Under the Dome season 2 spoilers
What happened in episode 8 of "Under the Dome"? Get the Season 2 scoop of what went home in "Awakening." CBS/Under the Dome

Things are really starting to heat up on Season 2 of “Under the Dome” -- Barbie, Lyle and Sam have all managed to escape the dome, fans of the hit CBS series have finally met Pauline and viewers have gotten a glimpse at Barbie’s scandalous past. But episode 8, “Awakening,” managed to trump even those jaw-dropping moments and lucky for fans we’ve recapped tonight’s episode for fans below.

“Under the Dome” began with Big Jim returning to his duties as sheriff after Rebecca had broken the news of Barbie’s death.

Big Jim apologized to his former enemy regarding his “over zealous” behavior -- aka breaking into Rebecca’s home. He then informs her that there’s a reason he’s been able to dodge all the unfortunate incidents that have occurred in the dome.

“I’ve been too lucky to ignore it any longer,” he says to Rebecca, regarding his connection to the dome.

Meanwhile back in the “real world” Barbie and his father bond over a cup of coffee.

“I can get an email to Julia if you want,” his father reveals nonchalantly of a signal that can reportedly reach the dome. He tells Barbie to write down what he wants to say to Julia and that he’ll deliver the message. But Barbie being the crafty man he is opts to cryptically write a message for her that involves taking “a leap of faith.”

Joe and Norrie find out while making a vlog that the school still has some sort of Wi-Fi. That’s when Barbie’s mysterious email comes in. They race to show Julia but she’s a bit skeptical – and we can totally understand why.

The newest character of “The Dome,” Hunter (played by Max Ehrich) spots Barbie at the park where he fell from the dome. “Gotcha,” he says with a smile. Next thing we see is Hunter hunting down Barbie. Fitting name, don’t you think? Barbie can sense someone is tailing him so he pulls Hunter into an alley to find out who he is and what he wants.

“You also just escaped from the dome,” Hunter revealed, adding that his father doctored his email to Julia. Is Hunter trustworthy? He claims he is but how do we know he’s really a “friend” of Barbie’s? He also warns Barbie not to hang around the park anymore claiming there are “eyes all around the city.”

Looks like Julia has every reason to doubt Barbie’s email. That’s when she and the three fourths of the hand decide to send a message in a bottle to Barbie with only a question he’ll know how to answer.

Big Jim’s first task as sheriff is to uncover the mystery behind the fallen windmill. Rebecca questions why anyone would want to take down the device that saved the town just days before. Big Jim is convinced it’s someone trying to send him a message but Junior deflates his head claiming that not everything is about his father. Just then the officers receive a call that there’s a fire -- and it just so happens to be under the advertisement sign of Big Jim.

Barbie and his new “friend” attempt to hack into his father’s computer. When they finally get in Barbie sees that his dad did doctor his email to Julia.

“What does my dad want with the egg?” Barbie asks as Hunter sifts through his dad’s computer. That’s when Barbie gets a glimpse at the countless photos his father has of him in the dome. Just then Barbie’s father walks in wondering what his son is doing at his computer. After a quick father son chat and a stalling walk down memory lane (so Hunter can clear the computer of proof he’s hacked it) his dad asks Barbie to come with him.

Barbie’s father takes him to a corporation, which is where he claims the email is sent from. That’s when Barbie get’s reintroduced to Hunter. Barbie uses Hunter to send another email. When Julia finally gets it she knows that it’s actually Barbie and that he doesn’t want her to jump.

During all of this, Pauline and Sam inject Lyle with some medication to help jog his dome memory.

Barbie creeps up on Hunter later in a parking lot asking him why Hunter failed to mention that he works for his father. After a few threats Barbie reveals that the only way Hunter can prove he’s loyal – like he claims -- he’ll have to help Barbie get to the dome, a place where trespassers are shot on sight. Viewers can see Hunter’s new assignment is making him nervous.

But Hunter comes through and Barbie uses a fake id to sneak into the restricted area as a radiation specialist. He then hitches a ride on the bottom of an army truck. Like we said – crafty man.

“Pauline, did the rapture come? This is heaven, huh?” Lyle speaks his first words to Pauline. He thinks he’s still in the dome.

“I [had a dream] I was just falling and falling and falling,” Lyle said, questioning how he survived.

Sam wants to leave now that Lyle is coherent. But Pauline claims she needs both Sam and Lyle to get Junior out of the dome alive. Lyle remembers that when he went over the cliff he had the post cards with him. They look through all the cards, which is when Pauline remembered there was one she hadn’t been able to send due to the falling of the dome. It was a postcard with the picture of a red door on it. She decides that they need to find it – as soon as possible.

Back in the dome Big Jim is taking his deputy duties pretty seriously. He pulls over Julia to get some inside scoop on her whereabouts. After grilling her, he returns to the station where he gets clocked over the head by Phil, who clearly has been drinking. Phil is mad at Big Jim because he nearly died after Big Jim tricked him in one of his mad schemes. At that moment Junior and Rebecca come barging in and a brawl breaks out.

“Guess we can work together now,” Junior says after the daddy/son duo beat Phil to a pulp. Big Jim then locks the former radio DJ away. “We’re never getting out of here alive,” Phil says behind bars.

While dome drama persists, Barbie is shaking things up in the outside world by running ramped through the woods to get to the dome.

Julia waits by the edge of the dome hoping Barbie will make an appearance. But she starts regretting her decision until her hero comes racing towards her. He tries to tell her that it isn’t safe out in the real world.

“Don’t jump!” he begs her before getting dragged away by officials. Julia screams after him proving for a second time she deserves an award for best yell on a TV series. As Julia watches Barbie getting thrown into a military car fans can see she’s not the only one witnessing the horror. Big Jim is also watching the madness go down through a pair of binoculars.

What did you think of episode 8, “Awakening”? Do you think the characters received their very own “awakening” about the dangers of the outside world? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts on “Under the Dome.”