Yep, that was Bradley (Nicola Peltz) standing in the road as Norman (Freddie Highmore) chased his imaginary dog in last week’s episode of Bates Motel. Back in town after faking her own suicide, she tells Norman that her life has been a living hell since the last time she saw him. I don’t remember if we knew she wasn’t really dead; I think at the time I was just glad to see her gone.
Norman may also be a little unsure about the reality of the situation (considering he was just running after his dead dog) especially when she says, “I don’t want to be dead anymore, Norman. I want to come home.” The fact is, she really is back. Even though in episode nine, Crazy, it’s to stir up trouble and tempt Norman to run away with her, I’ve seen the season finale and I can tell you there’s a more significant reason for her return.
This hour, though, Norman hides her in a room at the motel and there’s a lot of familiar conversation between the two of them about his mother:
Norman: “I better get back to my mother.”
Bradley: “Why doesn’t she ever want you to leave the house?”
Norman: “She thinks there’s something wrong with me.”
The next exchange is significant because I’m not sure Norman has ever admitted that it’s not his mother who just believes there is something wrong with him:
Bradley: “Is there something wrong with you?”
Norman: “Yes.”
Later, when she tries to convince him to leave town with her, she pries for more information, “Is it (not leaving with her) because there’s something wrong with you?” If so, she wants to know what it is that’s wrong with him. He replies, “Some kind of neurological disorder. I black out sometimes.” This is in reference to how it might be dangerous for him to drive, not to how it might be dangerous for anyone who drives with him.
Regardless, Bradley tells him, “Remember when you tried to tell me you loved me? I was an idiot. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that now.” They kiss and she pulls him down on top of her on the bed. He gets as far as removing his shirt when he sees “slutty” Norma (Vera Farmiga) sitting in the room. That’s his cue to make a quick exit. Outside, he tells “slutty” Norma that he’s confused which then just really creates a set-up for next week’s episode:
“Slutty” Norma: “What do you want to do to that girl? I know what you want to do. We have a lot of trouble on our plate; we don’t need anymore.”
Norman: “Of course, Mother.”
Crazy is not one of the stronger episodes of the season, at least with Norman’s arc. The highlight is actually development of the relationship between Norma and Sheriff Romero (Nestor Carbonell). After some back and forth scenes between Norma and Bob Paris (Kevin Rahm), then Romero and Special Agent Liz Babbit, Norma breaks into Romero’s house looking for that damned flash drive.
After turning against her completely, Romero can’t help himself and begs one more time for Norma to tell him the truth about who killed her husband. She emotionally cries, “My son isn’t going to prison because some rich guy murdered two women.” Under pressure, she claims that she did it, but he doesn’t relent. “You know the truth,” she finally says, “Don’t make me say it. I hate you…”
But the tender kisses she allows him to give her don’t necessarily corroborate that statement. It’s a hot scene for the two characters, and the actors are great, especially Farmiga. We’ve been waiting a long time for the romantic cat and mouse game to conclude. But does it? As far as it progresses in this scene, we’re sort of left right back where we started. But Romero may have softened toward her, which may have implications for the season finale.
Meanwhile, Caleb (Kenny Johnson) confronts Chick (Ryan Hurst) about the disastrous gun running trip from last episode. “I want the $25,000 anyway,” he says, to which Chick answers, “You’ve got wit, I’ll give you that.” Never my favorite storyline, it basically culminates with Dylan (Max Thieriot) asking Caleb, “You’re not going to take off on me, are you?” Sigh. What do you think, Dylan. Of course he’s going to tell you he won’t, but…
Finally, I don’t know where he got it, because Chick didn’t act like he was going to give him the $25,000 for the botched delivery, but Dylan delivers Emma’s father $50,000 all shrink-wrapped in nice plastic packages. He’s got to promise that he won’t tell Emma (Olivia Cooke) where he got the money, though. There’s a sweet, funny, innocent encounter between Dylan and Emma in her bedroom. When are those two going to let their love fly?!? Maybe next week…
My favorite scene in the episode is when Norma is cleaning up the basement, throwing away all Norman’s taxidermy because she thinks it could incriminate him. For the first time, he turns the tables on her, “You know who really doesn’t look good in all this, Mother? All these things… It makes me wonder. How do I know it wasn’t you who killed my father?” That’s a good point that adds to the complexity of the characters and their relationships.
The viewers of Bates Motel, though, know what’s one day going to happen. One of the consistently best things about this show is that even though we know, it’s still incredibly compelling to watch and see how it’s going to get there.
