'Under the Dome' Recap: Big Jim Murders Dodee, Arrests Barbie

by uInterviewSeptember 10, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

In the final episode of Under the Dome before the first season finale, Big Jim made enemies by arresting Joe and Norrie and racked up his body count, killing Dodee.

The episode, titled “Exigent Circumstances,” began where last week left of: Barbie (Mike Vogel) is hiding from the police after Big Jim (Dean Norris) lied and made him Chester’s Mill’s most wanted criminal. It seems everyone in the town is willingly buying into Big Jim’s lies, believing that Barbie is a cold-blooded murderer, except for Joe (Colin Ford), Norrie (Mackenzie Lintz) and Angie (Britt Robertson), who are considering the possibility of Barbie being the ‘monarch’ the dome spoke of.

Big Jim rallied the town and talked everyone into allowing the police to search their homes for Barbie. Sheriff Linda (Natalie Martinez) is skeptical, but she appears to have given in completely to Big Jim’s reign.

At the barn, Norrie’s mother, Carolyn (Aisha Hinds), catches Norrie and Joe with the egg and recognizes its importance as the “heart” of the dome. She gives them a heads up about the home searches, and tells them to hide it, stat. While Norrie and Joe get to work protecting the mini dome, Angie is ambushed by Barbie himself who gets her to help him break Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) out of the clinic. As long as she’s unconscious, she poses no threat to Big Jim, but as soon as she wakes up and tells people that Barbie did not try to kill her, she will be a threat to Big Jim and Barbie knows the ruthless leader of Chester’s Mill will not hesitate to kill her to keep her quiet.

Angie and Barbie work on a plan and are met with Junior (Alexander Koch), who has been tasked by his dad to keep guard on Julia. Junior was also given explicit instructions to tell him and only him if and when Julia awakens. Barbie is ready to take Junior out, but Angie sees another way. She turns on the charm and lures Junior away long enough for Barbie to swipe Julia from her hospital room and drag her into the back of an ambulance. Junior realizes what’s going on and radios in, alerting the Sheriff that Barbie is at the clinic. With Linda hot on their trail, Barbie tells Angie to drive with Julia and stays behind at the clinic. With Linda busy arresting him, she won’t think to follow Angie until later, giving them time to hide.

Of course, Barbie may have bitten off more than he can chew: another murder has been attributed to him since he went missing: Dodee (Jolene Purdy). Dodee called Big Jim to the radio station to tell him about military chatter she intercepted. The military is looking for Barbie, they say he’s the only one capable of dealing with the egg. Upon hearing the term ‘the egg,’ Dodee remembers her brush with the mini dome in Joe’s barn and spills to Big Jim. Unfortunately for her, she plays all her cards after overhearing on the military chatter that Big Jim murdered the Reverend. Dodee leads Big Jim straight to Joe, Norrie and the egg and gets a bullet in the chest for her troubles. Big Jim now has a new mission: he needs to get the egg from Joe and Norrie so he can keep Chester’s Mill trapped under the dome. If the dome comes up, then his crimes come out.

Joe and Norrie are quickly found, arrested and thrown in jail in cells next to Barbie’s. Thankfully, Big Jim lets them go, but on one condition: Barbie must confess to the murders. If Barbie confesses in front of the entire town, Big Jim will not harm Joe, Norrie or Julia.

The episode ends with Barbie ready to live up to his end of the deal, only then he has a change of heart and says he will plead ‘not guilty’ to the charges against him. Big Jim did not look happy.

“Curtains,” the season finale of Under the Dome airs next Monday at 10 p.m. on CBS.