I have a theory. What if “Under the Dome” is connected with “The Leftovers”?
Halfway through Monday’s “In the Dark” episode, I wondered whether Lyle’s Four Hands theory affected the love-it-or-hate-it HBO drama. What if they existed in the same universe? After all, Lyle believed that killing Angie, Joe, Junior, and Norrie would bring down the dome and cause the Rapture. If Lyle succeeded, what if the Rapture on “The Leftovers” was a direct result?
Besides this theory, this week’s episode dealt with exploring the cave behind Angie’s locker, aka UTD’s version of “The Hatch.” Behind the locker, there was a secret world like something out of The Goonies, complete with booby traps (“That’s what I said! Booby traps!”). Poor Junior was hasty in trying to reach his mother’s journal and set off a trap that would make Data’s head spin.
Unfortunately, the booby trap made it impossible for Barbie and Sam to go back the way they came, so they had to forge forward, trying to track down Lyle who they suspected was hanging out with Sloth and One-Eyed Willie somewhere in the vicinity.
Through the Locker
In the cave of wonders (as in, I wonder if this will really pay off), Barbie told Sam he was on to him, that he knew Sam knew Melanie in high school. Then Barbie went over a cliff, and Sam saved him, although it’s not entirely clear why he didn’t let him die since he seemed pretty apt to kill just last week(he did contemplate suffocating his nephew after all).
“The only thing this damn dome has ever done is bring pain,” said Sam.
Sam then rehashed the whole story of him, Melanie, Pauline, and Lyle finding the meteorite. According to his story, Lyle pushed Melanie into the crater that ultimately took her life.
“I left the love of my life in a hole. Like garbage. And now she’s back.” How poetic. Is that Yeats?
While Barbie and Sam were wishing they could grab a Twix since they weren’t going anywhere for a while, Julia and Rebecca Pine decided they were going to blow up the obstruction keeping Barbie and Sam locked in. While they mixed explosives, we learned that Ms. Pine was supposed to work at Cornell University before coming to Chester’s Mill to take care of her sick father. (Relax. It’s not that impressive. It’s the easiest Ivy to get into.)
Just as Julia and Rebecca bonded, Sam and Barbie did, too, discussing their women and murder problems. Barbie admitted that being with Julia was his chance to be good and that it felt pretty shitty to kill people in cold blood. Sam lamented that it sucks to be in love with a dead ghost teenager. (If this was a game of “Sucks to Be You,” Sam definitely had B Man beat.)
Then, Barbie discovered the claw marks on Sam’s chest. Barbie put two and two together: that Sam killed Angie. She was a fighter and presumably scratched Sam on her way out of this earthly world. Sam said he’d have to kill Junior eventually in order to prevent the prophesy from coming true.
Just as all of this shit was going down, Julia yelled for them to get back before she and Rebecca lit some explosives and hoped for the best. Meanwhile, Barbie and Sam had one final showdown, where Sam predicted that Barbie would put the knife to those kids themselves once Julia would die. Then he jumped off the cliff he had just saved Barbie from minutes before.
Under Pressure
The folks at Chester’s Mill have faced a lot of problems this season, including killer caterpillars and bloody rain, but now they were facing possible suffocation because the dome was no longer permeable (???). How Rebecca Pine realized this is beyond me and most of the residents like Julia who blindly trust everything she says.
Big Jim headed to the Sweetbriar Rose to provide a pep talk to the residents about the mist dispersal system that could supposedly help them breathe and survive this dust storm. But the pep talk didn’t work, as most of the residents voted against him in a hands-up democracy.
Does anyone else find it strange that the townsfolk seem to change their mind constantly over whether Big Jim is right or wrong? Last week, they were puddy in his hands, even when they found out he was thinking of killing half of them. This week, they must have been on their period because they weren’t having his shenanigans.
Eventually, once the kid with asthma headed out into the air and returned looking like death, the residents decided that, eh, maybe Big Jim was on to something, and they agreed to help him erect the windmill system.
Four Hands
“I have to tell you something crazy. I think Lyle’s who killed me,” said Melanie.
Can you be the village ghost bicycle? Because that’s kind of the role Melanie has taken on. Back at Julia’s house, Junior and Melanie went searching for Joe and Norrie because Lyle was after the “Four Hands.” Melanie was about to go in for a kiss on Junior when Norrie caught them, chiding she-ghost for hitting on EVERYONE.
Give her a break, Norrie. She hasn’t gotten any kind of nookie in 25 years.
After they found Joe, looking at old photos of him and his sister at their house (which I thought had been taken down by the magnetic dome), the foursome headed to the lake to find the egg, as Julia had told Melanie earlier in the day that she had tossed it in there. Once on a boat, Melanie expressed that she could feel the egg’s presence.
“Maybe we should do something together?” she said. Orgy?
So the four put their hands in like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and out of the water surfaced the mini-dome.
Later, while Melanie stared mesmerized by the purple egg, Norrie admitted that Melanie was an okay girl. Apparently anyone who trips out on mushrooms while staring at the egg is a winner in Norrie’s book.
Then, the Fab Four put their hands on the egg and waited for the magic to happen. Pink stars lit up the room, just like they had seen before.
What do you think of my “Leftovers” theory? Do you think Barbie’s a goner in next week’s episode? And finally with as much driving as everyone does, how has the town not run out of gas?
