UNDER THE DOME 3.08 ‘BREAKING POINT’ RECAP – “KILL THEM ALL”
Armed with the knowledge that emotion is the key to fighting back against Christine and the Kinship, the Resistance, led by Big Jim and Julia, takes center stage in “Breaking Point”, the latest installment of Under the Dome’s third season. While the Resistance is busy coming up with a battle plan to take back Chester’s Mill, Queen Christine rejoins the land of the living after spending last week’s episode cocooned, recovering from the near fatal stab wound Sam gave her in retaliation for killing his lover.
Following Christine’s orders like the good soldier he is, Junior has brought Sam down to the caves so that he can face the music once Christine emerges from her cocoon. Junior is eager to please his Queen and immediately offers to snap Sam’s neck and solve their problem, but Christine says no because she has other plans for Sam. Christine tells Junior that she needs a place where she can “work” on Sam uninterrupted and Junior suggests the ever so handy fallout shelter where he held Angie McAllister prisoner in an earlier season. Christine also notes with alarm that her stay in the cocoon has not fully healed her and wonders if she made the right choice since she used up so many of their limited resources by doing so. Junior reassures her that her decision was the right one – the kinship was lost in her absence. They need their Queen.
Junior isn’t the only one to respond to Christine’s emergence from the cocoon; the world outside the Dome begins to respond as well. As if someone is using a remote control to flip back and forth between two channels on a television, the view outside the Dome begins to flicker between two very different scenes. One moment we see the fiery apocalyptic scene that became standard when an apparent meteor shower destroyed everything on Earth except the Dome, the next moment we see beautiful blue skies and no signs of destruction. As soon as Christine climbs out of the cave, the flickering stops and the blue skies remain. Always quick on her feet, Christine immediately offers this explanation to the drones who have flocked to meet her: “I know there’s been a lot of confusion over the past 24 hours, but the destruction that you witnessed outside the Dome wasn’t real. It was an illusion. I projected it on the Dome as a crucible meant to bring us all together, to strengthen us for the tasks to come.” The brainwashed drones, of course, accept what she says without question. Christine then goes on to tell them that they have a big mining job to do – there are amethysts in the cave that need to be brought to the surface. She dispatches the drones to town to get the necessary tools and supplies and then meets up with Ava and Barbie.
Barbie immediately questions the need to bring the amethysts above ground, so Christine informs him the amethysts are what power the Dome and they’ve been dying ever since Big Jim smashed the egg, which was what charged them. Christine is hoping that bringing them to the surface will recharge them because if they aren’t recharged, the Dome will calcify and everyone in it will suffocate. Sensing the urgency of the situation, Barbie agrees to spearhead the excavation project. Once Barbie heads off on his mission, Christine comments that Eva and Barbie seem closer than ever and is pleased to hear that the two of them have finally consummated their relationship. She reassures Eva that she’s doing all of the right things and that Barbie’s journey should be complete very soon.
Once the excavation project is underway, Christine begins her ‘work’ on Sam. She has Junior restrain Sam and begins to drain his blood. When Sam tells her that she has removed too much blood and needs to stop before she kills him, Christine shows him a fresh bucket of blood, tells him that it’s hers and that she’s going to give him what he needs to make him return to her and the Kinship. He tells her that he’ll never be a part of the Kinship, but she reminds him the life force is already in him and that her blood is just a boost. She then begins to transfuse him, all the while stroking him and telling him that he’ll feel much better once he stops fighting it.
Ever the master manipulator, while she’s transfusing him, Christine also engages in mind games with him. She tells Sam they can stop the transfusion but wants to know what value Sam’s human life really has. She reminds him of all of the people he has failed to save and those he has killed: “You even tried to kill me, Sam, and all I ever wanted to do was to help you. All you have to show for your time on Earth is the shame of your human failings. Stop struggling and all of your shame will disappear. You’d be welcomed. You’d finally have value. It’s time to let go of your pain. I forgive you.” After planting all of those thoughts in Sam’s head, she releases his restraints and leaves him to make his choice about whether or not he will rejoin the Kinship.
While Christine has been hard at work on Sam, the Resistance has been busy as well. After some careful recon, they learn that Christine is not dead and that she is planning to bring the amethysts above ground. Determined to break Christine’s control over the townspeople, they take action. Joe and Norrie steal the amethyst schematic out of Christine’s office, while Big Jim and Hunter make contact with the outside world and somehow manage to secure a delivery of explosives. When Norrie encounters her mom on the way back with the schematic, she tries to use emotion to get through to her, but it unfortunately doesn’t seem to work this time. While this is taking place, Big Jim is busy planting all of the explosives in the caves. Junior catches Big Jim in the act but is unable to stop him and Barbie also fails in his attempt to diffuse the bombs. In the aftermath of the explosion, we learn Big Jim has successfully destroyed all but one of the amethysts but has also unfortunately killed Norrie’s mother, who was still down in the caves and sacrificed herself to save Norrie. Apparently Norrie had gotten through to her after all, which although tragic in this case, is good news for the rest of Chester’s Mill since we now know that their humanity is not irrevocably lost.
As they survey the damage caused by the explosives, Junior reassures Christine they can find another way to press on even if the amethysts were essential. He changes the subject and asks about her progress with Sam, to which she responds: “If you provide the people the right lie, they’ll believe what they want to. For this town, it was an image of the end of the world. With Sam, all it took was a pint of his own blood and my forgiveness.” His own blood? Well played yet again, Christine. It has to be said that even if things seems to be going against her at the moment, Christine is still at the top of her game when it comes to manipulating people.
Junior places the full blame of what has happened on Big Jim, while Eva takes the opportunity to throw Julia’s name in there as well, sharing the details of their near gunfight in the street. Once Christine hears this, she calls the Kinship to action: “The actions of this Resistance have threatened our very survival. The time has passed for peaceful coexistence. We need to strike back. We need to kill them all.” Looks like both sides have finally reached their breaking point.
We only have five more episodes left this season, so I can only imagine that it’s only going to get wilder and crazier than ever from this point on. And to that I say, bring it on, Queen Christine!
Screen captures of Marg from this episode can be viewed HERE.