This episode entitled “The Fire” focuses on the conspiracy before the dome fell and Linda’s rise as a leader.
The episode starts off with a flashback of Barbie and Peter in an altercation over money. Barbie wakes up. Then Julia and Barbie start talking in the bedroom. He is just getting up and he asks her where his dog-tags are. Barbie goes back to the scene of crime. He enters an old- worn- down-ransacked house. There, he finds the gun he killed Julia’s husband with and his dog tags. Junior Rennie followed him and accuses Barbie of sleeping with Angie. Junior still has Angie locked away in the underground bunker. She told him that she slept with Barbie. Barbie pounds Junior’s face in and leaves.
Meanwhile, Julia goes to the radio station and learns from the engineer that the town is under a dome. Julia broadcasts this over the air ways. Then Linda goes to the local bar/inn to tell Big Jim that Sheriff Duke is dead.
We find out that the pastor and Big Jim were in on the propane scandal. Big Jim goes over to the precinct to cover his tracks and reads Duke’s will. Then the pastor goes to Duke’s house to destroy any evidence. He starts a fire when he tried to destroy some papers. News broke over the police scanners and Linda and her Deputies run into Barbie and gather him up to help. Barbie was trying to bury the gun.
Linda goes into the house and saves Rev. Lester but she was informed by the will that she would be getting Duke’s house. Now that it is burning in front of her eyes; that will not happen.
Barbie instructs the neighbors to gather water in pots and trashcans to put out the water. Big Jim comes in and bulldozes the house. The house falls and smothers the house fire. Afterwards the reverend thanks Linda and lies about getting a suit for Duke’s funeral. Rev. Lester also says an electrical issue caused the fire.
The crowd of neighbors gathers to thank Linda for saving the Reverend and leading the charge. She has effectively taken the leadership role Duke left vacant. Then Deputy Paul breaks the good mood and raises his gun in the air. He tells them that the dome has trapped the smoke in and the situation will going to get worst. He fires at the dome and then the bullet ricochets and kills Deputy Buddy.
The episode ends with Linda holding Buddy and Barbie subduing Paul.
This episode was a lot better than the pilot. The pilot was a blitzkrieg of characters and info that did not give itself room to breathe. At this point, the show has only THREE INTERESTING PLOTS. The first is the Julia, Barbie, and Peter plot. The second is the action-woman Linda plot. The third is the Big Jim propane scandal plot. However, there is something brewing with Joe’s tinkering but it is slow moving. By the way he finds out that water can come through the dome. This show is okay. I think that by mid-season things will pick up. Under the Dome airs on CBS.
Image: CBS