Under the Dome - Recap: Blood and Water
Recap and review of Under the Dome - Season 1 Episode 8 - Thicker Than Water:
Daddy issues tend to be an overused trope in fiction, particularly in television, because it's a relatively simple story to tell. There's an inherent pathos in a father and son being at odds, so a lot of the work of investing the audience in the story is already done, because it's a story that comes front-loaded with subtext. But the story still needs to do the work of filling in the characters and giving them realistic motivations and reasons for their differences. Thankfully, Under the Dome accomplishes this in its portrayal of the relationship between Big Jim (Dean Norris) and Junior (Alexander Koch).
After Big Jim kicked Junior out of the house last week, things have only grown worse between father and son. Big Jim threatens Junior and completely disowns him after he learns that his son murdered one of the Dundee brothers and didn't abide by due process. He also grills him, once again, for what he did to Angie (Britt Robertson). Much like with Angie, Junior doesn't take rejection well (nor does he appreciate Big Jim speaking ill of his late mother), and decides to hurt his father at the first opportunity. Ollie refuses well access to Big Jim because of his sabotage of the propane tanks last week, so the councilman rounds up a posse, including Linda (Natalie Martinez), Barbie (Mike Vogel) and Junior, to claim access to the well under eminent domain. But Ollie has his own militia standing guard -- and, to make matters worse, Junior switches sides and joins up with Ollie. The ensuing conflict between father and son drives the dramatic arc of the story, as Junior questions Ollie about what really happened to his mother. Big Jim had told Junior that his mother died in a car crash, and Ollie technically says nothing that contradicts the story. However, he does reveal that Big Jim left out one big detail: it wasn't an accident. Ollie, in the role of surrogate father figure to Junior, insists that he would never lie to Junior like his father would (he even calls him "James" instead of "Junior"), and claims that he's telling the truth. Though Junior is still depicted as largely unhinged, his responses here feel natural and human, as he doesn't want to believe what he's hearing.
While Junior wrestles with his conflicted feelings about his parents, Big Jim has a problem of his own in how best to solve the water crisis. He plans on rounding up a posse and seizing the well by force, but Barbie has a different idea. With Linda, he concocts a plan to blow up the well, thereby redirecting the flow back into the town reservoir, allowing access to all of the citizens of Chester's Mill. A chunk of the episode is dedicated to pitting Big Jim and Barbie's plans against one another, with both men feeling that their plan will lead to the least loss. But, in the end, the episode goes through with both plots. Big Jim lays siege to Ollie's farm while Barbie blows up the well, despite Big Jim's objections. The well is destroyed and the water flow is returned to the town, but in the chaos, Big Jim is captured. In Ollie's house, he is made to kneel before Junior, to whom Ollie promised the killing blow. What follows is the best performance on the series yet, as Dean Norris imbues Big Jim with all the pathos of a father who truly believes he's failed his son.
Big Jim reveals the truth to Junior, telling him that his mother had been unhinged for some time and, in her fractured state of mind, decided to kill herself by driving head-on into a tree. With the help of then-Sheriff Duke, Big Jim was able to cover up the suicide and make it appear to be a tragic accident. Tearfully, Big Jim tells Junior how sorry he is for having lied, and says he thought the lie would be better than confronting the truth that his mother decided to abandon them both. It's one of the first truly powerful scenes the series has delivered, and its impact is immediate, as Junior turns his gun on Ollie and rescues his father. What's interesting is that it's not even really played as a heroic moment for Junior either, so much as a scene that acknowledges exactly what's in the title of the episode, namely that blood is thicker than water. No matter their differences, Junior is still the son of Big Jim Rennie, and that blood tie wins out over Ollie's water (both figurative and literal).
Meanwhile, Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) learns of the existence of the mini-dome from Joe (Colin Ford), who has been shunned by Norrie (Mackenzie Lintz). Norrie blames her connection with Joe for the death of her mother, saying that bad things happen whenever they're together. She rationalizes that because they discovered the mini-dome and touched it, they doomed her mother to death (having apparently forgotten that her mother was low on insulin, a fact that had nothing to do with Joe). Norrie's evidence for this theory is that a vision of her mother appeared when they touched the mini-dome, and this would have been around the time Alice suffered her heart attack. It's circumstantial at best, but it's enough for her to give Joe the cold shoulder, prompting him to take on Julia as his investigative partner. They go to the mini-dome, and as as Julia touches the structure in disbelief, an image of Joe appears next to her (despite the real Joe standing right behind her). The real Joe apparently can't see this apparition, nor can he hear it when Fake Joe begins repeating the phrase, "The monarch will be crowned." Neither Joe nor Julia can make heads or tails of the phrase, although Joe spends much of the episode worrying that he'll soon die, if Norrie's theory about the mini-dome proves true. But Norrie quickly learns that there was nothing she could have done, and that Alice's death wasn't her fault. As she destroys Angie's snow globe collection with her as a form of catharsis, Norrie breaks down, blaming herself for her mother's death since they wouldn't have been in Chester's Mill if not for her. But Angie plays the big sister role and helps her come to the realization that there was nothing she could have done. It isn't exactly closure, but at least Norrie isn't beating herself up anymore. Nor is she blaming Joe, as she apologizes and makes amends with her friend/sort-of boyfriend.
"Thicker Than Water" is one of the best episodes in this eight-week run so far, and while the show is still far from what it needs to be to rise above its relatively average (though compulsively watchable) nature, it's taking baby steps towards becoming something solid, if not special.