Going Under the Dome: Neal Baer Answers Burning Questions on the Identity of the Monarch

[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.]

Forget the dome! Barbie is apparently the real enemy.

After Maxine (Natalie Zea) shoots Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) to punish Barbie (Mike Vogel) on Monday's Under the Dome, she discovers her mother's body in the water. Vowing vengeance, Max takes Barbie and Big Jim (Dean Norris) hostage, but they're able to get the upper hand. However, Big Jim kills Max and her crony, framing Barbie for it before condemning him over the radio to the town. Will Barbie be able to clear his name? And is he the Monarch who will be crowned? TVGuide.com turned to executive producer Neal Baer to get some answers:

Under the Dome's Neal Baer: A storm of unseen power will descend on Chester's Mill

Is Barbie really the Monarch?
After Barbie saves Julia's life, Joe (Colin Ford) deduces that he is the Monarch who will save Chester's Mill.
Baer's response: You will find out who the Monarch is [by the end of the season]. Angie (Britt Robertson) has the butterfly tattoo. Joe actually drove the car. Everyone is saying it's Barbie because he saved Julia, or Junior (Alexander Koch) because the storm stopped when he came back, but what about Joe?

Was the storm caused by Junior or Julia?
The dome unleashed a storm of epic proportions, but the catalyst remains unclear. Was it because Junior decided to leave the group or because Julia was shot? The storm ended when Junior decided to come back and when Barbie saved Julia's life. Is whoever caused the storm the Monarch?
Baer's response: Yes. All will be understood.

Why is the military really trying to find Barbie?
During the storm, Dodee (Jolene Purdy) discovers that the radio is working again and hears military men discussing Barbie — whom they saw in Visitor's Day photos. "He's the one we've been looking for," one of them says. In the book, he's the government's choice to be the leader of Chester's Mill.
Baer's response: It has elements from the book, but it also has its own trajectory.

Under the Dome: Who will be crowned the monarch?

Will the four actively try to kill Big Jim?
The quartet decides to touch the big dome together, seeing a vision of a bleeding Big Jim with themselves holding bloody knives, as if they were the ones to stab him.
Baer's response: Yes, we'll see that next week. It gets pretty ugly. Remember, nobody is safe.

Will the egg hatch by the end of the season?
Inside the mini-dome, there's a black egg, along with a caterpillar that is blossoming into a butterfly.
Baer's response: It's fair to say that the egg won't just sit there.

Is Big Jim off the hook now?
Big Jim spins a tale of being a good guy for stocking up on propane, but Linda (Natalie Martinez) points out that he would be arrested for his connection to Rapture if the dome hadn't come down. In order to divert attention from himself, Big Jim points Linda in Barbie's direction, mentioning that Peter Shumway (R. Keith Harris) has been missing since the dome came down.
Baer's response: Linda is getting a lot savvier in the next episode. She's catching on that there's been a lot of bad stuff going on. She always took people as just and kind, and now she's seeing — certainly she saw what happened with Duke (Jeff Fahey) in the safety deposit box. Now she has her work cut out for her being after Barbie. She's going to have to make some tough decisions in the next two episodes.

Going Under the Dome: Neal Baer answers burning questions on the dome's power

Will there be more deaths before the end of the season?
Maxine and her crony were the latest casualties, joining the long list who have perished this season. With Julia on the brink of death, will others suffer a similar fate?
Baer's response: Of course.

Will Barbie be able to clear his name?
After Big Jim condemned him over the airwaves, the entire town of Chester's Mill will form a manhunt for Barbie.
Baer's response: What two characters have we not seen together since the very first episode? Angie and Barbie. That comes back into play in the next episode. We will see Angie and Barbie reunite in a very surprising way.

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.)