Under the Dome: Turn
September 16, 2014 6:36 AM - Season 2, Episode 12 - Subscribe

The Dome continues contracting; Melanie's life hangs in the balance; Barbie makes an appeal; Pauline paints a vision.

Also: bean-based blood tests! relayed conversations at the Dome! MAGIC PURPLE LAYING ON OF HANDS! a sacrifice and a killing! mournful gazing at a hole in the ground!
posted by We had a deal, Kyle (19 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I thought this episode was pretty good, with the usual caveats.

Isn't Type O blood the universal donor? I think most adults know their blood type; don't need a beans=science! scene.

Mournful gazing at a hole and not hearing multiple stabbings happening nearby?

Barbie's father was willing to come over Dome-side? I'd find it more believable if he ordered one of his minions to make the passage.

And since he was blocked by said minions, was the Dome determined to reunite Melanie and her egg by sucking her out to the Outside? Be funny if that was the case.

Also this show has a problem with who knows what and when. It was disconcerting to learn that Big Jim had no idea who Melanie was. At least toss in a line of dialog every now and then to confirm who is keeping what secret because, what with his perpetual lurking, Big Jim knows everything. He should've known this.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:46 AM on September 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


The return of Skater Ben! How could his friend possibly be crushed in his truck? The dome had moved maybe 3 or 4 feet at that point. I think there was some miscommunication between what the writers intended and what the special effects department could deliver. That's the only reason I can see for them building that special little platform for Barbie's dad to stand on while he gave dictation to laptop guy.

I'm curious who the big bad is now that we find out Barbie's dad is taking orders from someone. I think they should reward the best actor they have and have it be played by Dean Norris in a black goatee. Evil Jim? Bigger Jim?

In a very dramatic scene, Julia offers to sacrifice herself to the dome the way Big Jim offered himself. Then she takes off running the moment the dome starts to move. Some sacrifice.

The return of the Lost smoke monster! In honor of that, they have a very Lost ending with everyone gathered together while soft music plays over Hurley's headphones.
posted by Gary at 9:51 AM on September 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yes, "his TRUCK was CRUSHED and he's DEAD" but we're not going to show that because it's too expensive.

Some really ropey effects when the Dome was moving, too: like someone dragging a cutout of a pile of gravel in Photoshop.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:41 AM on September 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


Also: the off-screen TRUCK CRUSH, and they're evacuating people to the center of town -- including Julia's "that was my old life" house -- but whenever we see the Dome it appears to have contracted by only a few feet.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:47 AM on September 16, 2014


Ha, ha, ha, ha. Gasp. Ok. Nope, not done yet. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ok, now I'm good. Bye, Mel. Bye, Lyle. Bye, Jim's wife. Your deaths have caused me pain--admittedly this is the pain of extended, uncontrollable laughter.

Then again, this being UtD, I'm sure one or more of you will pop up again.

I'm very, very sad, though that I didn't get to see lima bean blood typing. That would have been worth the CGI or special effects more than the dome contracting a few inches.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 11:59 AM on September 16, 2014


Melanie is coming back. That tunnel has to lead somewhere.

We also didn't see the second painting dripping with blood that Big Jim had absolutely no curiosity about. I assume that's either predicting her death or is one of the big reveals next episode.
posted by Gary at 12:09 PM on September 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


For the painting, I remember Jim's wife saying it was about her during her death scene.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 12:15 PM on September 16, 2014


The AV Club review says the lima bean test "is apparently a real thing." Hard to Google for because you get dragged into a pit of Mercola-ey dietary woo; but yes, it is:
The 1940s saw the discovery, made independently by William C. Boyd at Boston University and by Karl O. Renkonen at the University of Helsinki, Finland, of the human blood group (or blood type) specificity of the hemagglutinins. They found that crude extracts of the lima bean, Phaseolus limensis, and the tufted vetch, Vicia cracca, agglutinated blood type A erythrocytes but not blood type B or O cells, whereas an extract of the asparagus pea, Lotus tetragonolobus, agglutinated specifically blood type O erythrocytes.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:15 PM on September 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


The lima bean & blood type test was even done as a high school science project back in the 70s (another article here).

So it was actual science applied in a way that was exaggerated but not completely bonkers. That's a big step up for this show.
posted by Gary at 12:56 PM on September 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Although yes, they should have asked around for Type O blood donors before rummaging for canned goods.

Let's assume all the universal donors were at the parade when the dome came down. More and more I'm thinking that parade was an excuse for the useful people to leave town. The dome dwellers definitely have a B Ark feel to them.
posted by Gary at 1:07 PM on September 16, 2014 [5 favorites]


The egg chose a daring shade of fuschia this episode. Nice.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 4:47 PM on September 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


Rebecca always starts talking really fast when she explains something sciency, like they're trying to gloss over it in the hopes that nobody notices that she's talking utter crap. Also, has anyone figured out the chain of events around the guy getting crushed to death in his car? Did it have the world's best handbrake or something? While we're at it, we should start running a sweepstake on who Joe's accidentally going to shoot next episode. I'm voting Norrie's other mum, or a resurrected DJ Phil.

One more, fellow Domesketeers. We can do this!
posted by peteyjlawson at 1:24 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


YES. FINALLY. One more day.... 🎶
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 1:58 PM on September 17, 2014


The lima bean & blood type test was even done as a high school science project back in the 70s.

So it was actual science applied in a way that was exaggerated


Like the part where they find the house with the neighbor who happened to be hoarding lima beans.

The dome hates me so much.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:33 PM on September 17, 2014


Like the part where they find the house with the neighbor who happened to be hoarding lima beans.

Wasn't that the same hoarding house that had enough food to feed the whole town for months? Having canned lima beans is more realistic for a hoarder to have than the T.G.I.Friday's platters they were serving at the diner during their "food shortage is temporarily solved" feast.
posted by Gary at 4:49 PM on September 17, 2014


Metafilter: overthinking a MacGuffin of Lima Beans.

Nice catch on the dome contraction / truck crushing making no sense. I liked how Athiest Science Lady was doing all the fancy calculation on her Microsoft Surface™ Tablet Computer and then her big conclusion was "it's going to crush us all! some time.. contractions.. faster.." Me, I was doing the math of how long it'd be before the atmosphere compressed to be a real problem. r^3 scaling is a real bitch.

I'm also really creeped out by Big "Big" Jim kissing Pauline and then pulling away, smiling, with a big mouthful of blood. Apparently Lyle stabbed her while Big Jim's Big Tongue was caressing the inside of Pauline's crazy artist mouth? Would Big Jim have noticed the violent stabbing motions and his wife's cries of pain?

Props to Junior for whipping his shirt off so we could see him in his James Dean brand wifebeater. Also to Nerdy Computer Kid, showing off a bit of bare midriff and goodie trail when Barbie was doing his bully return hitting him into the lockers.

I am no longer hate watching Under the Dome, I am pity watching it.
posted by Nelson at 7:56 PM on September 20, 2014


Stephen King tweets:
UNDER THE DOME season finale: You're probably going to be shocked by what happens. I know I was. Check it out.
Biggest shock would be it getting renewed. CBS still not saying.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:40 AM on September 22, 2014


Just when I think Julia can't be more of an asshole...
posted by marxchivist at 12:23 PM on September 26, 2014


Spoiler space.





SPOILER SPACE.





SPOILER SPACE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.





I'm going to mention something from the end of the book that may be a spoiler depending on how the shows turns out (assuming it is even renewed).



If, like me, you're wandering what the fuck is going on, welcome fellow traveler, and read on.

I read the last 10 pages or so of the book and it appears that the dome was sort of playground by an alien entity who didn't see humans as real/alive/sentient. The message is be sorry for the bad things you did in the past and that's sufficient to ease your conscience. Or something like that.

So, as suspected, more-or-less the plot of a couple of Twilight Zone episodes that featured a "dome." The one I remember best was, hilariously enough, a giant cup placed over some people by a giant children--or placed over miniature humans--depending on your POV, I suppose.

Anyway, I hope this has brought closure to you as it has to me.

Fin.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 12:21 PM on September 27, 2014


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