This episode was a lot about being on the inside or outside (or feeling that way). Emma points out how close she's been with Norma, Norman, and Dylan when she asks what's going on (and later she notes that Norma won't like Cody), but Norman ends up telling Cody more than he does her. Dylan of course understands why he's been on the "outside" of the family his whole life, but I thought it was interesting that he hints at what Norman doesn't know about himself--something Norma confided in Dylan. I suppose you could also extend the inside/outside theme to Norma and White Pine Bay society. And, ultimately, Norman goes so inside he internalizes and becomes Norma.
"The truth" seems to be the dividing line for who's inside and who feels left out (who knows it and who doesn't) and also prevents people from seeing truth (in the case of Dylan). I thought this episode was really heart-wrenching all around (except for the nice contrast of Emma and Gunner, which is still mixed up in Emma's different view of her mortality).
I feel bad for both Norma AND Dylan. We've been living with the idea of what happened to Norma since the season one finale. But this is literally the day after Dylan's learned who Caleb really is. He's lived his life feeling excluded from this family without knowing why (and now we know why, although we might have guessed). He meets a family member he's never known about who confirms his view of his mother and is, as Dylan says, nicer to him than Norma generally is (this episode, when Norma's at her most tender, tucking Dylan in, he's passed out and doesn't witness her tenderness). He gets this bomb dropped on him, but when he sees Caleb again, after he says "You had sex with my mother," note that after that he says, "You MADE her have sex with you." Note also that this is the way that Norma first expressed things to Norman when she told him. Then there's this weird thing where Caleb is genuinely surprised to hear Dylan say he's his son and proclaims that it wasn't "exactly" like that, and Norma got pregnant by her high school boyfriend, whom she married. Dylan asks if he's calling his mother a liar, and Caleb says no. He gives him the money back, which indeed makes it at least seem like he wasn't grifting him.
Later when Norma asks to talk (something Dylan had asked to do before), it reads to Dylan like another instance of Norma thinking about herself as she asks him not to make things harder for her than they already are. She tells him to be strong and put it behind him, which is the Norma way of dealing with things. To be fair, it does feel here like she's not expressing how big a deal this is for him or not understanding why he can't "put it away" as she's had to do all these years. When Norma brings up that Caleb is a bad person and just wanted money, of course it's the perfect opportunity for Dylan to rationalize that he's not since he gave the money back (honestly, I'm still not sure why Caleb did or if this was partially his intent or if he just wanted to wash his hands of everything, surprised that Norma told and/or has a different way of seeing things).
In the final confrontation, Dylan does seem to be sticking with Caleb's version of the story to start, calling it Norma's "mess." She reiterates that she was raped, and he says Caleb has a different version. Norma says that's because Caleb didn't know; she never told anyone. And this is the moment when Dylan asks why she had him, which is heart-stopping. He lays out the theory that she "got knocked up" by Caleb (and this wording neither contests or affirms that he believes he raped her) and let her boyfriend think it was his so she could get out of the house (to escape her father or her father AND Caleb?). He feels he was used before he was even born; to him, this is behavior typical of Norma. In a phrase we've heard before during this episode, Norma says it "wasn't like that" and tearfully explains how young and powerless she was, and Dylan tears up too. I noticed that she's not denying the basic premise of what Dylan has said, just the idea of maliciously, selfishly using him. And of course that it was neither Dylan's fault nor hers. Dylan storms out, upset, before we know what he thinks now. Basically, I think he's fucked up and confused, and I get that.
So, yeah, it's a tragedy all around. I see them both as victims in this--Norma says it herself.
I feel like there are A LOT of scenes with Norma getting dressed and one of her sons walking in, hm?
Re: 2.04 Check-Out
This episode was a lot about being on the inside or outside (or feeling that way). Emma points out how close she's been with Norma, Norman, and Dylan when she asks what's going on (and later she notes that Norma won't like Cody), but Norman ends up telling Cody more than he does her. Dylan of course understands why he's been on the "outside" of the family his whole life, but I thought it was interesting that he hints at what Norman doesn't know about himself--something Norma confided in Dylan. I suppose you could also extend the inside/outside theme to Norma and White Pine Bay society. And, ultimately, Norman goes so inside he internalizes and becomes Norma.
"The truth" seems to be the dividing line for who's inside and who feels left out (who knows it and who doesn't) and also prevents people from seeing truth (in the case of Dylan). I thought this episode was really heart-wrenching all around (except for the nice contrast of Emma and Gunner, which is still mixed up in Emma's different view of her mortality).
I feel bad for both Norma AND Dylan. We've been living with the idea of what happened to Norma since the season one finale. But this is literally the day after Dylan's learned who Caleb really is. He's lived his life feeling excluded from this family without knowing why (and now we know why, although we might have guessed). He meets a family member he's never known about who confirms his view of his mother and is, as Dylan says, nicer to him than Norma generally is (this episode, when Norma's at her most tender, tucking Dylan in, he's passed out and doesn't witness her tenderness). He gets this bomb dropped on him, but when he sees Caleb again, after he says "You had sex with my mother," note that after that he says, "You MADE her have sex with you." Note also that this is the way that Norma first expressed things to Norman when she told him. Then there's this weird thing where Caleb is genuinely surprised to hear Dylan say he's his son and proclaims that it wasn't "exactly" like that, and Norma got pregnant by her high school boyfriend, whom she married. Dylan asks if he's calling his mother a liar, and Caleb says no. He gives him the money back, which indeed makes it at least seem like he wasn't grifting him.
Later when Norma asks to talk (something Dylan had asked to do before), it reads to Dylan like another instance of Norma thinking about herself as she asks him not to make things harder for her than they already are. She tells him to be strong and put it behind him, which is the Norma way of dealing with things. To be fair, it does feel here like she's not expressing how big a deal this is for him or not understanding why he can't "put it away" as she's had to do all these years. When Norma brings up that Caleb is a bad person and just wanted money, of course it's the perfect opportunity for Dylan to rationalize that he's not since he gave the money back (honestly, I'm still not sure why Caleb did or if this was partially his intent or if he just wanted to wash his hands of everything, surprised that Norma told and/or has a different way of seeing things).
In the final confrontation, Dylan does seem to be sticking with Caleb's version of the story to start, calling it Norma's "mess." She reiterates that she was raped, and he says Caleb has a different version. Norma says that's because Caleb didn't know; she never told anyone. And this is the moment when Dylan asks why she had him, which is heart-stopping. He lays out the theory that she "got knocked up" by Caleb (and this wording neither contests or affirms that he believes he raped her) and let her boyfriend think it was his so she could get out of the house (to escape her father or her father AND Caleb?). He feels he was used before he was even born; to him, this is behavior typical of Norma. In a phrase we've heard before during this episode, Norma says it "wasn't like that" and tearfully explains how young and powerless she was, and Dylan tears up too. I noticed that she's not denying the basic premise of what Dylan has said, just the idea of maliciously, selfishly using him. And of course that it was neither Dylan's fault nor hers. Dylan storms out, upset, before we know what he thinks now. Basically, I think he's fucked up and confused, and I get that.
So, yeah, it's a tragedy all around. I see them both as victims in this--Norma says it herself.
I feel like there are A LOT of scenes with Norma getting dressed and one of her sons walking in, hm?
Katy Perry's "Roar": priceless.