Under the Dome: The Monarch is Crowned

It should be of no surprise that drama programs tend to rely on viewers tuning in regularly to follow the story arcs. The first season finale for Under the Dome is a prime example of this, as someone tuning in for the first time would probably be utterly lost as to what is taking place (and why). Another peculiar factor common amongst dramas is that the viewers manage to believe everything... I certainly don't think I would have made full sense about the lights going out in the middle of the day and the moon rising with you. But, maybe this is just why I don't do a lot of science fiction or fantasy shows... I just can't distance myself from what's happening on stage very well. Similarly, the trust that the characters (don't) have seems rather arbitrary at times. So, not only was there nothing close to a definitive ending with this season, it is almost as if the writers wanted the first season to have major cliffhangers in every way possible!

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Under the Dome "Curtains" (S01E13) [season finale]: Linda questions everything about the mini-Dome, hoping to confiscate it and discuss its future with BigJim. When the monarch breaks out of its cocoon, black splotches appear when it touches the mini-Dome, and the realy Dome reacts the same way! Soon, it appears to be night, as the entire surface is soon covered. Linda alerts the officers to the location but when she touches the mini-Dome she is burned and knocked out. [just like Dodee!] The kids escape with it and head to the cement factory, where Angie and Julia meet them there after busting Barbie out of jail. The kids touch the mini-Dome to dissolve it, and the monarch circles Barbie several times before landing on Julia. [called it!] Then, the egg turns bright and starts making the place shake until Julia picks it up. But Junior doesn't think there is any monarch, so he threatens to shoot Julia if she doesn't hand over the egg. She tosses it to Angie and everyone gets away, except Barbie, who returns to custody once more. 

It is more serious this time, though, as Chester's Mill has constructed gallows to hang Barbie as an example of how serious the town is about law and order. [did this ever work? Linda is off looking for the kids and stumbles upon the "pink stars" line painted inside Joe's barn. When she tells BigJim about her findings, he shows her his dead wife's paintings of pink stars falling in lines. Meanwhile, the egg group sees an Alice look-alike, who mentions that the Dome exists to protect them, and if they protect the egg, they will earn back the daylight. [and we're trusting this apparition/alien WHY??!?] BigJim announces that Julia has an hour to turn in the egg before Barbie is hanged, but rather than turn it in, she drops it into the lake, which causes pink streams of light to flood toward the sky and allow daylight once more. [this whole section confused me, and it'll practically none another year before this is solved.]

Junior asks the Dome for advice on why he should kill his father, then tells his father than he knows that the guy has done terrible things. [The Dome doesn't seem to answer just one person at a time!]. He decides to tell his father that the group wants to assassinate the councilman for killing others. BigJim admits to doing "what was necessary for the good of the town," but believes that their family is important to the future because of the painting predictions. [but why? and how? oh, that's right... Stephen King.]