The main plot of this week's Bates Motel concerns the man in number nine continuing to torment Norma. Norma is planning on moving, but Norman wants to stay because he's developing more relationships with people at school. Norma is planning on moving far away from the Bates Motel but she is told that there is no value to her property. Norman has a strange dream about drowning Bradley. Then, at the end of the episode, the man in number nine tells Norma that if she does not give him the money that that he is owed from the previous owner of the Bates Motel, he will kill her and her kids.
Let's talk about the man in number nine first. He is obviously a very dangerous individual and could very easily hurt Norma. He enjoys playing these mind games with her, and to me seems like a very sick individual. The more I see of him, the more I doubt he is the one that was killing people at the beginning of the series. He is obviously connected with the previous owner of the motel and to the mysterious girl from the first few episodes. I don't think all will be explained in the last episode of the season, I am guessing that this story arc will continue into season two. However, it is a very interesting and suspenseful story arc, and I am enjoying it more than the previous one.
On to Norma planning on moving away. I am pretty sure that this is not going to happen, even before they told her that there was no value to the property. I do like that fact that she doesn't want to be there, though. The fact that she has to stay there and is continuing to be tormented by the man in number nine could create major bitterness in her, and a hostile environment for Norman. In the original Psycho movies, we are told that he grew up in a very hostile environment. When that environment is created in the show, that will tell me that they are one step closer to showing Norman go full psycho. I am interested to see how Norma will react to having to stay in a place she doesn't want to be, and I am enjoying the fact that the mood of the show is becoming more in line with the original film.
Finally, Norman's strange dream. He has a dream about choking and drowning Bradley. If you remember from the last few episodes, there is a sort of bitterness between them after she told him that she didn't want to go out with him. I remember watching that episode and thinking "oh man, he is going to kill her." To me it really looked like he was about ready to just murder her. Not in the he's so mad he could choke her kind of kill, but actually murder her just because he is insane. To me this dream shows that he actually wants to kill her and I also think that he is growing more and more insane. That was some very interesting character development, and I am excited to see how they follow up on it.
So this week was an entertaining, interesting episode and sets up what looks to be a very exciting season finale. I am really enjoying this series, and this week delivered another winner. It had some very interesting character development and some very cool plot points. There was some character development between Norman and his teacher but it wasn't enough to talk about here. I enjoyed this episode and I'm very excited for the season finale!
What did you think of this week's Bates Motel? Sound off below, and let me know!