Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 1, Episode 5 of CBS' "Under the Dome," titled "Blue on Blue."
It's been five weeks since we met the Chester's Mill captives and the general public is allowed to come visit the dome for the first time. And by visit, I mean they're being bused in like tourists by the military to gawk at the unlucky town.
When we left the town last week, Big Jim had just discovered Angie in the bomb shelter but had yet to decide what he was going to do about it. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't immediately let Angie go. Instead, he brings the blue-lipped prisoner a thin blanket and retires to the house to look through old photo albums and wonder, "Where did I go wrong?"
On the other side of town, the military brings buses of family members to the outside of the dome so they can see those that have been trapped. Even the members of the army seem to have a change of heart; instead of ignoring the residents, they actually acknowledge them. Morale is lifted in the town as mothers see their long lost sons and fiancées see their future husbands, but not for long. The cameras also lure out Norrie's absent father, which sends the teenager running because her moms lied about his existence. Even the dome can't stop family drama.
After the crowds disperse, Barbie uses his military hero status (he saved a man in Iraq after his troop accidently shot at their own) to get a soldier to explain that things are bad. Really, really bad. The government gave them orders to pack up and leave right after the field trip, with no plans to return. Using clues (and picked up radio signals from outside) Barbie and company deduce that a missile is going to be launched at the dome, presumably killing everyone inside.
Julia decides to send out a message to get everyone in town to convene at the old cement factory, the one she and Junior rendezvoused at a few episodes ego. As the townspeople head to safety, Big Jim has a change of heart and decides that since everyone is going to die anyway, he might as well let Angie go. He cuts her shackles and sends her running barefoot to her house. Unfortunately, the only person waiting for her at home is Junior, who found out his father released her. Hey, at least he's dedicated. Junior brandishes a gun while telling Angie that all he wanted to do was save her. Because she's about to die, she opens her arms to Junior and caresses him while he cries.
Meanwhile, the town hunkers down in the makeshift fallout shelter. While the outside world plans to destroy the town, the residents of Chester's Mill spend their last minutes together. It's interesting to see how they decide to spend what could be their last breaths on earth: Julia and Barbie share old liquor, the radio hosts slow dance to oldies, and Linda sneaks away to a water tower to look at engravings she and her fiancé left.
Everyone is safely in the underground tunnel except Joe and Norrie, who are off looking for Joe's sister and running away from moms who keep secrets. They realize their search is futile as the missile comes barreling towards the dome, and -- in a romantic gesture straight out of an apocalyptic John Hughes film -- Joe and Norrie kiss for the first time. Except the missile crashes into the barrier and does nothing more than create a cloud of smoke.
So alas, everyone is "safe." Well, almost everyone. At the end of the episode the reverend threatens Big Jim, promising that if he doesn't repent for his sins, the reverend will do it for him. Never one to take a threat lightly, Big Jim smashes the reverend's head against the dome, causing his hearing aid to explode. Earlier in the episode we found out that our ill-fated man of God thought he was receiving messages from the Lord in said hearing device. On the bright side, one less nutjob to deal with under the dome.
- Linda and her fiancé were able to communicate during the field trip (hello Microsoft product placement), and Linda had to tell him that his brother died on her watch. This didn't go well, so we don't know where our People Magazine cover story couple stand now.
"Under the Dome" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
