The Obsessive Viewer

Norman had a pretty good week. Norma had a couple sleepless nights with the promise of more to come. Emma was suspiciously out sick with the flu. And Dylan spent a couple days off work being a good wingman. Read on for my thoughts on this week’s episode. (SPOILERS AHEAD…)

I watched this week’s Bates Motel after receiving the happy news that the show has been renewed for a second season. I don’t think I liked “Trust Me” as much as I enjoyed last week’s episode. That’s not to say it was bad or anything. It was a good episode. I was kind of hoping it would dive more into whether Norman hallucinated the girl or not. But I’m satisfied with the amount of screen time it got.

It’s hard telling whether Norman imagined the girl or if Shelby is onto him. It could really go either way, especially considering the girl asked for help on English. I feel like that may be an important piece of information that is easily overlooked. Whatever the case may be, this development retroactively fixed my one issue with the pilot episode. I didn’t like that it ended so ambiguously. But now I’m on board with the mystery of whether she’s a byproduct of Norman’s instability or evidence of Shelby’s insanity.

My coworker and I were discussing the possibility that Dylan is a figment of Norman’s imagination maybe he’s a split personality. I think there’s some Internet chatter about that too. But I think it would be a hard sell. If handled right, it would make for a great season finale. But I feel like they’ve shown too much of Dylan for him to be a Norman Bates alternate personality. Most notably is Dylan’s scene in the strip club and the fact that he has his pot-guarding job in general. Really, though, I don’t want that to be the case because I’d feel compelled to rewatch the season and I have too much TV on my plate to do that.

I must say, Norman Bates initiating a booty call and actually getting laid is a strange sight. But Bates Motel isn’t Psycho so it doesn’t bother me. Freddie Highmore is really likeable in this role of a hatching monster, so I’m rooting for him. Instead of a clichéd love triangle with him, Bradley and Emma, I’d prefer they use this development to showcase more of Norman’s deep seeded emotional issues and hidden psychopathy. They could really have fun with the dynamic they’ve set up.

Deputy Shelby remains an interesting ally in the effort to cover up the big pilot episode murder. If Norma’s wrong and he is involved in the human trafficking (which I think is the case), I’m sure he doesn’t like Dylan presumably snooping around.

I’m not sure how I feel about Emma supposedly having the flu. It seems like their setting up some character development for her but it played out like she was written out of the episode because the actress broke her leg or was renegotiating her contract. Hopefully it pays off because Emma’s absence was felt.

I didn’t watch the previews for next week and I won’t watch them anymore his season. I watched them last week and went into this episode with expectations of another “Norman Bates mental state.” Instead we got a good plot advancing episode. I’m really hoping for more Nester Carbonell in next week’s episode. Given Norma’s arrest, I think that’s a safe bet.

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Previous Episode Reviews:

Bates Motel – 101 – “First You Dream, Then You Die”

Bates Motel – 102 – “Nice Town You Picked, Norma…”

Bates Motel – 103 – “What’s Wrong with Norman”