This article pertains to the character as he appears on television. You may be looking for his literary counterpart.
James "Junior" Rennie, Jr. is the son of Pauline and Jim Rennie, the nephew of Sam Verdreaux, and a resident of Chester's Mill, Maine.
Biography[]
Joe's Blog: My First Video[]
Junior Rennie's first appears is in a short video blog made by Joe McAlister, where Joe is making his first blog video with his smartphone. This happens before the day the dome comes down as Junior seems to still have his sanity and is still going out with Angie. Junior is making out with Joe's sister when Joe comes into Angie's bedroom. He immediately stops and sits on the side of the bed. Joe asks Angie why she is in her old bedroom when she moved out. She says it was none of his business. Joe then introduces Junior to the camera where Junior says "What's up world". It is revealed by Joe that Angie had slept with not one but three boyfriends, to which Junior is shocked to hear but Angie claims to be untrue. Joe then leaves the bedroom.
Dome Day[]
At the Rennie Residence, Angie and Junior have sex. Junior professes his love for Angie, announcing that he's dropped out of college to be with her, claiming that she is the only person who truly knows him. Angie rejects Junior, who roughly grabs her arm as she attempts to walk out; Angie slaps Junior, inciting a silent fury in him, before she leaves the house.
Junior experiences the earthquake of the dome lowering on his front porch as windchimes ring.
Later in the day, Junior listens to WYBS and mindlessly fiddles with a butterfly knife; he prepares to cut himself just before his father's voice takes over the radio station.
Outside the Clinic, Dale Barbara smokes next to a dumpster before being approached by Angie, who asks for a cigarette. A block away, Junior watches Angie and Barbie from inside his pick-up truck, fiddling with his butterfly knife. Angie questions Barbie about what he saw, and tells him that some of her patients believe that the town is trapped in a giant fishbowl; she tells him that she once had goldfish, but when one got sick, the other ate it. Junior climbs out of his truck to approach Angie, believing that she is flirting with Barbie, but stops as Carolyn and Alice arrive at the Clinic in a rush with Norrie still suffering from her seizure. Angie helps Norrie from the car, and Barbie leaves the Clinic as Junior watches him.
Later that night, in the field, Barbie retrieves his handgun from the glovebox of his Charger, and is approached by Junior, who asks if they know each other. Barbie ignores Junior, angering him, and Junior becomes aggressive, but Barbie advises him not to start an altercation. Moments later, Shumway arrives and Junior leaves. He later arrives at Angie's house and sneaks in and waits for Angie to come home. When she does, he attacks her and holds her at knifepoint, she fights back and runs for the door, but Junior tackles her, hitting her head against a countertop and knocking her unconscious. He apologizes and kisses the wound on her forehead.
Hours later Angie awakens, and finds herself in a locked room as Junior arrives. She screams for help until Junior shouts for her to stop because no one can hear her: he has locked her in his father's "old fallout shelter." Angie insists that Junior has lost his mind, but he counters that only he truly understands "what's going on around here" before asking for her patience. She lunges at him instead, but he exits the room and bolts the door before she can escape, leaving her inside as he climbs back to the surface and locks the hatch.
In the backyard, Rennie discovers his son at the hatch to the fallout shelter, and Junior claims that he checked the bunker to find it completely flooded. When Junior insists that he wants to help his father manage the town, Rennie gives his son an awkward hug, and the two leave the backyard as Junior glances back to the fallout shelter hatch.
Suspicions[]
In the Rennie's fallout shelter, Angie searches for a means of escaping, but hides as Junior arrives with a tray of food. She rushes him, knocking him aside and forcing her way out the door, only to climb the stairs in the hall outside and find the stormdoors locked. Angie beats at the door and screams for help until Junior forcibly picks her up and carries her back into the bunker, chaining her ankle to the cot. Junior insists that the Dome has scrambled Angie's brain and made her sick; when Angie asks Junior to take her to the hospital, he responds that "Barbie" might be there. Angie initially denies being involved with Barbie, but later attempts to goad Junior by claiming that Barbie "screwed [her] brains out," and that Junior "will never be the man that he is." Junior leaves without a word and locks the door.
At Mill Gas & Grocery, Barbie purchases a bottle of water and three packs of cigarettes before spotting Norrie shoplifting. He says nothing, holding the door for her to leave, and explains that the cigarettes are an investment. As Barbie leaves, he is spotted by Junior, who follows him.
He follows Barbie to an abandoned cabin and accuses Barbie of taking Angie to the cabin for sex before insisting that Angie belongs to him. Junior punches Barbie before Barbie pushes Junior out the door and off the porch; Junior tackles Barbie and the two grapple before Barbie punches Junior repeatedly. He warns Junior to stay away from him, threatening "not...to stop" next time before leaving Junior on the ground outside the cabin.
In the Rennie's fallout shelter, Angie struggles with the chain around her ankle until Junior returns, explaining the bruises on his face by claiming that he "took care of" Barbie by killing him. Angie refuses to believe that Junior could kill someone, claiming that she's known him since the third grade; Junior responds by handing her an envelope and telling her that "this is what [they're] working for." He leaves, and Angie finds a strip of photobooth pictures inside showing her and Junior together.
Investigation[]
Later that morning at the Rennie residence, Rennie confronts Junior about his absence during the Perkins housefire, insisting that the appearance of the Dome is an opportunity that must not be squandered. Rennie then notices the bruises on Junior's face, and Junior admits that Barbie beat him while claiming that Barbie is "totally insane"; Jim simply tells his son to "tough up now, Junior."
In the Rennie's fallout shelter, Angie manages to tune in WYBS on a portable radio and hears Phil Bushey discuss the Perkins housefire, but hides the device as Junior arrives with a tray of food. She ingores him even as he tells her that she is only angry because of the Dome, claiming that everything will go back to normal once they "get out from under this thing"; Angie asks if anyone has attempted to go under the barrier, suggesting the abandoned tunnels beneath the town's cement factory. As Angie appears to soften to Junior, he leaves.
At the WYBS station headquarters, Julia reports on the Dome before Phil turns back to the music, and Julia spots Junior through a window passing by the building. Phil suggests that Junior, as the councilman's son, might have an "inside scoop," and Julia rushes outside, but Junior dismisses her questions and walks off.
At the abandoned cement factory, Junior pries a door open and heads inside while Julia follows him into the facility. Inside, Junior descends a flight of steps, with Julia in his wake. Junior desends further into the facility as Julia continues to follow him. Junior reaches the lowest tunnel and believes that he's "found a way out." Behind him, Julia witnesses as he walks straight into the invisible barrier; he drops his flashlight, and Julia reveals herself to stop him from picking it up moments before it explodes. Junior threatens that she shouldn't have followed him.
Julia claims to have followed Junior in the hopes that he'd find a way out, and Junior beats futilely against the barrier, screaming that he hates it. Finally he collapses on the floor, telling Julia that the tunnels are unsafe, but Julia explains that she wrote a story once on coal miners trapped underground during which she learned that striking a match will reveal the direction of airflow in a tunnel. She then strikes a match, and invites Junior to "go home."
Julia leads Junior through the tunnels before he sits against a wall, insisting that he "just wanted to do something good today." He insists that "a man doesn't screw up," but Julia claims that everyone screws up, and explains that she wound up back in Chester's Mill after publishing bribery allegations against a mayoral candidate in Chicago based on forged documents. She insists, however, that she will never make that mistake again, and strikes another match. As she continued to lead Junior through the tunnels, Junior insists that the Dome appeared when Barbie arrived in town; he shows Julia his bruises, claiming that that Barbie "attacked [him] out of the blue" because Barbie is "a psychopath," and insisting that Dale "has to answer some questions." Moments later, Julia's last match goes out as the pair arrive at the steps to the surface; back outside, Julia offers to give Junior a ride back to his house. On the road, Julia agrees to keep the incident in the tunnels secret, and Junior asks her to call him James.
They arrive at the Rennie Residence, where Barbie and Jim Rennie were talking outside on the sidewalk. Junior gets out and strodes silently past Barbie into the house.
Later that night, Jim questions his son's activity, and Junior admits that he looked for a way out of the Dome through the cement factory. Junior then demands to know what his father was doing with Barbie, but Rennie refuses to answer, insinuating that Jim and Barbie are adults while Junior is a child.
In the Rennie's fallout shelter, Angie sleeps until Junior returns; she wakes, and asks if Junior succeeded in going under the barrier, but he admits that he failed and concedes that "there's no way out." Angie spots Junior's bruised hands, and tends to them with a first aid kit, while surreptitiously sliding a pair of scissors under her blanket.
Meningitis Outbreak[]
In the Rennie's fallout shelter, Angie separates the two blades of the first aid scissors she had previously hidden and sharpens one of them against the metal frame of her cot before hiding it. Moments later, Junior arrives with a bag of clothes, including Angie's junior prom dress, and Angie hugs Junior; when he notes that she is acting like she had before the Dome came down, she takes the dress and suggests that he turn around. He does, and she attempts to stab him with the sharpened blade, but he fends off the attack and subdues her, accusing her of only pretending to get "better." She tries to apologize, and then pleads to be released; Junior claims that Angie "can leave whenever [she's] ready, but not before," then exits the shelter.
He later goes to the clinic to get his hand bandaged. While there, Joe McAlister spots him and asks after Angie; Junior claims to have last seen Joe's sister "around" "a couple of nights ago." Joe leaves to catch up with Norrie as Barbie and Rennie deliver Linda to the Clinic; Junior spots his father and asks after Linda even as more patients arrive at the Clinic "with fever and headache," and Rennie sends hsi son with Barbie to bring in additional cots.
Junior and Barbie return later with the cots, bu were stopped by Julia who wanted to discuss something with Barbie. Junior leaves the two to talk and delivers the rest of the cots.
Later in the waiting room, Alice explains to Rennie and Barbie that the patients appear to be exhibiting the symptoms of meningitis, expressing concern over the possibility of an epidemic, especially given that the Clinic does not have enough antibiotics to treat all of the patients. Alice gives Rennie a list of the medications that she'll need, and Rennie gives Junior a shotgun, ordering him to quarantine the Clinic; Rennie and Barbie then head to Dee's Pharmacy as Junior returns to the waiting room, announcing that no one is allowed to leave the Clinic.
Junior guards the doors as more patients are brought in, and Julia approaches him, appealing to him to let her leave so that she can investigate the cabin where Phil claimed to be meeting Peter. Junior explains her that he found Barbie at a cabin on Sparrows Lane, but refuses to allow Julia to leave.
Linda overhears patients becoming restless, and witnesses Ollie and several patients attempt to rush Junior, who fires a warning shot into the ceiling. Linda manages to calm Junior, who explains that he's in the Clinic not to hold them hostage, but because he is one of them, and because they all have "to fight through this thing together" and trust one another. He tells the people that he believes in them before setting down the shotgun and heading back into the Clinic. Ollie briefly considers the shotgun, but decides agaisnt taking it or leaving.
Rennie and Barbie arrive later on and unload the antibiotics, and Junior assures his father that he encountered no problems with the quarantine.
Junior helps carry medications inside until he is approached by Barbie, who asks where Julia is; Junior admits that he last saw Julia several hours before, when Julia asked about the cabin. Barbie demands the keys to Junior's truck, claiming that Julia left the hospital during Junior's watch, making her Junior's responsibility; Junior hands over his keys, and Barbie leaves.
That afternoon, after most of the citizens had been vaccinated, Junior helps pack up supplies, and Rennie assists patients before visiting with Linda, who explains that Junior successfully diffused "what could have been a full-blown riot." Rennie congratulates his son, asking if Junior would consider "a career in law enforcement."
Later at night, Junior gives Linda a ride to the police station, assuring her that Mrs. Moore's death was not her fault, because Mrs. Moore sacrificed herself knowing how important Linda is to the town. Linda congratulates Junior for his handling of the crisis at the Clinic, and deputizes him on the spot (while not knowing that her new deputy is actively comitting a crime, false imprisonment of Angie McAlister).
Deputized and nuke launch[]
After being recruited and badged as a new deputy by Linda, as there are few officers left to keep order in the town, Junior does errands for Linda by keeping the community in check. Junior returns home one day and his father attempts to confront him, but Junior interrupts him to explain that the military has bussed in the townspeople's relatives. Rennie authorizes Junior to "recruit auxiliary officers" for crowd control, suggesting Junior's high school classmate Carter; Junior claims to need supplies from the fallout shelter, but Rennie orders his son to return to work.
Junior arrives on the main bridge that leads into town where the Visitor's Day meeting was taking place. He spots Barbie trying to calm Andrea Grinnell as she wanted to cross the yellow tape to get closer to her son, who was on the other side of the Dome. He walks over and orders Barbie to leave Grinnel alone, recieving a remark from Barbie of how it was ridiculous to see Junior in a cop uniform but backs off Andrea nonetheless.
Later that day, it was revealed that the military was planning on launching a nuke to destory the dome, and ultimately, Chester;s Mill. After hearing of this, Junior returns home and heads for the backyard before his father calls him from the front porch, admitting that he released Angie. Junior flees the property in his squad car even as his father insists that they must get to the Cement Works where the bomb shelter was.
Junior quickly drives to the McAlister Residence and waits in Angie's bedroom with his sidearm pistol out. When Angie returns home trying to find her brother, Joe, and enters the bedroom, Junior turns to her and says "we're not finished yet."
Angie asks Junior what's happening, and he turns on her radio; the two listen to Julia's recorded broadcast explaining the impending missile strike. Junior explains that everyone is going to die; he set down his pistol and apologizes, and Angie sits next to him, kissing his forehead before holding his head in her lap.
They are in this position when the nuke connects with the Dome, only to detonate without causing a scratch to the Dome's surface. The military act fails.
The Endless Thirst[]
He helps Linda with the uproar of looters, due to the water tower losing its water and the only water supply is Ollie's.
Imperfect Circles[]
Junior helps Linda in tracking down the Dundee Brothers and killing them for killing Rose Twitchell and assaulting Angie,
Thicker Than Water[]
Big Jim tries to overtake Ollie's well, since Ollie is monopolizing the town and Big Jim wanting to do the same thing for himself. The first attempt fails when Ollie and his men were expecting them and forces them to retreat, however without Junior betraying his father and joining Ollie's forces. Barbie is able to blow up Ollie's well, re-directing the well water to other dried up ones, thus Ollie doesn't have his basis for power anymore. Ollie tries to mess with Junior's head by telling him that her mother dies by a suicide and not by a car accident like Big Jim told Junior. Junior kills Ollie, when Ollie is about to kill Big Jim.
The Fourth Hand[]
Let the Games Begin[]
Speak Of The Devil[]
Exigent Circumstances[]
Curtains[]
Trivia[]
- He and his literary counterpart shares many similarities, such as being a thug, recruiting new officers for both forces, and doing crimes. He seems to have turned a positive direction in the television series (in helping the three other teenagers to figure out what the dome is all about and protecting people close to him) instead of turning in more of negative direction in the novel, where he kills Angie McCain, Dodee Sanders, and three special deputies.
- It is currently unclear if Junior has his novel counterpart's brain tumour or if he is merely suffering from cabin fever due to being contained in the Dome.
Appearances[]
- Under the Dome:
- "Pilot"
- "Into the Fire"
- "Manhunt"
- "Outbreak"
- "Blue on Blue"
- "The Endless Thirst"
- "Imperfect Circles"
- "Thicker Than Water"
- "The Fourth Hand"
- "Let the Games Begin"
- "Speak of the Devil"
- "Exigent Circumstances"
- "Curtains"
- "Heads Will Roll"
- "Infestation"
- "Force Majeure"
- "Revelation"
- "Reconciliation"
- "In the Dark"
- "Going Home"
- "Awakening"
- "The Red Door"
- "The Fall"
- "Black Ice"
- "Turn"
- "Go Now"
- "Move On"
- "But I'm Not"
- "Redux"
- "The Kinship"
- "Alaska"
- "Caged"
- "Ejecta"
- "Breaking Point"
- "Plan B"
- "Legacy"
- "Love is a Battlefield"
- "Incandescence"
- "The Enemy Within" (death)
- "Joe's Blog": "My First Video"