Under the Dome: Where are the Priorities?

So, after watching this episode, the true natures of the characters are now much more clear. Big Jim definitely has something to hide, Junior is a psychopath, Joe is a nerd, Julia will push any boundary for a scoop, Linda seeks the truth and will make sure things get done, and Barbie is trained to do a lot of things and thinks quickly in emergencies. There's still plenty of characters about whom we know little (like Beth Broderick's persona, the three travelers, the radio station workers, and Angie), and I'm sure there's much more to learn about others (especially Barbie and Big Jim), but what I really wonder about is why so few people seem to be doing anything about the dome's existence. Barbie is the only one who has thought about supplies running dry, and we've only seen one attempt to try digging under it! I'd think tons of people would be working on more than just "measuring" the size of the thing!

Under the Dome "The Fire" (S01E02): Duke, Big Jim, and a reverend were in on something, and Jim asks the reverend to clean it up. So, the clergyman burns up the information about the propane at Duke's house, but he accidentally catches the whole place on fire. [he acted like a total idiot!] The fire department is on the other side of the dome, and the land is very dry, so this is a big concern for the townspeople. Barbie takes charge and leads a bucket brigade, but it doesn't make as big of a dent as Big Jim taking a bulldozer to the house and knocking it down to prevent the spread of the fire. Linda helps, too, by going in to save the reverend, who claims there was a gas leak that ignited. It's not very suspicious, given that the dome is nearby and could have severed a gas line. Plus, there's a bigger problem when one cop starts freaking out and kills Rusty's brother, another policeman. [too bad, I liked that Linda had someone to turn to. She should have asked HIM about what Duke was getting at about town secrets, not Big Jim.]

Michael Tackett

Barbie dreams about killing Julia's husband, causing him to realize that he left his dog tags at the scene of the crime. When he goes to retrieve them, Junior starts a fight, believing Barbie to have had a torrid affair with Angie. The kid goes back to Angie (now chained to a bed) and claims that he killed her lover, though she suspects he's lying. [what would that do anyway except prove that he's even crazier??!?] 

The folks at the radio station hear over the airwaves that the military is calling the barrier a dome, so when Julia learns this, she broadcasts the information. [I'm not a big fan of hers...] Joe wants to map the dome and learns that it's probably ten miles across. [bigger than I thought this town was!] It also seems that a little water can pass through, like in a sieve, though how that will help remains unknown.