Going Under the Dome: Neal Baer Answers Burning Questions on the Move from Faith to Fear

[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Monday's episode of Under the Domeas well as the Stephen King novel the series is based on. Read at your own risk.]

Well, now we know the dome is infallible.

The military learned that the hard way during Monday's Under the Dome after shooting a missile into the dome in hopes of destroying it. Because the dome has begun to affect the outside world in various ways — namely the butterflies' sense of direction because of the magnetic field emanating from the dome — the military buses in those who were left outside of Chester's Mill to say goodbye to their families before sending in the mother of all bombs (MOAB) to destroy the dome. Instead, the dome proved resilient, destroying all the land surrounding the dome. Oops! With so many new questions raised this week, TVGuide.com turned to executive producer Neal Baer to get the scoop:

Comic-Con: Will Barbie and Julia get together on Under the Dome?

Will we see more of the destruction outside the dome?
Instead of bringing the dome down and killing the trapped residents of Chester's Mill, the missile didn't even puncture the dome. We got a brief glimpse at the surrounding lands being destroyed, but just how bad is the devastation outside?
Neal Baer's response: You will see other perspectives, but we're not going to be outside the dome looking in at least for the short term. Maybe later.

Will we learn more about Norrie's unique family?
Norrie's (Mackenzie Lintz) father showed up to Visitor's Day, but seemingly only so he could cash in on the media frenzy. Norrie had no clue that her mother Alice (Samantha Mathis) had a previous relationship that resulted in her birth, which should make for an interesting family reunion following MOAB.
Baer's response: We're going to learn more about her mother, but not necessarily her past — more her present and future. After they made it through the missile attack, you'll see that there's a terrific reunion. It sets Norrie on a mission, which is really great in the next episode, with Joe (Colin Ford). They're on their own mission, which ends in a crazy way. The next episode is amazing because it's the food riots. Early on, it was like, "Where are the riots?" It was only Day 2. Give us a chance! Now we're in Day 6, so now things are getting a little more tense. Now we're moving into the "fear" section. Some people may have been fearful from the very beginning, but Big Jim (Dean Norris) is pushing faith. Now that he pushed faith into the dome literally [laughs], we're moving into fear. Things really heat up.

Going Under the Dome: Neal Baer answers burning questions on why the military has left

Why was Angie nice to Junior in the moments before the missile?
Only after Big Jim thought the town was doomed did he actually free Angie (Britt Robertson) from the fallout shelter. But she ended up back in the clutches of Junior (Alexander Koch), who beat her home and held her at gunpoint until they waited for the end of the world together. Will there be repercussions for him holding her in the fallout shelter?
Baer's response: Because they were about to die! He was a little boy in that scene. It's not like they were hugging or holding each other. His head was in her lap; he's a little boy. That's an Easter egg. ... When he was a little boy, Junior said, "I only wanted to help you because you were sick." That's going to be very important. There's going to be so much that's going to happen between Angie, Big Jim and Junior. I can tell you she's not going back into the fallout shelter. She's going back to work at the diner.

Will Julia ever attempt to find out what Barbie was going to say before the missile hit?
As Barbie (Mike Vogel) and Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) waited in the cement factor-turned-fallout shelter for the town, Barbie decided to turn his back on his job as an enforcer, giving Phil (Nicholas Strong) back his grandfather's watch and likely attempting to tell Julia the truth that he killed her husband. Julia stopped him before he could reveal his misdeeds.
Baer's response: I don't know if she's going to bring that up, but we're not going to leave this dangling. As I said at Comic-Con, Episode 9 brings on some new characters who have a profound impact on Julia, Barbie, Big Jim and Linda. Everything gets turned upside down when Natalie Zea and Mare Winningham show up.

Going Under the Dome: Neal Baer answers burning questions on "dome fever"

Why didn't Norrie and Joe have a seizure when they kissed?
Norrie and Joe spent a bulk of the hour trying to track down Angie. But when they realized all hope was lost, the pair kissed just as the missile hit the dome.
Baer's response: I wouldn't say it's a correlation with the missile. It's an advancement of the relationship between the dome and Norrie and Joe, which we will definitely see in the next episode; something amazing and wonderful happens in the next episode that extends beyond where we've been. We will come to learn more and more about the dome. Particularly in Episode 7, we'll give you something that will be shocking about the dome.

What's in store for Episode 7?
On more than one occasion, Baer has stated that Episode 7 is one of his favorite hours, which would top even Monday night's thrilling episode.
Baer's response: We're in the middle of fear. Episode 6 will tee it up, with Norrie and Carolyn (Aisha Hinds) and Alice. Julia has an unexpected visitor in Episode 7 that will change everybody's life, played by this wonderful young actress named Megan Ketch [from Blue Bloods]. She makes an appearance in Episode 7. There are a lot of townspeople and it changes everything for everybody. And then Episode 8 is Dean Norris' Emmy-worthy performance.

Going Under the Dome: Neal Baer addresses the mechanics of the dome

Will anyone find out that Big Jim killed Coggins?
After Coggins (Ned Bellamy) threatened to reveal Big Jim's sins to the town, Big Jim shoved the reverend's head against the dome, killing him instantly because he was wearing a hearing aid with batteries. RIP, crazy man!
Baer's response: That's what's going to be a big issue for the rest of the season. That question: How would they feel and is anybody going to find out? As far as we know, Reverend Coggins was going to embrace the dome just like Duke (Jeff Fahey) touched it. I just loved that because it was a great set-up from the beginning. We created this character with the hearing aid so that we could explode the insides of his head.

What did you think of this week's Under the Dome? Submit your questions in the comments section below for next week's edition of Going Under the Dome.

Under the Dome airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)