Meltdown

Last week saw Norman’s sanity deteriorate considerably, with our hero barely hanging on to what little he has remaining. Norma is deeply concerned at his worsened state, and while this week sees Norman put on a good act, where everything appears to be fine and dandy, on the surface at least, his behaviour is actually more disconcerting because we know what’s really bubbling just beneath the surface.

Norma can’t stand the fact she no longer has the same grip she once had over her son, and her cloying affections are having little or no effect, but whatever this big secret is she’s keeping from Norman, that could explain why he behaves the way he does, and why he takes those blackouts, must really be something big.

Bates Motel
Created by
Anthony Cipriano
Cast
Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot
Episode Release Date
21 April 2014
Ed’s Grade: B+

Sheriff Romero is clearly bothered that Norman had sex with Blaire Watson, and the fact he was particularly annoyed at the deputy for sending Norman’s DNA away for analysis I find curious. Why would his deputy simply doing her job bother Romero so much, unless he’s protecting someone? There could be a couple of possibilities for his reaction.

He could be protecting Norman, but I can’t see him doing that unless he really has the hots for Norma. He could be protecting the memory of the murdered teacher, which is my favorite theory, as Blaire was known to be a woman who enjoyed the company of men. Lots of men. The only other reason I can think of is that Romero didn’t much like Kyle Miller so was unconcerned if he was convicted of her murder, which we learn in this episode is just what happens to Miller.

On a number of occasions during the episode, Romero tries to confront Norman about what happened between he and Blaire Watson, and he even gives Norman a way out, by telling him Kyle was found guilty of the murder, and that Norman’s semen was found on the body, but he’d understand if Norman only wanted to keep having sex with his teacher a secret from his mother. Norman was too busy denying anything happened, but he also told the Sheriff it was impossible. This means that Norman not only can’t remember what happened, which we already know about, but you have to wonder if Norman performed necrophilia on the corpse. This wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest, and may also account for why Norman doesn’t remember. Perhaps he doesn’t want to remember!


Norma finally agrees to a date with George, who cooks a meal at his home for them to share, but after George asks Norma a question about which college she attended and Norma gets caught out in a lie, Norma blurts out how she never went to college and barely finished school. Basically telling George she felt she had to lie to give the illusion she was intellectually as good as them. She eventually storms out but you could tell she was worried about Norman the entire time she was out.

When Norma arrives back at the house she finds Norman watching a movie. She tells him she missed him but Norman remains distant which upsets her. When she confronts him about his behaviour, he becomes very angry, ordering her not to follow him to his bedroom. “Leave me alone. You stay out here, alone.” Norma tries to enter his room but Norman has locked the door. Norma finally throws a fit, battering on the door, screaming, then calmly tells Norman; “you wanna be alone? Fine, you be alone.” Norma returns to a startled George, where she discards her undies and has sex with him.

Dylan has been ordered by Nick Ford to kill Zane, and Nick uses veiled threats about hurting Dylan’s family. At this point Dylan doesn’t know where Zane is, with even Romero threatening Dylan over the massacre caused by Zane when he attacked Nick’s place. I’m not entirely sure why Romero wants Zane so badly, because it seems a bit extreme for it just to be about his house being burned to the ground. Dylan eventually visits Jodi, who initially tells Dylan to leave, but when Dylan becomes resolute about putting a stop to Zane, Jodi stuns both Dylan and myself by basically giving him the okay to take care of Zane!

TV Recap by Lead Entertainment Writer, Ed Blackadder