Episode seven of Bates Motel, season 4 (There’s No Place Like Home), is a transitional episode. There’s an awful lot of setup for the really good stuff it looks like is going to happen next week. That doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining or there isn’t good stuff here. It just means there’s a singular focus between an opening where Norman (Freddie Highmore) realizes his mother has gotten married without telling him, and an ending where Norman has manipulated his release from Pineview.
While using shredded pieces of newspaper to create a paper mache dog that resembles the stuffed one at home, Norman recognizes the front page picture of newlyweds Norma (Vera Farmiga) and Alex (Nestor Carbonell) at the “Lights of Winter” (episode four) carnival. Norman immediately calls his mother, and isn’t very happy when Alex answers the phone. When she gets on the line, he tells her, “I’m coming home.” After her hesitation, he asks, “Is there some reason I shouldn’t?”
Never mind that he hasn’t yet been discharged. He calmly tells the secretary, “I’d like to know the procedure for checking myself out,” then tells Dr. Edwards (Damon Gupton) that he’s willing to continue working with him on an outpatient basis. Edwards reminds him that his blackouts have actually increased, which Norman construes to mean he would be better off at home. Besides, he wants the medication he believes will take care of all his problems.
Dr. Edwards tries to discourage Norma from allowing it, but she tells him, “He has a right to check himself out. He’s not violent.” As Edwards points out, he didn’t use the word “violent.” “Would it help if I talked to him?” Oh, yes, Norma, it always helps when you talk to your son! She starts out pretty well during her visit, maintaining the doctor’s position: “I’m so proud of the work you’re doing. Real change takes time. You’ll be much stronger when you do come home.”
But Norman asks her, “Is this your idea or your husband’s? Don’t embarrass yourself by lying to me. Have you been sleeping with him?” I’m not sure what that has to do with Norman being released, but it certainly gives voice to his thoughts. “I did it for the insurance,” she explains, “It has to look real. I did it for you.” He counters, “Then prove it. Let me come home.” All it takes then is for Norman to turn on the waterworks. Norma hugs him tightly, “Of course you can come home. I’m sorry.”
Prior to his departure, Dr. Edwards shares a sincere moment with his patient, and there’s no doubt that this man is the best thing that could happen to Norman. “Are you scared to go home?” he asks. “No,” Norman replies, “the medication makes me calmer.” “Shouldn’t you be scared,” the doctor asks, to which Norman responds, “Don’t you think I might make more progress with the person who makes me feel complete?”
As viewers, we see the manipulation as plain as day, but the characters on the show do not. If you’re as naïve as they are, you’re not paying attention when Norman tells his “friend,” Julian that he’s not homesick, he’s going home. “I’m smart and I know how to get out of here.” That’s all it takes. You don’t have to be better so you can be discharged; you have only to be smart enough to make everyone else think you are.
From the moment Norma found happiness with Alex, it’s seemed inevitable that it isn’t going to last. The show has been putting Norman and Alex on a collision course. What’s going to happen when they’re living under the same roof? Alex may not think it’s a good idea, but Norma has done her fair share of manipulation with him, so he now thinks he can be a good father to the troubled teen. “You did what you thought was right,” he tells her. “I’m not a parent, you are.”
Until her fateful decision at Pineview, Norma is living in a fog of bliss, making curtains in the bedroom and jellies in the kitchen. Alex reveals his stash of cash in the basement and encourages her to use it. He even brings her a 60″ television as a gift so she can watch the old movies she enjoys so much. It’s all so fragile, though, and the weakness shows during a visit with Dylan when a discussion about Norman snaps her back into reality.
He tells her, “I think he has a violent side and he’s done things and he doesn’t know he’s done them.” Norma’s defense come up, “That’s a pretty liberal accusation based on a whole lot of nuthin’. You know Norman… He has so much empathy; he was probably trying to help out.” “Do what you gotta do,” Dylan shrugs. “I will,” she replies. Thinking it’s the last word, Dylan exits the room, “And I wouldn’t let him come home,” but Norma shouts after him at the top of her lungs, “I already said I wouldn’t!”
But of course she does. As Norman slowly dresses and the camera follows him from the halls of Pineview to an almost blinding world outside, it’s like a parade, minus only a cheering crowd acknowledging his triumphant feat. Arriving at the Bates house, Norma says, “Welcome home.” Sounding ungrateful, her son ironically says, “Thank you, Mother.” The camera rises up, stopping at the window where Norma’s mummified body will one day sit. There couldn’t be a more perfect set-up!
