’s there’s more to Julia and Rebecca’s story. Big Jim has gone completely off the deep end and when he confronts Rebecca about her lies about Barbie his threats work and she tells him that Barbie is dead.

So where did Barbie and Sam end up? Barbie fell outside the dome and back to Zenith (outside of the dome) which happens to be the same place that Sam is wandering around looking for Pauline. He finds her in a psychiatric ward of a hospital (teaching an art class,) and after exchanging notes, Sam learns that Lyle is there too (but as a patient).

Barbie ends up back at his old apartment, where the people that were hunting him find him and force him to finish a job for them. Turns out the job is to rip off his father (which he doesn’t do) and instead he asks his father to help him get a message to Julia inside the dome. His father agrees to help him get to the dome after learning that Barbie is separated from the woman he loves.

Julia, Norrie and Joe go back to the cliff and send a flying camera down there and end up seeing the obelisk from the mini dome vision as well as the park Barbie landed in. They bring the mini dome to the cliff and it shows them Zenith and they realize that there could be a way out from under the dome.

This whole story line of Barbie, Sam and Lyle leaving the dome is a bit of a shark jumping moment for us. It’s like the moment in “Lost” when some people got to leave the island, but more then that it’s happening way to soon in the show’s run. We know that at some point people will find a way to escape the dome, but this is a plot line we expect to see happen 3 or 4 seasons in. Also… Big Jim: What are the writers doing with this character? He needs a larger arc and it’s time to see some progression with him whether it’s full out decent into evil or redemption. Right now he seems to have no plan and is just kind of there like a nosy neighbor that wants the gossip. Episode grade: C-

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Photo: CBS