Reviews
[TV Review] “Bates Motel” Episode 3.02: ‘The Arcanum Club’
“Bates Motel” returned tonight with a much faster paced episode after last weeks slog of a premiere. As is typical with Bates, there were still some issues with plotlines that no one cares about, but it was definitely an improvement. Before I get into my critique, let’s go over everything that happened.
Recap
Norma goes to check on Annika to not-so-secretly check to make sure her bathroom window shade is working after she caught Norman spying on her last week. After going to ask Emma about her to no avail, she walks in to see Norman taxidermy-ing (I’m fully aware that this is not a real word) a small goat. Norman claims to not know anything about about her whereabouts. Meanwhile, Hunter, Caleb and Dylan are having sort of a male bonding session over by the pot farm.
Norma just can’t seem to let the Annika thing go, so she asks Emma (again) about her. After Emma tells her that Norman went on a ride with her, a light bulb clicks in her head. She knows Norman had something to do with Annika’s disappearance. After scolding Norman, she gets a kind of half-excue out of him and the (understandably) doesn’t buy it, so she makes him show her exactly what happened that night. Then, of course, Norman slips up and uses the word “was” to describe Annika. Norma catches the slip-up (yay Norma!) and Norman starts acting all creepy. Norman informs Norma that he has started dating Emma, and she seems giddy at the thought. Later, while talking with Emma, she starts to get a little handsy with him and he freaks out a bit before abruptly leaving.
Back at Dylan’s, a seemingly rabid dog attacks Hunter’s dog and Caleb shoots it. Okay.The next day, a bearded homeless looking man named Chick comes up to Dylan looking for his pet dog, and seems unusually interested in the tomatoes (tow-mah-toes) he is planting. This storyline is getting so exciting! Later, Emma suggests that her and Norma go through Annika’s room and they find an invitation for the club that gives the episode it’s title: The Arcanum Club, which Emma explains is a very exclusive hunting club. While leaving the room, Sheriff Eyeliner Romero checks out of the motel and gives Norma what I assume is a check written for an enormous sum of money. and skips town.
On Emma and Norman’s date, the TV-MA icon shows up to remind us that something crazy is about to happen, and it turns out to just be two teenagers discussing sex (because Americans are prudes). Emma is laying the sexual innuendos on thick, and the two delve into their sexual histories (probably not a good conversation to have with Norman Bates). Then she calls Norma out for trying to keep Norman a child, which may be responsible for his guilty sexual feelings (yay Emma!).
Norma drives to the Arcanum Club meeting and is asked for the password, which she doesn’t know (really, Norma?). So she drives around the side and climbs over the fence (in her evening gown, no less) and pulls a Norman and spies on the party through a window. Inside, the gay neighbor from Desperate Housewives (Kevin Rahm) is overlooking two people have sex (there’s the TV-MA material). Romero busts her and she explains to him why she’s there. She also tells him that Norman was the last person to see Annika.
Over in the forest, Dylan and Caleb go spy on Chick, only to dins a woman nursing a baby. Chick comes out and admits that he doesn’t own a dog. He takes them into his gun warehouse and has a weird conversation with him about rules. Then he asks him about the weed he’s growing (ughhhh) and Caleb has to take it one step so far and insult Chick to his face, which means this storyline will probably drag on for the rest of the season.
On her way home, Norma sees a sign for Lee Berman’s bypass (remember that thrilling storyline from last season?) and proceeds to kick the shit out of it, only to run it over once she gets back in her car. Emma and Norman arrive home and begin making out. Norman cuts the session short, to Emma’s disappointment. After Emma leaves, Norma comes home and breaks down in Norman’s arms, while he consoles her and tells her everything is going to be alright. Cut to the lake, where a woman’s body has just floated to the surface.
Review
Like I said, this was a much faster-paced episode than last week. People actually communicated! Emma told Norma about Norman riding into town with Annika and Norma told Romero by the end of the episode! We also had Norma be smart and not just ignore Norman’s creepy behavior and excuses about his drive with Annika. She took initiative, which isn’t something we see quite often when it comes to Norman’s murderous tendencies. The show is always better when it focuses on Norma and this episode was no exception.
Special mention should also be made of Freddie Highmore, who is making Norman’s transition into full on psycho very well. He gives Norman so many looks and little moments that really show you how crazy he is becoming and his scenes with Olivia Cooke were appropriately disturbing. Their date was incredibly awkward and hard to watch, but I’m glad it finally gave Cooke some of the attention she was missing last season.
Last, and certainly least, we have Dylan’s subplot, which is growing even more ridiculous than I ever could have imagined. I didn’t actually think this was possible, but the writers seem determined to make it as “out there” as possible (that tomatoes thing was just plain weird). Chick was a creepy character and he was mildly entertaining in his final scene, so I’m withholding judgment on this until it gets developed a bit more. My expectations are very low, though.
Bates Motel is still setting things up for the rest of the season, but I found myself significantly more interested this week. Most of the plotlines that are being set up have the potential for an amazing payoff, and I hope the show follows through with them. Revelations and reveals were made much more quickly than the series is typically known for. Here’s hoping this trend continues next week!
Random Notes
- “She doesn’t strike me as a hiker.” That is Norma’s polite was of saying Annika was a hooker. Classic Norma.
- I loved how the camera lingered on Farmiga’s face when Emma told her Norman rode into town with Annika. You could just see the light bulb go off in her head and her facial expression was perfect.
- “Because you can’t keep getting into cars with unquestionable women. SLUTTY.” Nice to see that Norma echoed my thoughts from last week about unhinged/older women being attracted to him.
- Emma is apparently a connoisseur of Ramen. Good to know.
- Really starting to worry about Emma’s safety now. Surely they won’t kill her off this season, right? RIGHT???
- The visual of Norma running to the Arcanum Club party in her evening gown was amazing. I love it when the give Norma some physical comedy.
- On that note, Norma yelling “I hate you, you stupid piece of shit sign!” was also quite hilarious.
- Oh yeah, Annika is dead. In case you cared.
- Sorry again for the lengthy recap/review! I’ve come to accept the fact that so much shit happens on this show that it’s just going to be long. But I’ll actually label the recap and review so if you watched the episode you can just jump to the review.
Movies
‘Recluse’ Review – Harrowing Haunted House Horror With Lots Of Skeletons In Its Closet [Tribeca 2026]
A haunted house story is tense, terrifying storytelling when it’s properly executed. There’s been a growing tendency in horror to blend together harrowing haunted house stories with traumatic homecomings. A family member’s illness or death triggers a return to something dark that was intentionally left behind. Recluse hits all the tropes that one expects to find in this type of horror film, yet it manages to push this story in a daring, disturbing new direction that uses sound as a superpower.
It’s a unique lens to experience a familiar story about family secrets, generational trauma, unresolved grief, and the importance of not just legacy, but preservation. It’s a hell of a directorial debut from Henry Chaisson that’s guaranteed to get under the audience’s skin as they’re dragged through this painful, toxic tale.
Recluse is a gothic haunted house story where an isolated audio engineer, Joan (Sasha Frolova), returns to her family’s estate to check in on her father after he suffers a terrible accident. Joan suddenly discovers something much more sinister that paints her family’s tragedies in a very different light. Chaisson’s debut functions as a fascinating companion piece to this year’s undertone, which does a lot of the same things.
These two films make for a fascinating case of parallel thinking that tackles comparable subject matter through a similar lens, albeit in a bigger, less claustrophobic story in Recluse’s case. In fact, it’s the perfect horror film for anyone who was let down by undertone and didn’t feel like it brought enough to the table. It’s a considerably more conventional horror film, but this isn’t meant to denigrate its high quality. Recluse may hit some familiar notes, but it’s a scary, well-crafted haunted house horror story that goes for the jugular.
A gripping mystery that involves the tragic, unresolved circumstances that surround Joan’s mother teases a chilling connection to the recent horrors that have afflicted her father. Joan desperately tries to put these pieces together and give her family some sense of grander peace before she’s pulled under and becomes another victim of this festering curse that’s systematically worked its way through the Wyatt family. By doing so, Recluse digs into some deeper commentary on collective trauma, a very literal look at the “sins of the father” adage, and how one selfish decision can ripple through generations and fracture off into different dilemmas. By the end, Recluse has brilliantly flipped the powerful concept of legacy on its head by illustrating the horrors and sense of entitlement that can be born out of this idea.
A legacy is just another name for a curse under the right context.
”Listen” is a simple but powerful command from Joan’s father that she briefly obsesses over. In a way, it becomes Recluse’s grander mission statement, whether it’s in response to Joan listening to the people in her life, the signals that her body and mind are telling her, or the world’s greater whims. It’s important to reconnect with these grounding pillars, especially when it feels like control is slipping away.
Recluse excels with how audio and soundscapes can create entire universes that are full of rich details that transport individuals to these environments. There’s also a level of objectivity when it comes to audio recordings and the evergreen permanence that they’re able to provide. Joan’s career as an audio engineer makes sense for someone who wants to cling to hard evidence and proof of existence. It provides great insight into Joan without ever getting lost in contrived exposition.
Joan’s entire life is built around audio engineering, and so it makes sense that Recluse features excellent sound design that really goes above and beyond with its production elements. All of the sound design is expertly handled and turns the film into something special. These auditory elements intuitively keep the audience on edge so that they’re more susceptible to the actual scares that eventually strike. The smallest sound effect gets turned into a crushing, cacophonous assault. It’s a really effective way to build terror. Writer/Director Chaisson also handles the film’s music, which achieves a sublime, unnerving dissonance that further heightens the free-floating anxiety.
The story at the center of Recluse is slightly generic in some respects, but the film’s visual language and tone make it feel distinctly memorable. It also doesn’t hurt that the home that Joan returns to is basically an eerie art studio that’s full of contorted paintings. Recluse never struggles to generate mounting dread and terror that pump through every scene. Powerful, thoughtful cinematography consistently reinforces the film’s themes. Joan is constantly reflected in different surfaces or viewed through mirrors. She’s also often confined to tight, constricting framing that all speaks to her refracted identity during this moment of loss and her attempts to regain agency and control by making sense of something that’s seemingly unexplainable.
Recluse is full of truly disturbing visuals that make it seem like Joan is lost in a dream that turns out to be an extended nightmare. It’s a surreal journey reminiscent of invasive psychological horror like Silent Hill, with a touch of Sinister and Hereditary thrown in for good measure. There are so many individual frames that could endlessly fuel urban legends and creepypastas.
It does a great job with how it presents Joan’s fragile state of mind, where chilling flashes of the past sneak up on her and unresolved trauma manifests into unsettling imagery. There are endless shots that are obscured in darkness, or shadow is creeping in from the corners of frames like a suffocating force of nature. It’s very rare that a scene is fully lit. It leads to a very lonely, isolating atmosphere that’s easy to get lost in.
Chaisson’s debut stands out from the many other high-minded haunted house horror films without succumbing to the same pretensions that often drag down these stories. It’s a grief-stricken character study that’s full of upsetting visuals that scratch at something visceral and raw. The horror elements connect, and the answers to its grander mystery provide an appropriate and believable sense of closure. Those who are looking for an atmospheric horror film that isn’t afraid to be different while still channeling something real will appreciate Recluse.
Recluse made its world premiere at Tribeca; release info TBD.
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