Alright, I confess that I’m not exactly an expert in what it’s like to live under a dome. I don’t know what it would be like to be entirely cut off from the outside world, loved ones missing or dead, living in a place where my fellow residents are alternating between pluckily pulling together or rioting, raping and killing each other, local politicians leading armed assaults against other citizens hoarding valuable resources for themselves in territorial power grabs.

What I do know is that if I were in such a situation, not only would there be no chance in hell that I would give up any guns I have on the say-so of said local politician leading armed assaults, I would be looking for to get my hands on more guns. As many as possible. And I’m Canadian. (My constitution doesn’t guarantee me the right to bear arms. My constitution politely advises against it).

But the good folks of Chester’s Mill happily give up their guns, based on Big Jim’s nice request. And Big Jim, naturally, has an ulterior motive that has to do with the sudden — and equally implausible — appearance of Natalie Zea as Maxine, an outside partner of Big Jim’s in the meth business. The drug is called Rapture, and it’s like doing all other drugs combined, and Barbie and Linda learn about it, with Linda investigating the propane connection, discovering to her dismay that her hero/father figure Duke was involved.

Anyway, now Chester’s Mill is ripe for the plucking! Oh, and Maxine is also who Barbie was reporting to after his collection attempt on Julia’s husband went south, so now there’s someone under the dome other than Barbie who knows that secret. Where has she been for eight days? Oh, just hiding out in an abandoned house, but no one has seen her before even though she’s apparently been able to venture out enough to know what’s happened with Coggins and that Barbie and Julia are doing the big squeaky. Neither Barbie nor Big Jim seem particularly pleased that Max has shown up, but since no one else apparently knows she’s there, it seems like offing her would be an easy enough solution. I suppose that’s not Barbie’s style, but I see no reason for Big Jim to follow her orders.

Meanwhile, Angie plans to keep the already-been-looted Sweetbriar Rose open, and wants the deed from Big Jim, in some sort of weird "time to take on some responsibility" motivation. She has a seizure and intones "pink stars are falling" in the arms of Junior, who is going through some sort of eye-rolling character rehabilitation. He shows her a painting his mom did of him with pink stars falling around him.

She tells Norrie and Joe about the seizure, and they let her know it happened to them too. But they can’t check out the egg in the mini-dome, because it’s gone missing from its spot in the woods. They locate it by the end, though, in a barn. Apparently Joe sleepwalked out into the woods, dug it up and brought it back and didn’t realize it, possibly because too many people were being let in on the secret. When Joe, Norrie and Angie all put their hands on the dome, things start glowing blue and sort of locks them in, with the image of a fourth hand glowing in an empty spot on the dome. It’s sort of like when your game console loses contact with a controller and wants you to reconnect it!

Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. Seriously, where do I get guns? Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.