‘Under the Dome’ recap- 'Manhunt'

This episode of Under the Dome focuses on the events after the fire of last week’s episode. Linda has new responsibilities and no deputies to help her carry them out. Barbie is trying to keep hold to his secrets. Julia is still trying to find answers. And Big Jim’s power grows as the town descends slowly into chaos.

The episode begins with Linda taking Paul to the police precinct to be locked up. A mob of townspeople heckle the new sheriff about safety and how she can protect the town alone. When Paul is imprisoned, he fakes an illness and tricks Linda into the jail cell. Now Big Jim and Linda are looking for him. Big Jim organized a search party by recruiting some of the local townspeople at the diner. While there, he also recruits Barbie primarily for his skill in taking down Paul in last week’s episode. The four men go into the woods. Meanwhile, Linda enters alone. Then Paul sneaks up on Barbie and Big Jim as they talked about how Jim crushed a former teammate’s pelvis. Paul holds the two at gunpoint and then Linda comes in and kills Paul.

The second major plot point in the episode revolves around Joe and Norrie. These are the only two characters that have had seizures. Joe and Norrie are getting closer to one another. They have gotten so close that Joe almost got beaten up over her. When she learns that he has a generator at home, she comes over to charge her MP3 player. In fact, most of the town’s teens gathered at his house to use his electricity. Then his generator breaks down because of the large amount of people using it. Norrie’s mom is looking for her and when she finds out the girl is at the McAlister house, the two teens hold hands and both have seizures. They repeatedly say the stars are falling.

The minor plot of the episode focused on Julia and Junior. They are trapped underground. She was following him to an underground factory facility and then Junior drops his flashlight. They get out eventually but Junior leaves with bloody knuckles from punching the wall. He goes to Angie with a first aid kit. She is still held captive and she cleans him up and takes a pair of scissors out for a possible escape later.

Also Barbie returns to Julia’s home and she takes a map with coordinates on it from his knapsack.

This episode was underwhelming. The manhunt was not as grandiose as I would have imagined. It could have had the entire town looking for a killer but only five people were involved. The acting was fantastic but very few new things happened. Angie is still held captive. Big Jim is still trying to gain power and hide the conspiracy. Julia is still clueless about everything until the last minute of the episode. The only bright spots in the show are Linda and Barbie. Linda has become a leader in her own right and the town respects her leadership skills. Barbie’s intentions are not clear and that mystery helps bring intrigue and motivate me to continue watching. However, the next episode looks promising. Under the Dome airs on CBS. Here is a trailer to the next episode:

Image: CBS