Alice Rush reviews the season 2 finale of Bates Motel…
The finale of season 2 of Bates Motel has me very torn. On one hand I’m frustrated at the lack of drama and tension that seems to have characterised most of this season. For a thriller style show there seems to be a deficiency of thrills as well as a lack of care when handling the surrounding context of the show. My frustrations throughout this season were once again echoed in the finale, as whilst I thought that the actors have fantastic performances and there were some nice moments, it all lacked a little drama for me. On the other hand I think the way the writing team have carefully planned Norman’s descent into madness is commendable. I’m still a little confused as to how I truly feel about this season.
One storyline that was nicely cleaned up this week was that of the rivalry between Zane and Jodie. After Dylan killed Nick Ford last week the only other psychotic drug dealer left in town was Zane, and Romero was keen to nip that in the bud. After getting him to meet Jodie on the premise that she intended to let him kill Dylan, Romero instead instigated a shootout at her house, killing Zane but not before he killed Jodie. With brother and sister gone Romero places the power of the business with Dylan, as, let’s be honest, he’s pretty much the most decent and moral character the show has (apart from Emma). It will be interesting to see if he changes at all in season three with this new power, and I must admit I think his personal character development over this season has been great.
Obviously though the big elephant in the room this week is Norman remembering he killed Miss Watson. Dylan and Romero find him in the box and bring him home, where he tries to tell Norman what he remembered, but she is scared to believe him especially with Romero pressing for a lie detector test. Panicking, she books three tickets to Montreal and implores Dylan to run away with them. It’s a touching moment when Dylan realises how much she truly loves him and Norma makes amends for how she has treated him over the years. However, with Dylan being much more level headed than her, he insists that they stay and face the music, hoping that at least Norman will be able to get help for his condition.
Also acting seemingly level headed, Norman writes himself a list of things he wants to sort out, including cleaning his taxidermy things away, making amends with Emma and spending quality time with Norma. It’s all a little too calm though, and as he leaves what looks like a goodbye note on Norma’s bed it seems his plan is to kill himself. Obviously with a third season commissioned the main character isn’t going to be killed off (this isn’t Game of Thrones) and Norma pleads with him to take the test, telling him the truth about what happened to his father in return for him handing over the gun. Whilst it seems that this confession may have done the trick of calming Norman down, the end of the episode reveals the true psychological consequences that Norma’s lies have on him. Played brilliantly by Freddy Highmore, as Norman takes the lie detector test he hallucinates Norma sat next to him, telling him that she killed Miss Watson. Here we see the beginning of Norman’s split personality as he comes to terms with his own actions by blaming them on Norma. As Norma did say to him before, they are the same person. The final scene is a complete homage to the end of Psycho, with Norman looking into the camera with cold, dark eyes and a slight smirk on his face. It might not be huge action, but it was a nice touch.
As I said before I’m in two minds about this episode. I thought the way they developed Norman’s psyche and showed it unravelling was fantastic and a great way to set up season three, however I still feel that the season lacked real drama. The possibilities it had seemed wasted, such as with Norma’s brother being in it for such a short amount of time, and the backstory of the drugs business just never felt exciting enough. It’s a shame as the premise of Bates Motel is so interesting, but unless in the next season they can realign the level of tension within the town to be at the same level as within the family, I can’t see it lasting much longer.
Alice Rush
Originally published May 8, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
