Under the Dome: Revelation

“If this place runs out of food, let’s hope we’re not on the menu,” said Barbie in last Sunday’s episode of “Under the Dome.”

Seriously. Of all the networks to do a show about cannibalism, who would have thought CBS? (Interesting crossover idea for “Big Brother.”)

But, yes, eating each other was the underlying message of the episode titled “Revelation.” Resources were dwindling, which meant not everyone might make it out of the dome alive.

Rebecca had tasked Big Jim with deciding who lives and who dies, and the episode started with Joe’s fresh teenage face at the top of the census pile. (If you’re going to weed out the weak, he’s probably a good start.)

“I’m not going to shake the tree until I’m sure who can carry their own weight and who can’t,” said Big Jim.

Later, at the Sweetbriar Rose café, Big Jim and Barbie spotted Harriet, the first woman to give birth in the dome. The new mom had a cheery outlook despite a newborn, no husband, and a big-ass dome covering her town. Big Jim felt awkward because he had just examined Harriet’s census records earlier in the day, and now felt a bit weird about, you know, contemplating her extermination.

Before Barbie left, he told Big Jim he didn’t want him to do any kind of filtering of the weaklings without him. He had some things to do around Chester’s Mill. Pencil him in for natural selection at 5.

Into the Woods

Barbie, rocking the same clothes as yesterday but not because of a one-night stand, found Joe, Norrie, and New Girl on the front porch of Julia’s house, checking their email. After scolding Joe for not telling him he had Internet, Barbie forced the three kids to take him to where they had originally received the Wi-Fi signal: back to the high school, where Angie had met her demise.

“I think this was my locker in 1988,” said New Girl, who was now being called Melanie, due to her resemblance to the woman in the yearbook.

Barbie believed there was no way Melanie could be Melanie from 1988, so they went exploring old records, looking up where she lived.

“I miss the Internet,” said Norrie. “I miss my cell phone. I miss sushi.” Yet, nowhere in this lamenting did Norrie mention missing her dead mother or mothers (did the other woman survive?).

Once they got to talking, Barbie and Melanie discovered they’re from the same town. What a small dome! In order to find out more about Melanie, the three teens and Barbie decided to crash her childhood home and see if they could get any clues. There, Melanie recalled her propensity for creating paper stars that mimicked the ones she used to see fall from the sky. Because that sounded awfully familiar, the gang decided to head into the woods for more answers, specifically to the area where they found the mini-dome last season.

But the mini-dome wasn’t there, only a funky spot instead. When Melanie walked over the spot, she was overcome with memories from 25 years ago. Apparently, Melanie, Sam, Lyle, and Pauline all knew each other in high school. In these woods, they came upon a meteorite, and when they touched it, it cracked open, and there was an egg inside. Melanie had taken it, wanting to protect it, but Sam told her to put it back. After she didn’t, it ended up killing her when she fell down a hole.

“I am Melanie Cross. And I think this is where I died.”

Barbie dug a hole in the spot and discovered Melanie’s necklace with the initials “MC.”

“What’s in the eggs? What’s in the eggs?”

Rebecca Pine, science teacher and apparently veterinarian, went to a pig farm to check on a farmer’s little piglet. It had swine flu! And creepy Miss Pine took blood from Porky before saying, “Everything happens for a reason,” a line she presumably stole from AIM instant messenger profiles in the early 2000s.

Here, all this time, Rebecca Pine had been nurturing a virus to unleash on the community as a process of natural selection (it may explain where she was in the first season—sitting in a lab somewhere).  Earlier, when Rebecca was trying to convince BJ to put the big sleep on half the town, she stole his lab key.

That sly Big Jim figured out Rebecca’s deception and tracked her to the lab where she convinced BJ that he was ultimately the one that had to contaminate the community. After giving a soliloquy on how he wished he had saved his wife Pauline from mental illness, BJ agreed to do it.

Animal Farm

While Barbie was on a Scooby Doo-esque adventure (he’s a total buzzkill like Fred), Julia was slowly attempting to make her way through all of the men in this crummy little town. (This girl goes through dudes the way Chester’s Mill burns through its resources.)

After getting into an argument with Barbie (a lovers’ spat over natural selection), Julia ran into the arms of Sam. She told Sam that she suspected Big Jim and Rebecca Pine were up to no good, so naturally they decided to head to Miss Pine’s house and investigate.

If Rebecca Pine were not trapped under a dome, she would probably be what you call a survivalist. When Sam and Julia broke into her house, they discovered a calendar charting every damn event in the town, in addition to medical books and *gasp* prayer events. It’s kind of obvious why she’s Miss Pine and not Mrs.

Later, Julia and Sam went back to the farm where Rebecca had her first swine encounter and discovered that all of the pigs were dying. This clued them in on what Miss Pine was up to.

Barbershop

Junior visited Lyle in jail to get answers about his mother, but Lyle only agreed to help if Junior let him out. Cuffing him, Junior escorted Lyle to the barbershop where he demanded info about his mother, who’s apparently very much alive and has been so for nine years. Then, Junior discovered that his mother had been sending Lyle paintings for nine years, featuring images that have all come into fruition in the past couple of weeks.

Engaging in a showdown over the sketchbook with predictions for the future (can Pauline tell them whether they’ll be renewed for season 3, given the lackluster ratings?), Lyle hit Junior and ran off.

Eventually, the teens and Barbie found Junior, and based on Lyle’s actions, they suspected Angie and Melanie had met their fate at the creepster’s hands.

Don’t Drink the Water

With the plan to contaminate the town, Big Jim showed up at the Sweetbriar Rose diner, slyly walking amidst the sea of patrons with an air of “Nothing to see here. No vile of swine flu in my pocket.” But unfortunately “Town Drunk” and “Town. . .Too Much of a Gentleman to Say” (Sam and Julia) stopped him before he could do it. And when Julia mentioned telling Barbie, Big Jim admitted that Julia’s lover was the first one on board with unleashing the virus. You could see in Julia’s eyes many questions, including, “What other viruses has he shared with me?”

But here, the virus wasn’t in the vile. Rebecca had had it this entire time.

In the ultimate showdown between science and religion, Rebecca headed to the church to contaminate the holy water (what a bad-ass poetic move). But after seeing Harriet and baby Alice, she decided she couldn’t do it, although later she would blame it on the fact that the virus had mutated and she couldn’t play God. No cannibalism this week. Bummer.

Love on the Rocks

If you’re keeping track, Julia has been through three men in a matter of maybe a month. When Barbie came to her door toward the end of the episode, she wasn’t alone. Sam had followed her home. And when a very apologetic Barbie attempted to talk, Julia turned him away: “Not tonight.” She had another f*** buddy now, which meant  Barbie’s ass was out on the street.

Thinking he was going to get some, Sam attempted to kiss Julia, but Julia pushed him away. When she did, we discovered Sam had a scar on his chest, almost as if a bear had clawed him.

Next week’s episode looks like a rehash of other episodes, with crowds getting unruly and people not being trustworthy. What do you think of this show this season? Do you think it will get picked up for season 3?