Under the Dome - Go Now - Review: "The Butterflies Are Back"

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Previous Episode: 2.12 Turn

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2.13 "Go Now"
(Directed by Jack Bender, written by Caitlin Parrish & Cathryn Humphris)
Rating: 5.5/10 (C-)

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Next Episode: 3.01 Move On

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And we have arrived at the end of Under the Dome’s sophomore season. Whether this is the end of the show or just the season remains a mystery as CBS hasn’t renewed it yet but chances are, we can expect it to come back next summer.
For the most part, this season has been underwhelming and I was prepared for the worst, so I was pleasantly surprised that ”Go Now” didn’t turn out to be a complete disaster like last season’s finale. While it doesn’t mean the episode was great in any way, shape or form. It still fared better than most of the installments we have been offered over the course of two seasons.

It has become very apparant that the writers seem to be clueless about what to do with Big Jim. He wanted to hold the power in Chester’s Mill, then they painted him as a victim when Phil went after him, he held two teenagers hostage but instantly redeemed himself by saving Lyle whom he later killed because he stabbed his wife. It’s all very polarizing and contradictory and that has never been more clear than after this episode:
During the first half of the episode he actually resembles a decent human being by bringing Pauline to the high school, getting medical supplies and being with her during her last moments. All his efforts are in vain, as Rebecca has injected Pauline with a lethal dose of morphine because she told her it's what the dome wants. At this point, I just can’t help but roll my eyes whenever something talks about what the dome wants (I wonder how long a video compilation of characters talking about the dome’s needs would be). It doesn’t take long for BIg Jim to put the pieces together and for his sociopathic side to resurface when he smashes Rebecca’s head with a hammer. R.I.P. You’ll be kinda missed. She started out as an unlikeable and annoying character but she slowly grew on me once she stopped scheming to kill off half the town.
When Big Jim's plea to the dome to bring his wife back is left unanswered, he sets Pauline’s studio along with her corpse on father and is on his merry way to kill the dome’s friends.

In the meantime, the teenagers go down the hole and discover new tunnels but once they come across a fork, they decide to go back rather than going ahead to find out if one of of the two ways actually lead somewhere. On the way up, they run into Barbie and once they return to the school, an evacuation plan is set in motion. Via school buses the entire town (which apparently has a population of about 70 people) gathers at the hole.

It is then when Julia receives a distress call from Andrea and when she arrives at her house, she is greeted by Big Jim nonchalantly shooting Andrea. And of course, the show makes use of one of the worst tropes ever by having Julia hide in the house rather than storming out of it. However, she manages to stab him in the foot and escape. On the run, she comes across Sam and Junior who tells him he’ll take care of his father but for some reason, the show still can’t bring itself to kill Big Jim, as Junior only shoots him once and turns his back on him. Killing him would mean that a) the writers don’t have to figure out what to do with him (something they clearly have been struggling with) and b) Dean Norris can move on to better things. It's a win-win, so I don't know why they the powers that be still refuse to just get it over with.

By the time Julia arrives at the tunnels, a gap has formed making it impossible for her to cross over. She says her goodbyes to Barbie and tells him that it’s okay because… it’s what the dome wants. Barbie moves along, wondering why the group has stopped and notices the aforementioned fork (Again, they could have checked it out before bringing the whole town down there) and the monarch butterflies return to guide their way but where they find themselves at is a dead-end, that is until Barbie places his hand on the stone wall which collapses and reveals Melanie surrounded by blinding light telling them to follow her.

And this is how it ends. No new revelations about the dome, plenty of dead characters and Big Jim all alone in Chester’s Mill with the rest of the town escaping the dome at last. It has been an uneven season with a lot of hiccups and missteps but if nothing else, Under the Dome remains an entertaining show, even if mostly for all the wrong reasons.

Other thoughts:
- The most hilarious part about this episode was Barbie and Julia trying to help Tom who got trapped under some machine and then got struck by lightning. His son witnessed the whole thing but didn’t seem to be bothered about it throughout the episode.
- Aisha Hinds makes another random appearance but it felt like she was just an extra who was given a few lines rather than an established character.
- In case this is the series finale, here’s my head canon on how it all ends: Everyone gets out, Julia and Junior get rescued by a swarm of monarch butterflies and Dodee keeps her promise by appearing to Big Jim and smiling as he succumbs to his wound.
- Well, this is it for Season 2 of Under the Dome. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read my reviews and comment on them. It’s been a fun few months, maybe we’ll be back next summer. Enjoy the new fall season!

About the Author - Mark A. Ondo/LittleDreamer

20 y/o Austrian. Music lover, avid TV watcher, cheesecake muncher and pseudo writer. His taste in television is as eclectic as it gets and he dedicates more time to fictional characters than he would like to admit. He currently reviews Under the Dome, writes about various shows in Mark's Remarks and creates Best-Scene Polls for Grey's Anatomy, Once upon a Time, Revenge and Scandal.

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