'Under the Dome' Recap: Don't Fear The Reaper In 'Imperfect Circles'

Last week, looters trashed the grocery store, unruly rioters killed Rose inside the diner and it began to rain within the dome. This week, the first dome-baby was born, Big Jim got robbed and a whole lot of people died.
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Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 1, Episode 7 of CBS' "Under the Dome," titled "Imperfect Circles."

The first season of the CBS show is halfway over and things are getting really, really weird. Last week, looters trashed the grocery store, unruly rioters killed Rose inside the diner and it began to rain within the dome. This week, the first dome-baby was born, Big Jim got robbed and a whole lot of people died.

As usual, Joe and Norrie are the only ones in Chester's Mill making any real progress in the whole "why is there a huge dome over the town?" thing. The young lovebirds decide to try and figure out their connection. First, they try making out against the dome (for some unclear reason). When that fails to elicit any real response from the dome, they decide to track down the center of the problem. Whiz kid Joe deduces that if the dome is like an atom, there must be a nucleus. Using the maps he and his friend Ben created a while back, he and Norrie set off to find some answers.

Meanwhile, Barbie and Julia wake up in bed together. The two caress and gaze adoringly at each other until a knock at the door interrupts their tryst. Julia's very pregnant neighbor, Harriet, is desperate for some yogurt because, well, being pregnant with a missing husband and a mysterious, translucent cage surrounding your whole town sucks. On her way back to her house, Harriet hallucinates her deployed husband, but when she reaches out to him, a shock from the dome causes her water to break and the military man disappears into thin air. Julia takes charge and rushes the woman to the clinic, only to find that the two looters who murdered Rose last week have blocked off the road. They brandish guns at the women while siphoning gas. Predictably, Barbie appears out of nowhere and saves the day once again.

On the other side of town, Junior and Linda set off to apprehend said looter-murderer duo. Junior proves himself to be surprisingly helpful when he suggests that perhaps they ran away to a junkyard on the other side of town. Sure enough, they find the runaways hiding out. Linda ends up shooting one to death while Junior takes out the other. Death count so far this episode: two.

While Junior is shooting criminals point blank, water well owner and dealmaker Ollie corners his father. Last time we saw Big Jim, he offered Ollie propane in exchange for water for the townspeople. This time, Ollie has sent a very large man to break into the propane supply and claim it for his own. When Big Jim tries to get past this beast of a man, he's knocked to the ground. While this setback angers him enough to send him straight to a bottle of whiskey, Rennie is not deterred. Later that night he returns to the propane supply, waits until the gas thief loads tanks into his truck and blows the whole thing up. Death count: three.

Speaking of death, Angie, now a free woman, decides to bury Rose herself. Since the mortuary owner is apparently dead, Rose's body was left on a counter in the diner. Being a faithful employee, Angie and Ben (Joe's friend) decide to take matters into their own hands and give her the burial she deserves. Later in the episode Angie and Joe finally reunite, but first, Joe discovers something that could be pivotal to the town's freedom.

While exploring, Norrie and Joe come across what seems to be a mini-dome where the nucleus would be. Instead, there appears to be a small black egg inside. Joe and Norrie take turns making fools of themselves by unsuccessfully trying to speak to the egg, but when that doesn't work they decide to touch the baby dome at the same time. Suddenly, Norrie's doctor mom Alice appears in the forest, only to disappear as soon as Norrie removes her hands. She and Joe rush home because somehow they know that Alice appearing as a hologram must mean something bad.

Before Joe and Norrie arrive, Alice helps to deliver Harriet's baby. During labor, Alice gets very weak and can barely speak, but she still manages to save the infant's life and deliver the baby girl, soon to be named Alice as well. After the delivery, the doctor passes out, assuming she's having a heart attack. Norrie and Joe arrive to the house just in time for Alice to say her goodbyes to her daughter before she dies, leaving the town essentially doctorless. Final death count: four.

As the episode closes, Norrie begs and pleads with the dome to bring her mother back to life, Barbie and Julia cuddle on the floor again and Joe and Angie embrace for the first time since the bubble came down.

Random thoughts

  • If Big Jim was going to hoard tons and tons of the most valuable resource in town, would he really only secure it with a Masterlock?
  • The only people who have appeared in hologram form are either dead (we assume) or on their way to death. The dome is kind of the show's grim reaper.
  • Big Jim used to appear at any sign of chaos but now Barbie always seems to show up at the right time. Either he has some sort of sixth sense, or he brings the bad luck with him.
  • When Julia's neighbor Harriet saw Barbie at the door, she seemed surprised. In a town of about 100, wouldn't everyone know that Mr. Mysterious Handsomeface is living with Julia by now?
  • At the end of the episode, the black nucleus egg starts to glow with purple sparks. It seems like the dome is just a terrarium for this weird dinosaur egg thing. But why?!

"Under the Dome" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

Big Jim Rennie (Dean Norris)

'Under The Dome': Get To Know The Characters

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