Under The Dome review – 1×06: ‘The Endless Thirst’

For the second week in a row CBS’ summer smash Under The Dome delivers a solid episode. Holy crap – has the show actually gotten good?!

Let’s bitch it out…As usual, let’s count down the good, the meh and the bad of ‘The Endless Thirst’

The Good

• Upping the stakes: After a few initial episodes in which people stared at the Dome like dazed cows, people make the sinking realization that food and water will shortly run out. The result is full scale looting as the townsfolk of Chester’s Mill turn on each other. Without sounding like a despicable human person, this is exactly the kind of drama that this show needs to be delivering. Let’s face it, this is the stark reality of the apocalypse: human beings become selfish, greedy and dangerous (see also: The Walking Dead). By recognizing this fact and leveraging the narrative possibilities in this premise, Under The Dome finally begins to live up to its potential
• Power shift: One of the fun byproducts of the water shortage is that there’s a shift in the culture of trade. Paper money is immediately rejected as currency and food, water, batteries, propane and (to a lesser extent) medicine take its place. This will immediately shift the balance of power to those with access to resources and drive others – like Dean Norris’ Big Jim – to extremes to retain the power they have (and hope to retain)
• Car crash: Alice (Samantha Mathis) walking into traffic and prompting an accident that takes out the water tower may be convenient, but it’s also narratively expedient. We’ve known since 1×04 ‘Outbreak’ that the lack of insulin would become an issue, and it was only a matter of time before something made residents realize they should be hoarding goods. The missile strike (which, let’s reminder, is meant to have occurred earlier in the day) reinforces that their imprisonment is not a short-term issue and Alice’s car accident helps initiate the descend into madness in one single, simple event
  

The Meh

• Linda (Natalie Martinez): I’m back to kinda/sorta liking Linda this week as the looting drives her nearly over the edge. I think her proximity to Barbie (Mike Vogel) helps to give her a bit of depth. Although they only share a few scenes, they play well off each other and they keep each other in check: she prevents him from beating people up and he prevents her from immediately going for the gun, which as we saw in 1×03 ‘Manhunt’ doesn’t often end well
• Rose’s (Beth Broderick) death: I’m all for showing the harsh realities facing these people, but it feels like a bit of a stretch to go from looting to (near) rape and murder. I think I would be able to accept Rose’s death more readily if she weren’t also the only character that Angie (Britt Robertson) tells about Jr (Alexander Koch) and Big Jim locking her up. This event eels more convenient to me than anything else
• Angie’s new deal: Mid-way through the episode I literally got so frustrated with the show’s treatment of Britt Robertson I could barely watch any more. By the end, however, I was intrigued by the position she’s in. Can she trust Big Jim to honour his promise to protect her and her brother? Is that a deal she can truly accept after admitting only moments earlier that no amount of money can hide the truth about Jr (a truth Big Jim acknowledges he was aware of beforehand). It’s likely that Angie will take the deal, but this should still be very interesting moving forward
• Julia’s (Rachelle Lefevre) and Dodee’s (Jolene Purdy) secret: In an episode featuring a lot of unconventional partnerships, I like this pairing. The two ladies team up to track down the source of the electrical static, which is naturally revealed to be Joe (Colin Ford) and Norrie (Mackenzie Lintz). After it’s revealed that the Dome can generate its own rain, the kids discover they can control the radio frequencies if they simultaneously touch the Dome wall. If the townspeople find out the truth about their connection, it will mean terrible things for them. So obviously we know need to start taking bets on how long before the secret comes out…

The Bad

• King Appliances: The name of the truck is a none-too-subtle shout-out to Under The Dome author Stephen King…and a groan-worthy one at that
• Barbie and Julia’s kiss: It’s not really bad, per se, but I just don’t care. It’s been forecast that these two would hook up from their first meeting in the pilot, and I’m surprised it’s taken this long, but I don’t really care what happens

Dome info for the week:

• This week’s Dome factoids:
  • The Dome has its own microclimate
  • The Dome may be providing amenities when residents need it: protection from missiles last week, water this week
  • If Joe and Norrie both touch the Dome, they can scramble frequencies
• Number of deaths/injuries: 1 – Rose, in the diner, with the baseball bat
• This week’s drinking game: Drink everytime Barbie chases a random looter from a store

What’s your take on episode six: did you expect Rose to die? Was the appearance of the Dome precipitated by Norrie’s arrival in Chester’s Mill? Will Big Jim kill Ollie (Leon Rippy)? Will Dodee tell Big Jim about Joe and Norrie? Are you psyched that the show has been renewed for a 13 episode second season next summer? Hit the comments with your thoughts below

Under The Dome airs Mondays at 10pm EST on CBS. *Remember: we’re discussing the show as its own entity, so please refrain from including spoilers from the book