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 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.