Bates Motel: Primer and Homebase

[eevilalice]

Welcome to the homebase for the A&E series, Bates Motel. Each week you'll find a thread for the newest episode, so we can discuss its twists and horrors together.

First, a primer.


Bates Motel is a modern day prequel to Hitchcock's Psycho, centering on Norman and his mother, Norma, as they move to the titular motel in a coastal Oregon town. Norma is hoping for a new start for herself and Norman after her husband's death, and buying and running the run-down motel is her plan. Of course, there are plenty of unforeseen complications, especially since the town has a touch of Twin Peaks strangeness and corruption to it.

I know what you're thinking. A Psycho prequel? Really? Two things should convince you to give the show a shot: its pedigree and its cast. Among others, the series is (executive) produced by Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights). It both builds intrigue and mysteries while creating complex characters. And then it scares the crap out of you.

Cast/Characters (As of Season 2)

Vera Farmiga plays Norma Bates.



She's high-strung, cloying, yet honestly put-upon and sincerely caring. She's smart but vulnerable at times. You may not be able to stand her at all, and you may deeply sympathize with her, all within one episode.

Freddie Highmore plays Norman Bates.



Like Norma, you might feel sorry for Norman or be terrified or horribly creeped out by him in the space of a breath. Often he's simply a normal teenage boy by all appearances, crushing on girls, wanting his own space, sneaking out late at night. Buuut then there's the blackouts and weird stuff he keeps under his bed...

Max Thieriot plays Dylan Massett.



Dylan is Norma's other, older son, and Norman's half-brother. He's more of an outsider, and drifts into town and into their lives against Norma's wishes. He clashes with the family, especially when he urges Norman to live his own life, but he proves indispensable, too.

Olivia Cooke plays Emma Decody.



Emma is a smart, inquisitive girl in Norman's class who quickly develops an interest in him. She has cystic fibrosis and sees Norman's own strange health issues and outsider-y status as something akin to hers.

Nestor Carbonell plays Sheriff Alex Romero.



As sheriff, Romero and Norma butt heads as she struggles to accomplish what she wants with the motel and deals with, er, other complications. Given the town's penchant for ongoing shady activities, Romero is someone who is tough to read.


You can stream Season 1 episodes on Netflix, Amazon, and at the A&E site.

The second season begins Monday, March 3rd! Episodes air at 9/8c 10/9c.

Comments

Re: 2.03 Caleb

[selenak]

It says something about this show that when we meet new characters who are nice to Norma and Norman respectively, we immediately have to wonder what their sinister secret and agenda will be. Mind you, my current guess is that redheaded stagehand with gay pal who was nice to Norman might just be a normal teenager, whereas Christine the redheaded former casting director of the community theatre clearly is living really well with her husband, which in this town translates as: is involved with the drug business. So I'm assuming the other shoe will drop soon, though poor Norma, she was so delighted to be befriended by her. Jury is still out on Vaughn Vartan's character, if only because the last few men hitting on Norma were villains, so surely the show wouldn't do this to her again?

Never mind the people who were nice to two third of the leading family, though, because the big sinister guest star wasn't any of them. They cast Norma's brother Caleb really well, because not only was there physical similarity to Dylan but the actor was very good at the hail-fellow-well-met bluff harmlessness projection that guaranteed Dylan would believe him and want him as a family member. He also, like the best liars, used a truth - their father used to beat Norma and Caleb - to make Dylan swallow the lie (that this was the reason why Norma reacted to Caleb's arrival with such horror). I had expected Caleb to draw Dylan in but I hadn't expected the literal con at the same time (i.e. that money for "a hotel in Puerto Rico"), which explains why he shows up at all. (And the timing couldn't be worse. However this ends up, Dylan is now newly out of cash and the prospects he'll be able to quit his job in the rapidly escalating drug war are now less than zero.) By the way, I had speculated about the final revelation before, but when Norma the first time Dylan asked her about her brother didn't tell him anything (which btw was a heartrendering scene, both for the way he was practically pleading to be trusted with what was going on inside her and for the knowledge why she couldn't), I was sure. It didn't make the scene when the truth did come out less devastating. Starting with the fact Dylan doesn't believe Norma and accuses her of lying to him in order to hurt him. Not that Norma isn't a liar on occasion, but her lies are usually designed to cover up horrors, to pretend things are better than they actually are. Her biggest lies, as Dylan has reason to know, are also to protect people. It occurs to me that her previous silence about her brother, the rapes and who really fathered Dylan even when relations between her and Dylan were at their worst and he called her a whore in the past are a parallel to her silence about Norman having killed his father even when both Norman and Dylan basically accused her of doing it.

Norman coming in the middle of the Dylan-Norma argument makes everything worse, of course, though then again: the Norman/Dylan fight escalated things to the point where Norma in order to separate them screams out the rest of the secret, and at this point I don't think anyone will be in denial any more. I also felt tremendously sorry for the three of them in their dysfunctional love for each other and brokenness.

Minor other plot points:

- if Nick Ford is Miss Watson's father, was Blair Watson her married name then? or was she illegitimate?
- was there even a Mr. Masset or did Norma just pretend there had been pre-marrying Sam Bates?
- poor Emma. Also, Emma is such a real character, and the teenagers on this show, other than looking far better (and older) than actual teenagers, are pretty realistic too. Feeling guilty about Bradley's supposed suicide precisely because they weren't friends and Emma was jealous, and trying to organize a memorial get together which inevitably becomes a beach party is just what would happen.
- how DOES one stop an escalating drug war where each side is convinced the other started it and both have killed too many to even care if they find out otherwise?
- Michael Vartan was pretty one note for the most part of Alias, but he does pull off the charming stranger bit here.

Re: 2.03 Caleb

[eevilalice]

It really is something that, even though I suspected that Caleb was going to turn out to be Dylan's father and that suspicion only grew stronger as the episode went on, the reveal at the end was still huge. And yeah, I felt bad for them, Dylan and Norma especially. It explains so much for Dylan but in no way resolves anything. And I felt bad for Norma when Dylan won't believe her about the rapes, though there's a look in his eye where I wondered if maybe he kind of did believe but was in denial. Dylan is a savvy character but in this instance gets caught up in the web of emotions tied to his family and wanting to move on at the same time.

I also wondered about Dylan's supposed father. My guess is that there was a Mr.Masset, but I can't remember if something was said about him last season.

I could not even remember who Nick Ford was when I saw him. I just knew I recognized him!

I love Emma, too, and was glad to see pot brownie boy again, lol. I look forward to getting to know this new girl and what her deal with her dad is (that seemed weird).

How lovely did Norma/Vera look in that dress with the pink shawl? And the whole time I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, too. Like you, I wouldn't be surprised if her new friend was involved with the drug trade, especially given that one particular guest at the end, but I also thought about something that might be linked to the bypass? I don't know.

I only enjoyed Vartan as Vaughn when Vaughn occasionally went "dark," so I wouldn't mind that. :) At the same time, it would be nice if Norma had a break. But then it wouldn't be Bates Motel.

Re: 2.03 Caleb

[selenak]

It explains so much for Dylan but in no way resolves anything.

Yes indeed. Norma must have been, what, 17 when she had him, coming directly from a home with a brutal father and a rapist brother; no good odds for balanced motherhood even without the additional factor that Dylan was the product of that abuse. It explains to him why she was different with Norman - who had a different father, came to be by her choice, and whom she had when she was older - but as you said, it doesn't resolve anything. I'm also reminded of one of the earliest s1 episodes, it might even have been Dylan's introduction episode, where he taunts her about Norman and she defends herself and says "we love each other; this is normal, this is how a mother and son should be, not this", i.e. her and Dylan, but of course both of her relationships with her sons are screwed up, and Norma has never experienced anything "normal" to compare them to, and yet they're all three trying so hard.

And I felt bad for Norma when Dylan won't believe her about the rapes, though there's a look in his eye where I wondered if maybe he kind of did believe but was in denial.

Not to be believed about something as major as this has to be every abuse victims worst nightmare (and of course confirms a life long habit of not telling anyone for Norma). I think the problem for Dylan was twofold: both because Caleb had seemed to him like the relation he always wanted, someone who wants similar things, who understands, and because he identified with him (behold, someone else whom Norma has run away from without leaving a forwarding address! And one of Dylan's reasons for showing up in her house had been because he was broke, let's recall). And with Norma and her sons, there is always a certain subtext. So in addition to everything else, for her to make that accusation about a man he identifies with was probably like some nightmare about his own subconsious goings on getting ripped open. So it couldn't be true. Presumably he would have believed her if she'd told him the first time he asked, but I can understand why she didn't. She told Norman only on an evening where she thought she might die, and then her brother was far away and not at her doorstep. In addition to everything else, she had to be scared as hell.

I also wondered about Dylan's supposed father. My guess is that there was a Mr.Masset, but I can't remember if something was said about him last season.

Me neither, other than Dylan accusing Norma of leaving his father for Sam Bates. But depending on when she's supposed to have done that, he might simply assume as opposed to remember. I mean, I can see a panicked pregnant Norma marrying the first guy who came along and seemed likeable just in order to get away from home in a way that would make it impossible for her father and brother to take her back... only then later to find out that the marriage doesn't work. But I can also see Norma leaving town on her own, arrive somewhere else with a baby and a new name and pretend to be a divorced woman. What makes me assume there was a Mr. Masset is that Dylan obviously had no curiosity about who his father might be; he must have been sure he knew.

How lovely did Norma/Vera look in that dress with the pink shawl?

Very. They dress her in this 50s/early 60s type clothes which is a great homage to Psycho as well as fitting the character and the actress superbly.

It occurs to me that since Nick Ford heads one of the two major drug operations in town - presumably the one Dylan ISN'T working for - there'll be a connection between those storylines soon. Unfortunately, I also suspect Caleb must have deduced there is one likely reason why Dylan had that much money available and decides to stay and work for the local drug trade as well, just because that's the worst case scenario for the family. And then it's an open guess as to tries to kill him first.

Re: 2.03 Caleb

[selenak]

...and now I've googled for reviews in general about this episode and saw a lot which were uncertain whether Norma was telling the truth or was lying as Dylan accused her to. Which - what? My explanation for this sadly is the kneejerk rape culture reaction that the "hysterical woman" must be a liar. (Sidenote: reaction on the part of the audience, I mean, not on Dylan's part because Dylan's reaction has a whole lot of other factors.) The show had established this part of Norma's backstory before in the s1 finale (and now that I think of it, perhaps precisely so the audience would know), in a situation where Dylan or her brother weren't anywhere nearby, so the motive which the reviewers and Dylan assume she has for lying doesn't apply. Also,as I said before: yes, Norma is quite ready to lie at times, and yes, she's a manipulator. But usually not both at the same time. When she's being manipulative with Norman (most recent example: when she wanted him to audition for the musical with her), she uses true emotion to pressure him (the fact she's scared). Whereas when she lies, her lies are usually to cover bad things up (most recent example: asking her gynacologist about "her sister" having blackouts; other good examples include all the lies to Sheriff Romero about the rapist whom she killed, the classic didn't see him, nothing happened, or her lies to the therapist she very briefly saw last season about how lovely her childhood was. Norma's lies are all about how something is better (or didn't happen at all) than it actually is. She's the queen of denial, not of spreading gloom. When did we ever see/hear her lie about something being worse than it actually was/is?

In conclusion, I'm really confused by "if Norma isn't lying again" reactions on this particular issue.

Re: 2.03 Caleb

[eevilalice]

Oh ugh. I'm totally with you. As you say, beyond the awfulness of questioning (not to mention, we've also seen her raped on the show in the very first episode!), I think it's poor reading to assume she's lying. It honestly didn't even occur to me. I suppose the fact that she told Norman about it when she thought she was going to die made it clear to me that she wasn't making it up. And say she was lying then; what was her motivation?

All the points you bring up make sense too, especially the therapist. I also think about her scar and the way she touches it in this episode.

Norma's actually not a good liar, and when she's being manipulative, we can see right through it, and so does Dylan (and even Norman). When you watch that scene in the kitchen at the end of this episode, there's nothing but honest emotion, and I think it kills Norma to have to say what she does.

The only alternative I can imagine others might be suggesting here, is if it was consensual incest and she's ashamed. But I still don't buy that for all the reasons we've discussed.

Re: 2.03 Caleb

[selenak]

It never occured to me, either, before reading those reviews, so the third time I came across it I was fuming and had to vent here!

Norma's actually not a good liar, and when she's being manipulative, we can see right through it, and so does Dylan (and even Norman).

Yes. That's why Romero suspected her from the start re: the guy she killed (but also why he knew she didn't make the threat by Abernathy up). I think the most successful major lie we've seen Norma pull off was covering up what happened to her husband, and that one wasn't believed by Dylan (though he came to the wrong conclusion regarding her reason for lying at first), and Norman only half bought it. Otherwise, she's only succesfully lying when people don't know her, and even then - I doubt, for example, that the gynacalogist bought the "oh, I'm talking about my sister" excuse.

When you watch that scene in the kitchen at the end of this episode, there's nothing but honest emotion, and I think it kills Norma to have to say what she does.

Everyone is so raw in that scene. And it's so clear she never ever wanted Dylan to know.


The only alternative I can imagine others might be suggesting here, is if it was consensual incest and she's ashamed. But I still don't buy that for all the reasons we've discussed.

*nods* I could see Norma being ashamed of a backstory of consensual incest, too, but then she wouldn't have responded with such stark fear and horror when she saw her brother in the kitchen.

Incidentally, I think some people also assume that rape is only rape if you fight back and literally have to be held down all the time. Whereas especially in family situations like Norma's, the emotional force often is enough, i.e. the victim is told that this is okay, this is the right of the perpetrator, and if she/he doesn't let it happen they're being disobedient/disloyal/a traitor etc. Note that Caleb says to Dylan that Norma was "such a trusting little girl". (Ugh.)

Speaking of the rape in the pilot: Norma's absolute conviction that nobody would believe her of if they did would blame her if as Norman first suggested they'd tell the police makes me wonder whether she tried that, as a girl, and nobody did believe her then, or blamed her.

Something else, though: the one thing both Norma (in her confession to Norman) and her brother said when talking about their childhood was that their father was physically abusive to both of them, so I'm assuming that's true. What do you want to bet that one of them ended up killing him? Because there's no mention of him being alive.

Re: 2.03 Caleb

[eevilalice]

YES to your last three points in particular. Didn't Caleb also refer to her as "pretty," too, or am I misremembering? Either way, how he refers to her when they were young has creepy written all over it.

I would not be surprised if Norma and Caleb's father was killed by one of them, and my money would be on Caleb. My impression of Norma given events last season (asking Dylan for a gun so she could protect herself but clearly being very nervous about the follow-through) is that she's never killed anyone.