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| Barbie looks to protect Julia yet again on "Under the Dome" |
Now that’s the episode I’ve been waiting for. Finally, after weeks and weeks of Disaster of
the Week storytelling that’s completely forgotten when the episode ends, we get
an episode with real stakes. The good
guys and bad guys are mostly established and we’ve got clear consequences for
everybody no matter how this all plays out.
Frankly, for the first time since the premiere, I’m actually excited to
see how this all plays out.
My biggest problem with Under
the Dome has always been the feeling that there were no stakes. One week they’re going to run out of water
until the problem is magically solved and never spoken of again. Another week they’re going to run out of food
until the problem is magically solved and never spoken of again. Another week a bomb is going to be dropped on
them. To be fair, that actually did
happen, but then it was never spoken of again.
Nothing ever lasted, and so when a new disaster happened, or something
else came out of the blue (hello Max’s Fight Club and enormous mansion in the
middle of the lake), it was tough to care because I knew we’d never hear about
it ever again.
Finally, though, action starts happening that’s based
entirely on what’s come before. Barbie’s
on the run but still needs to protect Julia, who he’s pretty sure Big Jim will
kill if she wakes up long enough to identify Max as the shooter. Putting Barbie and Angie together for the
rescue is a particularly good idea because Mike Vogel and Britt Robertson have
always worked well together, despite not getting many opportunities to do
so. This also has the added benefit of
throwing yet another wrench in the Angie/Junior relationship. At this point I’m not sure why Angie isn’t
screaming about her kidnapping from the rooftop. That whole “Big Jim’s protection” thing
hasn’t been worth squat for her and I imagine she’s going to find herself at
the wrong end of a gun before the season wraps.
Another problem I’ve had with the shows is that, for all the
deaths and mayhem, there hasn’t been a consistent sense of dread, a consistent
fear that something bad is just around the corner. Just look at the final scene of Sunday’s
episode of Breaking Bad. I understand that it’s not exactly fair to
compare Under the Dome with Breaking Bad, but the latter really
emphasized this week how to effectively create dread. The final twenty minutes of “To’hajiilee” are
a master class in fear. Death and
destruction are right around the corner as the characters obliviously play out
their roles. It was riveting, edge of
your seat entertainment. Everybody
watching knew, absolutely knew, that
something terrible was about to happen.
And when everything hit the fan, it felt natural.
Now, I’m not saying “Exigent Circumstances” is on the level
of Breaking Bad, but for the first
time really since the premiere, I feel that pretty much any character can die,
and for perfectly valid reasons. I
feared for Joe and Norrie when they were in Jim’s custody. I fear, obviously, for Barbie and Angie. Hell, if it wasn’t Dean Norris, I’d half
expect Big Jim to get a bullet in the head at some point in the finale. That Dodee is the one to go this week makes
sense as she’s clearly become “the woman who knew too much.” That the military outside the dome saw Jim
kill the Reverend is a bit iffy, but that he’d kill her for hearing that is
definitely not.
So heading into the season finale I’ve got to say I’m more
excited about Under the Dome than I’ve
been since the premiere. I’m not ready
to forget the last ten episodes since there’s certainly every possibility that
next season will fall back into the “Disaster of the Week” pattern. But for now, I’ll enjoy the ride.
A couple of spare thoughts –
The mini-dome story has kind of stalled but I’m much more
intrigued by the fact that the military outside the dome know that it
exists.
I was a little disappointed that Joe and Norrie went
straight to Ben and the egg after being released by Jim. At least it was Linda who followed them and
not Jim or Junior.
What teenage boy has that many blankets and comforters in
his room?
So thoughts? Comments? Just want to tell me my blog sucks? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @TyTalksTV.
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