Alice Rush reviews the sixth episode of Bates Motel season 2…
Bates Motel seems to follow a slight pattern week to week, in that, for the majority, each episode is quite domestic with a few interesting progressions here and there, and then in the last 20 seconds something huge happens. This week’s episode was quite domestic, almost boring, until the golden last 20 seconds.
Beginning with Dylan, this week he moved in with Zane’s sister who it seems has taken a shine to him. She passes on the managerial running duties of the business to him with the promise that Zane won’t officially find out, opens up about her family’s history and then sleeps with him, whilst insisting that it isn’t “personal”. For a character who has just been introduced she already seems like an interesting presence and very different to the brutes we are used to Dylan working with. There is something a little untrustworthy about her, and I’m sure this relationship she’s struck up with Dylan will have repercussions for the rest of the business.
Also moving up in the world is Norma who decides, with a little persuasion from Christine and George, to run for city council now there is a free seat after Lee Berman’s suspicious death, of which Nick Ford seems to have had a hand in. After meeting with the Mayor she is told the seat is hers, much to her delight. Happiness never lasts long in Bates Motel, however, and it seems her dealings with Nick Ford are going to haunt her decisions as city councillor, as everyone in the town vies for more influence and power.
Norman has quite a traumatic experience this week and his psyche seems to be unravelling more and more with every passing episode. It seems he’s being pulled in many different directions; on one hand he enjoys spending time with Cody and her free spirit, but at the same time he cares, almost too deeply, about Norma and doesn’t want to upset her. He’s caught between wanting to lead a normal teenage life and wanting to look after his mother, and of course his sporadic blackouts aren’t helping, and they take their toll this week. After a four way cliff diving date with Emma, Cody and Gunnar, Emma’s drug dealing romance, Norman lashes out at Cody because Emma was hurt. Prior to this he nearly had another blackout in Cody’s house as they hid from her aggressive father, and this all proves too much for Cody who tells Emma about the blackouts. Emma in turn tells Norma who prevents Norman from getting a driver’s license. Whilst the decisions Norma makes for Norman are more often than not for his own safety, as well as those around him, Norman sees it as mollycoddling, which is obviously a subtle undercurrent in all of her decisions.
Angry at the women in his life for betraying him (starting to see his psychotic obsessions coming through) he storms round to Cody’s and in a scuffle with her father accidently pushes him down the stairs, breaking his neck. That, of course, was the golden 20 seconds.
One of the downfalls of this series is that often it becomes a bit stale and repetitive and so to inject some excitement it randomly throws up a big event, such as Norma’s brother arriving or Bradley leaving town. Whilst it’s great that the show keeps its viewers on their toes more often than not these huge events are never fully explored or the repercussions felt. In fact, they are almost forgotten, as with Norma’s brother who has not been mentioned for a few episodes now. It’s all very well to have exciting plot points but if they are not followed up properly they just feel like gimmicks to keep the show ticking over until the time comes when Norman goes full on psycho, which, let’s be honest, is what the viewers and even the writers are most looking forward to. There is definitely praise available for the character development of the Bates’ family and for building such an extensive backstory, but when this means the storylines for the supporting cast suffer the show feels a little disjointed.
Hopefully next week’s episode will dive head first into dealing with the bubbling tension between Norman and Norma, as well as ramping up the excitement with regards to Dylan and the business. Hopefully.
Alice Rush
Originally published April 9, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
