Barbie went over the cliff and into the darkness on this week’s Under The Dome, but as a result, we learn a lot about where he came from.
Over the Edge
Barbie’s still reeling from the aftermath of Sam’s confession and subsequent jump into the black abyss below Chester’s Mill. He and Julia break the news to Junior of his uncle’s death, and guilt in Angie’s murder, and Junior is understandably angry and reluctant to believe them. Barbie realizes he’s going to have to recover Sam’s body before Junior or anyone else in the town is going to believe the truth.
Barbie throws a flare into the abyss and the darkness swallows it soundlessly, which is not a great sign. Add to that the fact that a laser pointer won’t reach the far side of the cave, and Rebecca’s compass is spinning, and there’s definitely something weird going on. Julia tells him to be careful, and Barbie starts to rappel down the cliff face, with the famous last words, “Be right back,” (clearly he’s never seen a single horror movie.)
Barbie can’t see the bottom, but feels like he’s getting closer to the darkness. Just then, something in the darkness pulls the rope with such force that the anchor comes out of the wall. Julia and Rebecca grab the rope and try to pull him up, but the pull is too strong. Barbie tells Julia he loves her, before cutting the rope and falling into the darkness.
Flash of Light
Julia is devastated, screaming for Barbie, but Rebecca pulls her back and out of the tunnels into the school. Julia tells her not to tell anyone about this until she figures out how to deal with it, and deal with Big Jim in Barbie’s absence. And of course, who should choose the perfect moment to show up but Jim, who’s heard about Sam’s guilt from Junior, and wants to talk to Barbie. Julia and Rebecca tell some fibs, but Jim is obviously still suspicious when he leaves.
Barbie is alive! He wakes up in a playground in his hometown of Zenith, outside of the dome. But he’s not the only one: Sam comes to see his sister Pauline, where she’s teaching art therapy classes in a psychiatric institute. She is thrilled to see him and says they have so much to talk about. Barbie goes back to his home and grabs some documents from behind a painting on the wall. He’s washing the blood off his neck when three goons bust in and hold him at gunpoint.
Joe doesn’t understand where the tunnels came from, since there was just a regular basement down there before the dome came down. He shares his suspicions with Julia, and suggests he use some of his creations from the Robotics Club to check out what’s going on in the darkness. But when the robot helicopter gets down about 20 feet, it the picture goes fuzzy, and in a flash of light, it’s gone. But Joe rewinds the footage frame-by-frame to find that the flash was really a glimpse of a bright sunshine-y playground…near an obelisk.
Daddy issues
Jim surprises Rebecca in her house, threatening her and revealing just how much the dome saving him has gone to his head and made him crazy. Under duress, she confesses that Barbie is dead.
Turns out Barbie was supposed to do a job with these guys after he got back from Chester’s Mill, and they’re pissed that he stood them up. They force him to run the job anyway, and so he and one of the goons sneak up to an enormous house that Barbie identifies as belonging to the owner of a big energy company. But instead of breaking in, Barbie sets off the alarm code, and knocks down the goon. The owner of the house comes outside, and surprise — it’s Barbie’s dad!
Pauline explains to Sam that she didn’t tell him about faking her death because she was afraid he’d try to talk her out of it. Turns out, Lyle is in Zenith too — the cops found him on the street and brought him in. He doesn’t recognize Sam or Pauline, just stares ahead, continuously saying, “Melanie.” Sam breaks the news to Pauline that Melanie’s come back to life.
Barbie and his dad obviously have some beef, but Barbie doesn’t care. He asks his dad to get him back into the dome, which is a big ask, considering the security surrounding it. But Daddy’s got friends in high places, and agrees to help. He guesses that Barbie’s going in after a girl, and says he’s changed, for the better.
There’s still hope
Big Jim’s holding a candlelit memorial for Barbie with a small group of citizens we’ve never seen before, in the Sweetbriar. He says that Barbie was important to this town, “the only thing standing between this town and disaster.” Jim’s going to milk this for all its worth, so he gathered the group around him, and leads them in a prayer for Barbie.
Junior and Melanie show up at the darkened school, looking for everyone. Melanie conveniently has the egg with her, so Joe tells her to bring it down to the cliff with them. The egg lights up down there, and shoots off pink stars once again, in the shape of the obelisk, and the surrounding cityscape. This gives everyone hope that there’s a way out of Chester’s Mill, and Julia hope that Barbie could still be alive.
Pauline’s painted a picture of a red door in her studio, and as Barbie and his dad are walking through the darkened forest on their property, they pass buy a red wooden door in the ground, with yellow hand prints on it, overgrown with vines.
Under The Dome season 2, episode 8, “Awakening,” airs Monday, Aug 18 at 10 p.m. on CBS.
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.