Bates Motel: Episode 6 Recap

‘Norma Louise’ was an episode that had been a long time coming for fans of Bates Motel.

When the show debuted on television back in 2013 Norman Bates was a shy teenage boy who adored his mother and would let nothing come between them. Now, the tide has turned!

After the revelation that Caleb had been living in White Pine Bay, Norma threw something that was just a little more than a hissy fit when she packed her suitcase and left her sons to fend for themselves after feeling betrayed. Now, this week, in what was a homage to the original Psycho movie, the unbalanced and clingy single parent saw fit to trade in her old identity by swapping her damaged 1972 Mercedez for a new one and purchasing new attire very much unlike what we have seen her wear in the past. What she did not realise, however, were the burning bright lights of a car not far behind her as she was being followed by one of Bob Paris’ associates.

After being shot earlier while taking groceries to his car, Sheriff Romero was more or less confined to a hospital bed. After leaving a voicemail message on Norma’s cell phone  telling her to watch her back, Marcus Young appeared, giving Romero an ultimatum: He either worked for him and let him become the new Sheriff of White Pine Bay in exchange for protection against Bob Paris. Or he will find his life in constant danger.  But, falling to ignorance, Young’s life went out with a bang as Romero appeared right beside him in the hospital car park,  gown and all,  letting rip with gun shots on Young’s soon to be corpse. Not letting no bullet stop him, Romero sped away in Young’s vehicle, pushing his dead body to one side. Is he going in pursuit of Norma? And will he rescue her in time before anything bad happens to her?

That same night, Norma found herself in a bar being hit on by a guy obviously after just one thing. When the two were in the guy’s truck and things looked to be getting heavy she opened her door and got out, quickly getting into her own car. After she was left on her own she found a phone box, calling shrink James Finnigan. Taking up his invitation she showed up at his house, unaware that she was still being followed, and leaked a small tidbit of information that Norman was, in fact, the cause of her former husband’s death. She began to freak out but Finnigan whisked her off her feet and bought her back into his house after attempting to flee. The two began kissing, and while the psychologist tried to maintain a patient/psychiatrist type of relationship by breaking it off, eventually he gave way and the two ended up in bed together.

Dylan and Emma found themselves confronted by unusual circumstances when Norman had another black out, staring deathly straight ahead into nothingness. The two try to bring Norman round but to no avail. As they discuss Norman’s welfare the two seemingly became closer. What will this mean for Norman and Emma’s relationship?

The hallucinations just keep getting worse for Norman. When he had a frightening vision of the walls in his bedroom  terrifyingly collapse around him that seemed to be the breaking point! The next morning Dylan awoke to the sound of pots banging in the kitchen. Perhaps thinking that Norma had arrived home after cooling down, the surreal sight of his brother clothed in her dressing gown came as…well, just a bit of a shock! Speaking in an eerie high tone voice, Norman, now Norma, asked Dylan to wake his brother for breakfast. Not knowing what to do, “Norma” was left to do as she pleased.

Later, blacking out once more, Norman was found lying in Norma’s bed asleep. His despondent brother laid next to him, not knowing what to do, in what was an emotionally touching scene.

After waking up in Finnigan’s bed, the realisation that a return to the Bates Motel was imminent for Norma. After arriving home she found both of his sons sleeping in her bed and abruptly woke them, telling them that she is willing to talk to her brother, even if he did rape her. After finding Caleb in his camper van, Norma’s estranged brother collapsed to his knees, wrapping his arms around Norma’s legs and continually told her of his sorrow.

While this gave hope to Dylan that things can fix themselves within the family in time, the guise of Norman was one of simmering anger once again.

‘Norma Louise’ certainly gave followers of the show something they had been waiting for, but one has to wonder how long it will be before we see another moment like that given the return of Norma. The whole justification for what happened in that kitchen was due to the abscence of Norman’s mother, the same justification that was used when Norma met her demise before the events of Psycho.

Still, Bates Motel has a lot of explaining left to do, primarily to tell how Norman’s alter ego became violent and eventually bloodthirsty. With Norman’s anger simmering, could it be that his anger will somehow be incorporated into “mother”?

Keep watching on A&E at 9/8c to find out more!

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