“Crazy” certainly didn’t feel like the penultimate episode of Bates Motel’s third season. If anything, it felt like an episode that should have been shoved in the middle of the season. With the exception of Norman’s descent into madness, it doesn’t feel like any of the other plot lines have been developed enough to keep anyone invested.
Picking up right where we left off last week, Norman takes Bradley back home. Rather than waste a paragraph discussing what Bradley has been up to (not much), it would be better to spend time discussing how meaningless she feels as a character. Her return doesn’t feel warranted, and with the way things are going, she is probably going to get murdered by Mother in the finale. I fully realize I am basing my opinion on what I assume will happen. It is entirely possible Bates Motel will pull a fast one on my and bring Nicola Peltz back as a series regular. If that does indeed happen, I will concede to jumping to this conclusion.
Bradley was never that interesting of a character to begin with, though, so the only logical path for her character would seem to be to be Mother’s first victim. It was refreshing to see Norman admit his neurological problem to her, after she so bluntly asked what was wrong with him. Mother’s reappearance after the near-sex scene was entertaining though.
It would appear that Caleb has left town for good, though I’m guessing the fact that he didn’t kill Chick will bring him back next week. His reluctance to kill Chick seems like a wasted opportunity to rid Bates Motel of this particular plot point, but I guess Dylan and Caleb have to do something in the finale.
The one good thing that came from Caleb leaving town (besides the fact that he actually left town) is that he told Norma about Norman confronting him as Mother. Norma is terrible at facing the truth, as Caleb so wisely points out, and now that two people have told her about Norman’ blackouts she would be a fool to ignore it.
Speaking of Norma being a fool, she really made a mistake by not opening up to Romero last week, didn’t she? He even asks her to confess again this week, but she doesn’t give in. Their fight at the police station was incredibly awkward (especially once Romero tried to kiss her as she began crying) and also the best scene of the episode. Farmiga has been on fire this season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this episode was her Emmy submission.
For an episode titled “Crazy,” there weren’t much crazy happenings going on this week on Bates Motel. I don’t have incredibly high hopes for the finale, but this season has been a roller coaster of quality, so maybe this subpar episode will lead into a great one. Fingers crossed!
Random Notes
- A special agent Liz Barrow comes to question Romero about his mother’s name being on the ledger found on the flash drive. It seems a little late to be bringing this into the season so maybe that will carry over into season 4.
- Bob Paris continues to not be much of a presence in the show. Other than his torture of Professor James, he hasn’t been that imposing of a villain. Anyone else hoping they just kill him off next week?
- Emma and Dylan almost have sex, which is cool, I guess.
- I don’t think Norma is in any position to call someone out for acting like a third grader, do you?
- “If we get investigated then having a hobby that involves cutting up dead animals is going to look…pretty weird” -True story, Norma.
- “That bitch Bradley Martin has always been a pain in my ass. I thought she was dead.” -Besides the fact that this is an awesome zinger, I like the fact that Mother didn’t know that Bradley was still alive, even though Norman did.
- See you all next week for the season finale! Here’s the promo for the episode, which is titled “Unconscious:”
