Bates Motel on A&E - Anyone Watching? *

That was an incredible episode. Norma is just not going to let go. Making him puke up his meds....knocking him out so she could take over....incredibly well done.

 

I am not caught up on this season, so I am avoiding spoilers here. All things being equal, doesn't Caleb remind you of a real-life version of Heat Miser?


Dan

 

Great episode last night. Now I really wonder how this will end. One more episode to go next week.

 

I'm kind of bummed, though, that it seems likely they won't get around to addressing a random little super-interesting bombshell they dropped a few episodes back: When Dylan goes to pick up Norman's meds (which was otherwise kind of unrealistic, as a random pharmacy is unlikely to even consider filling a two-year-expired prescription, and not even for the person it's intended for), he is told that Dr. Edwards has been missing for a year and is presumed dead.

Not only is this interesting for the (obvious) possibility that Norman murdered him "off camera" so to speak, but it's also extra weird because Norman seems to run into Dr. Edwards only two episodes prior.

This seems to be an awfully important and crazy mystery to not address. I'm not going to assume they'll address this in the final episode, but it would be interesting to know if Norman/Mother killed Dr. Edwards and, if so, what the deal was with running into him and talking to him. I don't think Norman/Mother have often hallucinated a *third* different person to talk to.

 

I think in a bizarre way imagining the psychiatrist was the rational part of Norman's mind trying to get him to recognize what was happening -- that his mother is dead and he is imagining/pretending to be her. I thought it was odd that the psychiatrist launched right into telling Norman he was delusional over coffee but it made sense once you knew the conversation was in Norman's head.

Some of Norman's crimes may never be discovered if he doesn't confess, like the murder of Bradley. And is Dylan ever going to find out his father is dead as well as his mother?

 

I was wondering if they were ever going to find the other bodies, like Bradley. Are Bradley and Mrs. Watson the only other ones we know Norman killed? I know there were some other deaths (escorts related to the corrupt people the sheriff was involved with), but I can't remember if those deaths all came at other people's hands.

As for Dylan's dad, didn't Chick get rid of that body? So the only person who knows where that body is buried is now dead.

 

I don't know if how many still-unknown-to-the-authorities murder victims there still are. Bradley for sure.

The guy from the pilot episode that Norman and Norma killed, the former owner of the house and motel, his full body was never found, right? But they did find his hand/arm with watch attached, so they presume he is dead.

Norman did kill Cody's father, but that's also known and he apparently was not charged in relation to that.

Total Murders by Norma, and/or Norman, and/or Norman/Mother:

Sam Bates (killed pre-episode 1, presumably by Norman)
Keith Summers (killed by Norma, with some help from Norman, in Episode 1)
Jimmy Brennan (Cody's father, killed accidentally by Norman)
Bradley Martin (killed by Norman/Mother)
Audrey Ellis (Emma's mother, killed by Norman/Mother)
Norma Bates (killed by Norman/Mother)
Jim Blackwell (the hitman, killed by Norman/Mother)
Sam Loomis (killed by Norman)
Gregg Edwards (Norman's doctor, not confirmed dead, possibly killed by Norman/Mother)

There's also Caleb, where Norman was sort of an accomplice.

Of these murders, the authorities know about the death (though not necessarily the true culprit) of all but Keith Summers and Gregg Edwards, both of which are nevertheless presumed dead. Interestingly, assuming Norman's three murder charges are for Sam Loomis, Jim Blackwell, and Audrey Ellis, that still means we only have one of possibly nine murders (Jimmy Brennan) where the full, true story is known.

Bradley Martin was presumed dead before she actually was dead, so nobody is even looking for her. Norma is presumably still considered a suicide (I'm surprised nobody but Dylan has even wondered out loud if Norman killed her), and a murder conviction on that case would be difficult anyway. Sam Bates's death is still up in the air. Who knows if anybody is still thinking about Keith Summers.

According to a Bates wiki page, there are about 47 confirmed deaths on the show thus far, 48 including Dr. Edwards, along with some additional possible deaths.

Dylan has three deaths under his belt, Romero has five under his thus far.

 

Great summary, thanks. Though I honestly don't even remember who Cody or his father (Jim Brennan) is that Norman killed or the circumstances of that. On the death of Norma Bates, we can probably chalk that up to just Norman rather than Norman/Mother, no? Seems like "mother" only takes over for Norman when real mother isn't around. Which can be at any time now, but I think that murder/suicide attempt was actually Norman on his own, no?

 

Get your scorecard. Scorecards here. Can't tell the players without a scorecard.

 

I'm sure the showrunners want us to keep guessing on a few of the cases at least.

Cody was the "bad girl" Normal was hanging out with for awhile. She had dark hair and smoked and played loud music, etc. Norma (obviously) didn't like her. Cody had an abusive father and told Norman to stay out of it, but eventually Normal ends up in the house and the father confronts him and a scuffle ensues and the guy ends up dead at the bottom of a basement staircase.

The thing kind of smelled to me like maybe they originally wanted Cody on the show more but then changed their minds and quickly re-wrote a quick exit. Or they could have planned the whole thing all along. Cody's main story purpose is to be the one who blabs about Norman's blackouts.

 

Some corrections to my own post. Romero has eight deaths under his belt. Also, I forgot one obvious one for the Norman/Norma list: Blaire Watson.

 

I kind of wish Cody had stayed around a bit longer. She really could have created a lot of havoc between Norman and Norma.

The show has had several dead end story lines that seem to have gotten dropped or abandoned over the various seasons. One of the early ones was the guy runnning call girls out of the motel. He was there for 1 or 2 episodes and the gone.

 

Well, I predict that somehow Romero and Dylan will kill each other....and Norman will get away.

 

I was wondering if Norman could convince the cops that Romero was actually the serial killer, but events seem to have gone past that possibility.

 

Hmm...that still seems like a possible twist. Unless they read Chick's book in progress..

 

I could be wrong, but didn't that call girl thing somehow relate to Romero winding up in prison? It was some kind of perjury charge, right? I have horrible retention for TV shows and movies.

 

I believe Romero got busted for lying to investigators about not knowing Rebecca, the lady from the bank who had been laundering money for Bob Paris.

The DEA tried to scare Rebecca into turning on Romero, which she did by wearing a wire and trying to get more info from Romero during a meeting. Romero immediately knew it was a set up and said nothing.

But apparently they did have enough info to establish that he had known Rebecca, and simply lying about that was enough to get him on a perjury (or some other similar "false statements to investigators") charge. The investigators wanted to stick Romero will all sorts of other charges, but that was only one they could apparently make stick.

 

Sorry... I got confused... I thought his comment was about that big sex club that Bob Paris was behind, but it wasn't... I knew Paris was related to Romero going to prison, not someone running call girls out of the motel... my bad.

 

I know they imagined the show being something like Twin Peaks, with a whole world of crime lurking under the surface of the town, and the Bates Motel psychodrama (ahem) only being one part of it. I think their original vision was that there would be more short term storylines that would come about as a result of the motel (since new people would be coming in all the time), but I feel like they kind of lost interest in the motel as a setting as the show went on and things got more intense with Norman, although the crime drama remained part of the show through Dylan and Romero.

 

That stuff probably also went by the wayside once they decided, seemingly several years ago, that it would be five seasons and no more, and that they'd only have ten episodes per season.

The show's 50-episode run is essentially equivalent to two seasons of a typical network TV show. They got a ton of material into the show considering that. I think they could have easily gotten another season or two out of the show without it getting tired or old.

 

I thought it was a bit of a letdown compared to the previous few. But, that is almost to be expected. And they have a great job not tipping off the finale.

 

Well... They got Norman out of jail...

So it's likely he somehow escapes Romero's grasp and manages to kill or get others killed...

I can't believe Dylan chose Norman over his wife. Bad bad choice.

And I still think the idea that Romero would jeopardize an easy two year bit to come after Norman is kind of ridiculous.

 

Bates Motel = Ridiculous. But boy it sure has been "guilty pleasure to the hilt" entertaining.

 

Did anyone else find Emma's reaction unbelievable? Her hatred for Norman was just so over-the-top. As someone who cared deeply for him previously, who knows what's it's like to suffer from a debilitating illness and who had little love for her mother in the 1st place, I would expect some empathy from her. But not only is she totally pissed at him, she's pushing Dylan away and says they might not make it through this???

The scene where she visits him in lock-up seems much more realistic- recognizing that it's not the Norman she knew who could do such things.

The writers seemed to have altered Emma's personality this whole season. I guess being cured of a life-threatening condition, falling in love, getting married and having a baby changes a woman's disposition from sweet and loving to bitchy???

I love this show and the writing has been excellent, but they dropped the ball on her imo.

 

I can't believe Emma put him in the position to have to make that choice. OK- she just found out she lost her mother, but he just found out he lost his mother too. His brother is a monster, but he is someone Dylan knows to be sweet and loving at his core. Dylan understands it is the disease that is the monster and feels empathy and sorrow for his brother's condition. Norman is completely alone, struggling with a powerful mental disease. He should just abandon him?

It is an impossible choice- one he should not have to make- and I think Dylan shows real character in choosing the road that sacrifices his own happiness in an attempt to mitigate another's suffering. All Dylan wants is for Norman to not be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison; he wants him in a mental institution, where he belongs.

I've felt all along that Dylan and Emma were the noble characters that contrasted with all the other deeply flawed characters in the show. But now the writer's have removed Emma and Dylan stands alone as the character w/ character.