Under the Dome basically hit the reset button this week, realizing (as I was afraid it would) that it had created an unsustainable, convoluted mythology that it couldn’t keep up with. So it said “fuck it” and sent everyone back to Chester’s Mill. This isn’t the first time this show has attempted something along these lines – remember when Julia was the Monarch?
All right, jeez, I’m sorry I brought it up!
“The Red Door” was frustrating for a number of reasons, chief of which is that showrunner Jack Bender seems hell-bent on making this show Lost lite. The red door is the hatch, I guess? All I know is that this episode was directed by fucking Robocop and featured a character named Trevor (acting like a smug douche, as we all do), and still had trouble holding my interest.
Pauline is even more problematic in execution than she is in theory. She’s determined to find the titular doorway, and convinces Lyle, Sam, and Barbie to help her. Hunter comes along too, because a hacker is definitely necessary in a place like Chester’s Mill, where there is no Internet.
But once they find the red door – in Barbie’s backyard, naturally – all she can do is hem and haw about how this might not be a great idea. No shit, it’s a terrible idea. She’s adamant that they “need” Lyle, but won’t say why. None of them look like they need haircuts.
I gotta tell you, I am getting fucking sick of all the coincidences on this show. If I wanted to watch something with a plot completely contingent upon unbelievable coincidences, I’d watch The Amazing Spider-Man, but I wouldn’t watch that because it sucks balls. UTD keeps piling ’em on though; to wit, when everyone is warping back to Chester’s Mill, they’re shown a memory (or in Pauline’s case, a premonition) of their life before the dome. Barbie’s is of him as a young child, being visited by none other than Melanie Cross.
Ugh, why? And why does Melanie want to get out of the dome? If it brought her back to life, doesn’t it stand to reason that she’d only live as long as the dome stands? And how was that Kanye-looking contractor using his laptop – didn’t it make Rev. Coggins’ hearing aid burn his brain, and make Duke Perkins’ pacemaker go kablooey? It’s not my job to remember this shit, Jack Bender, it’s your job!
Here’s where we leave it: Barbie, Sam, Pauline, and Hunter are in Chester’s Mill. Lyle is MIA. Big Jim wants the egg to ensure his and Junior’s freedom, and sees Pauline at the end (proving that Dean Norris can make the absolute best out of a bad situation, his episode-ending utterance of “Pauline?” is actually the best acting on display in this episode). Pauline wants to be here to “atone” for their “sins,” but then she chickens out?
This show officially cares more about Zenith than Chester’s Mill, which is a problem because Brett Cullen (as Don Barbara) doesn’t intimidate me, the Trevor character sucks, and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON.
About Author
