Well that was certainly different for Bates Motel. It was a wise decision for the show to focus on the Bates themselves this week, with a minimal focus on Bob Paris and the Arcanum Club. We finally got to see Norman dressed up as Mother this week. Luckily, it wasn’t one of those instances where it was only the audience who witnessed Norman’s blackout. Dylan saw it too! But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. A lot of progress was made in this episode, putting it a few notches ahead of last week’s snooze-fest.
First off, way to go Romero! Turns out all that boring Marcus Young drama from the past few episodes was just a red herring. This is an incredibly good thing for Bates Motel because it means a) we don’t have to worry about having to see Romero and Young battle it out for sheriff and b) it was actually surprising! Bates Motel zigged where it usually would have zagged in this episode, and it’s all the better for it. Of course, now we know that Marcus was working for Paris, so there’s that. But at least the middle man has been cut out.
Of course, I’m forgetting the biggest reveal of the episode: Norman actually becomes Mother (and he’s wearing her dress)! As I mentioned earlier, it was refreshing that Dylan saw Norman in Mother mode. This means that there won’t be a bunch of future scenes of Norman “Mothering out” without anyone seeing. It’s known, and not something I would have expected Bates Motel to do.
This episode also delved a little deeper in Norman’s psyche. As he laid catatonic in his bed, he hallucinated walking into his mother’s room, which was full of moths and began to crumble around him. No doubt a little on the nose for Norman’s crumbling sanity, but it was effective nonetheless.
The focus on Norman also gave us an interesting pairing in Emma and Dylan. These two have never really been alone together and their scenes were some of the best in the episode. Dylan is one of the most poorly used characters in the show and Emma is one of the most underused, so it was nice to see them have some necessary focus. Emma also had a bit of a scare with her cystic fibrosis, which doesn’t happen nearly as often as it probably does in real life, but I digress.
The biggest development of the episode involved Norma, of course. After a (very) brief flashback to her childhood with Caleb, it is revealed that she’s driven to Portland, but she has a tail. This proves to be not very important, as she ends up getting drunk, calling Professor James and confessing to him that Norman killed her husband. Then they have sex. This will probably come back to bite Norma in the ass later, but for now it was cathartic to see her finally open up to someone.
This brings us to the final scene of the episode, where Norma confronts Caleb. It’s an effective scene, thanks to some powerful acting by Farmiga and Johnson. Though it isn’t revealed whether Norma finally forgives him, the look on Norman’s face suggests that this happy(?) reunion will not last. Mother will probably returning sooner rather than later to take care of Caleb.
Overall this is one of the better episodes Bates Motel has had all season. It was a house-cleaning episode, to be sure, but it will allow the season’s final four episodes to focus on the stories that really matter. Keep it up, Bates.
Random Notes
- “REALLY?!” – Norma, when being told that she can only take three items into the dressing room.
- “You know what I’m sick of my car I want a new one.” -Norma gets right to the point, doesn’t she?
- The time stamps littered throughout the episode didn’t really serve a purpose, did they?
- Norma trading in her car for a new one had to be an homage to car dealership scene from Psycho, right?
- Chick offers Caleb a driving gig. It’s about as interesting as it sounds.
- “I’m not going to be the mom who says I won’t talk to your dad because I hate him because he raped me. That’s not what parents do.” Norma has the best ideology on parenting.
- Here’s next week’s preview. Looks like we’re going to get some more Mother next week!
