Previous Episode: 2.10 The Fall
2.11 "Black Ice"
(Directed by Jack Bender, written by Adam Stein & Peter Calloway)
Rating: 4.5/10 (D)
Next Episode: 2.12 Turn
After last week’s debacle, we are treated to yet another messy episode as ”Black Ice” features most aspects that make Under the Dome so subpar: Science with Rebecca Pine, a new chapter in the epic love story of Barbie and Julia, another redemption for Big Jim and all of these are accompanied by this week’s crisis. Yes, they are back and as every other crisis that occurred prior to this one, they pass as fast as they came without much of an impact.
This particular crisis involves the temperature dropping below freezing due to... something scientific Rebecca said. She mentions hemispheres and cold air following the rotation, Joe throws in the dome being a sphere for good measure, it doesn’t make much sense, so let’s just roll with it.
The high school has been turned into a hospital since the clinic was damaged during the earthquake. Melanie is still feeling down and is linked to the egg which is shown at the playground in Zenith. It seems to be in distress as it refuses to get picked up by anyone other than the Four Hands. Melanie has a conversation with Pauline and their reunion just further shows how little emotional weight last week’s Pauline’s return to Junior had. At some point, she suffers a seizure which might mean the folks over at Zenith found a way to get the egg without getting zapped by it.
Meanwhile, Barbie and Julia have been tasked to get food from the diner and just as Julia is at the back of the ambulance to tie down a rattling gurney, Barbie loses control of the vehicle and crashes, leaving Julia with a metal rod sticking out her leg. Her eyeroll upon finding out was the funniest and best thing about this episode. Due to the risk of her bleeding out if pulled out and Barbie refusing to leave her behind, they get cozy waiting for the search group Barbie firmly believes is already on their way (when in fact, nobody even noticed they were missing). The engine stops working, the window breaks, so naturally Barbie makes use of hyperthermia to eventually remove that pesky metal stick. A woman succumbs to the coldness, Hunter gets frostbite but leave it up to Barbie to carry his lover all the way to the diner without suffering any injuries. Once there, he reverses the hyperthermia but forgets to put pressure on the wound because apparently a piece of cloth is pressure enough to stop the bleeding. Also, Julia must have superpowers as she is up and running just a few hours later.
Big Jim’s shenanigans involve sweet-talking his family. He basically asked his son to talk to Pauline, so he can get back into her pants. After being rejected by both of them, Hero Jim comes out and he courageously wanders into the frozen wilderness to retrieve more resources and on top of that, he even saves the life of a fellow knight. Hero Jim saves the day, everybody is celebrating him like he didn’t just threaten to kill two teenagers. He did it for his family, he did it for the town. It’s time to make up your damn minds, writers. Oh, Lyle is still nuts and still rambles about the end of the world.
Joe is still suspicious of Hunter who, for the convinience of the plot, leaves some evidence for Joe to find that corroborates his suspicions. For someone who pretty much says most of his thoughts out loud, it’s odd that he would keep this to himself. Norrie and him follow Hunter to the dome where they find him talking to one of the soldiers of Don’s security firm. When they confront him, they realize he is actually on their side and that Hunter fed the other side wrong information to save Melanie’s life.
The episode ends with the dome shrinking and closing in on the residents. There have been some bright spots here and there but for the most part, this season is inferior to the previous one. With only two episodes left, I’m not holding my breath for them to be this season’s saving grace given how disappointing the last finale turned out.
