The Breakdown
The Under the Dome season finale gets underway with the monarch butterfly emerging from its cocoon inside the mini-dome. Sheriff Linda continues to freak out over the mini-dome, but Caroline calms her by explaining that she trusts the kids’ theory on the object.
Meanwhile, Big Jim punches Barbie in the stomach in response to his not guilty plea. Barbie replies that Big Jim took a risk by leaving Julia out there because she knows the truth. Big Jim says that he told the people of Chester’s Mill the truth: Barbie killed those people.
Junior pleads with the dome to explain why he must kill his father.
Angie attempts to convince Julia to stay hidden because Big Jim wants to kill her. Julia refuses.
Sheriff Linda claims the mini-dome as police property, but her speech is interrupted by the monarch butterfly, which is leaving black marks against the walls of the object. Those same black marks then cloud the big dome. The townspeople begin to panic as everything goes dark. Linda ignores the kids’ attempts to convince her to leave the mini-dome alone. She calls for all units to come to Ben Drake’s house. The dome starts making a loud screeching noise, but when the kids try and stop it, Linda decides that she’ll be the only one allowed to go near it. The object sends her flying across the room when she puts her hands on it.
Junior bursts in to find Linda on the floor. The kids explain what happened and convince Junior to help them move the dome.
Julia and Angie arrive at the police station to help Barbie. Angie finds the keys to the cell while Julia and Barbie share a kiss. They release him just as Phil arrives. Barbie shows off his military skills by taking Phil out while still handcuffed.
Angie, Junior, Joe and Norrie put their hands on the dome in hopes of saving the butterfly before it dies. They save it just in time, and the butterfly then flies over to Barbie. Joe says that he knew it: Barbie is the monarch.
Big Jim finds the townspeople heading into the church to get right with God. At first, he tries to talk them out of it, but then he goes along with it and invokes the name of God. The people begin to voice their concerns, which causes Big Jim to admit that he doesn’t know if everything is going to be okay. Instead, Big Jim argues that he has faith in the people and in God that they will make it. He says that there has been too much evil and darkness since the dome came down and that those days are over.
Meanwhile, the egg starts to shake. Barbie tells everyone to clear away from it, but Julia walks over and picks it up. The egg calms down in her hands, and the butterfly settles on her. Barbie says that Julia is their monarch.
Big Jim tells Phil that got an idea in church. They’re going to build gallows to hang lawbreakers. Phil questions him at first, but Big Jim convinces him to get on board. “For Dodee,” Phil says.
Linda finds nothing in Joe’s barn except for the writing, “the pink stars are falling in lines.” She tells Big Jim about it, which causes him to panic.
Julia isn’t sure what to do now that they know she’s the monarch. Junior immediately steps in and says they need to give it to his father. The group tries to tell him that Big Jim killed a defenseless Maxine, but he doesn’t listen. He pulls a gun and tries to force Julia into giving up the egg. Instead, she tosses it to Angie, who runs. Barbie tackles him and takes a beating from Junior to give the rest of the group time. Junior picks him up and takes him into custody.
Big Jim tells Linda about his ex-wife and the saying, “the pink stars are falling.” He then shows her a painting of the stars with the egg. Big Jim explains that maybe his wife wasn’t sick, maybe she was trying to warn them.
What’s left of Joe’s group meets in the woods. They question what to do and decide to simply ask the egg. Julia takes it in her hands and holds it out to Norrie, who asks the egg what to do. An apparition of Norrie’s dead mother, Alice, appears before her.
Alice tells them that she appears to them in this form to bridge the communication gap between whoever sent the dome to Chester’s Mill and the people living there. She explains that the dome was sent to protect them, not harm them. When asked for details, Alice simply says, “You’ll see.” Then she notes that if they want the darkness to go away, they need to earn it by protecting the egg. If they don’t protect the egg, it’s the end for all of them.
Barbie is brought back into custody as the gallows are built outside. Big Jim attempts to convince Barbie to tell him about the egg to no avail. Rennie then gives Julia an ultimatum over police walkie talkie: turn over the egg. In exchange, Barbie will get a reduced sentence. Junior walks in and warns his father that the group wants to assassinate him. He tells his father that they think the elder Rennie is dangerous. Big Jim admits that he’s taken lives, but he’s never taken any that weren’t for the good of the town. He tells Junior that they are in it together. Junior hugs his father.
Julia decides that there is nothing they can do to save Barbie. She tells the rest of the group to go somewhere safe. Julia then drives out to the lake as Barbie is led to the gallows. She holds up Barbie’s dog tags and sits in the boat as the noose is put around his neck. Julia then drops the egg in the lake, which causes it to shoot off pink stars. Big Jim responds by claiming the good Lord is looking down on them. The sky turns into light as Big Jim screams for Junior to pull the lever on the gallows.
Analysis
What a horrible finale! There’s no way around it. I’m not sure how Stephen King could allow his book to be torn apart the way it was throughout the entire first season, but I’m even more curious as to how he could possibly endorse this garbage.
“Curtains” had the same problems that earlier episodes in the series have had. The script was unbelievably mindless, and the mythology concerning the dome itself confusing and rather stupid. We never really learned much about the characters or the dome. In the end, the season finale of Under the Dome became so ridiculous that I couldn’t wait for the episode to be over. Apparently, Stephen King is scheduled to write the Season 2 premiere. At this point, perhaps it’s just better to let this show die. Under the Dome had some great moments, but the finale is symbolic of the entire series: disappointing.
