Alice Rush reviews the season finale of the Psycho prequel series Bates Motel (warning – spoilers ahead)…
After 10 weeks we finally reach the conclusion of the first season of the contemporary Psycho prequel Bates Motel. This series has proven a hit with viewers and critics alike, and with a second season on the way, the finale ‘Midnight’ has a lot of excitement to live up to.
The episode was mainly concerned with Norma figuring out how to protect her family from Abernathy. She approaches Sheriff Romero and asks for his help, but not trusting him asks Dylan to get her a gun. Running alongside this storyline is Norman finding out about Dylan’s involvement with Bradley and him going to the Winter Ball Dance with Emma. Though at times the episode seemed rather domesticated for a finale, it was almost impressively formulaic in the way it tied up loose ends and introduced new plot points for the second season.
One of the main series arcs was finally brought to a close, with Sheriff Romero taking care of Abernathy for good, showing himself to be one of the good guys. Well, as close to a good guy as you can get in Bates Motel. With this plot point finished, the second season looks set to be concerned with the interrelations between the Bates family. Halfway through the episode Norma reveals, albeit arguably too suddenly, the truth about her incestuous family past and grows closer with Dylan, who in turn, due to his involvement with Bradley, pushes Norman towards his breaking point. And boy did he break.
The finale finally tied up the main question that the premise of the series looked to answer: how did Norman Bates become a Psycho? Throughout the series we have seen him embroiled within many different friendships and relationships with female characters, and this week is is yet again a female who brought out the true psycho within him. His teacher Ms Watson, who has been brewing in the background of many previous episodes, steps forward in ‘Midnight’ to play her part in the unravelling of Norman Bates’ psychological stability.
Her flirtatious relationship with Norman is brought to a head in this episode, with her taking him back to her house after he was left by Emma at the dance and punched by Bradley’s boyfriend. One of the most interesting aspects of Bates Motel has been the uncomfortable sexual tension between characters, as the show treads the lines of decency expertly in order to give the audience a better understanding of why the main characters are so messed up. As Ms Watson cleans his wounds and then undresses, knowing full well that Norman is watching, a vision of Norma appears to him, scolding her for being so brash and telling Norman he knows what he must do, and though we do not see it, the episode ends with Ms Watson lying on her floor with a slashed throat. There we have it, Norman Bates’ first female victim.
The transition of Norman’s character has been expertly shown throughout the whole series, with each teenage angst ridden freak-out organically turning into something altogether darker and much more malicious. Throughout the episode there was many shots that seemed very Hitchcockian, but it was the final shots of Norman and Norma climbing the stairs to their house as the camera panned to reveal to motel and neon sign quickly followed by the corpse of Ms Watson that provided striking images to end the series on and ensured that the audience sticks around for its second run.
Overall ‘Midnight’ seemed a fitting end to a series that has definitely touched upon moments of true television gold. It could have possibly been slightly faster paced, but the amount of detail and planning that has obviously gone into the narratives of each characters is enough to forgive this, especially with a second season on the way. There is definitely a lot of scope left for narrative possibilities with regards to the second season, and whilst this writer may have liked just a bit more excitement, the finale effectively solved what it set out to do in the first place and showed us just how Norman Bates became the true Psycho we know him to be. I very much look forward to seeing where they go from here.
Alice Rush
Originally published May 21, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
