On this week’s Bates Motel Norman continued to go off the deep end while at his mother’s side, Norma continued to play the social game, and Dylan continued to question who he really was.

The Breakdown

This week’s episode of Bates Motel entitled Check-Out started off with Emma awakening in the motel with the boy she met on the beach at Bradley’s memorial the night before. She headed out the door before the boy woke and was met with a woman asking about the man passed out in the parking lot. Emma discovered it was Dylan passed out in his truck with vomit running down the side of the door. She could not wake him, so she enlisted Norman’s help. The two got Dylan into a motel room when Norma showed up. She told them to leave and took care of Dylan so that he could rest. Even though Emma did not know what prompted Dylan’s binge, she continued to pry – getting nowhere.

Norma had thoughts on confronting her brother Caleb and headed to his hotel, but ended up leaving his hotel parking lot in tears before even seeing him.

Norman checked back in on Dylan bringing him food and a fresh shirt. But, Dylan was not in the mood for brotherly love. Dylan was just plain angry…angry at the situation, who he really was, that Norman had no idea how he felt…he was questioning himself as the child of a woman raped and the creepy brother of hers that did it. Dylan ended up confronting Caleb later while he was on the docks. Caleb showed up excited that they might spend a day of fishing together. Dylan asked Caleb about being his father, but Caleb claimed to know nothing stating that Norma was “knocked up” in high school and married the guy – making that guy Dylan’s father. He also insinuated that there was more to the story than Norma crying “rape”; as if that was not the way it went down. Caleb then returned to Dylan the money that was handed over on the last episode.

Back at home, Norman tried to console his mother. She was upset and in bed crying over the mess while Norman tried to cuddle up with her (yuck!) and make her feel better.

Norma’s new friend Christine called her to set up a dinner date, but Norma was not interested and told her friend she was not feeling well. Unfortunately for Norma, Christine is as persistent as she is. Christine later showed up insisting that Norma go to dinner at a swanky restaurant and helped Norma pick out a dress. Christine’s brother, George, who was the failed setup from the last episode, was to pick her up for the night out.

As Norma got ready for the night, with Norman creepily watching and talking with her, Dylan came home. He was still angry and upset from the events and the two argued. Norma said Caleb was only there to get money from them and with that Dylan showed her the returned money. Norma was outraged that the two had even spoken to each other.

That night, Norman told his new friend Cody a bit about the situation with his mother. Cody told him there are ways to take care of people who are bothering your family…she told Norman that they could just scare Caleb. So, the two made a trip to Caleb’s hotel. While Cody was inside at the desk getting the room number, Norman began to fume outside in the car getting angrier and angrier all the time picturing what may have happened between Caleb and Norma. By the time Cody returned and the two headed to Caleb’s room, Norman was beyond angry – he was in a rage which scared Cody – the two of them left the hotel before seeing Caleb.

In the midst of all this, the other characters were encountering their own interactions. Emma talked to the boy from the night before and found out that they did not have sex, which was a concern since she could remember nothing. However, interest was piqued between the two which Emma obviously hoped would most likely continue. Down at the docks, Sheriff Romero had a confrontation of his own with Zane. The sheriff explained how he could be very nice or very not-nice, but Zane did not appear intimidated.

Norma appeared to have a decent time at the restaurant with George as well as Christine and her husband, until…the husband brought up the bypass. Norma was in no mood after the day she had to discuss it, but was polite anyway. George took her home after dessert and told her he would like to see her again.

After some heavy drinks in the kitchen, Norma was confronted by Dylan saying that he would move out. The two began to argue once again and Dylan told Norma that Caleb did not admit to the rape, but said things were not exactly as Norma claimed. This infuriated Norma and the argument became more heated when Norman was dropped off by Cody. He listened at the front door to the argument and then hid around the side of the house as Dylan burst out the door and took off. Norma was again in tears.

Norman decided to head back to Caleb’s motel. The two barely argued when Norman started talking to Caleb like he was Norma…”you came into my room every night”, “I was your sister and you should have protected me”. Norman was talking to Caleb as if he was Norma and then went after Caleb with a knife! Quickly, Caleb took Norman down, kicked him once more, and fled the hotel.

Not long after that, Sheriff Romero received news that his house was on fire – burning to the ground.

Later that night, Cody received a call to come pick up Norman at a local coffee shop where he had been sitting comatose for some time. The girl at the counter got Cody’s phone number from Norman’s arm where Cody had written it earlier that day. Cody got Norman to the car to take him home, telling him everything would be all right.

The Analysis

This episode of Bates Motel was awesome as well as creepy. The relationship between Norma and Norman intensified with the cuddling, messaging of Norma’s shoulders, and little kisses. EW!! Then, we got to witness Norman turning into his mother! Confronting Caleb and talking to Caleb as if he was Norma is really starting to show how Norman turned and changed over time.

The situation that Dylan has been put in really starts to show in his character too. He is questioning who he is…a child of rape (?). He seems to have a hard time believing either Norma OR Caleb at this point as to what really happened and who his father may be. I hate to say it, but I tend to believe Norma right now. We’ll see if I eat those words later.

The ending with the sheriff’s house burning town is pretty telling about the town. Let’s see, he confronted Zane earlier that night and then suddenly his house is burned to the ground? I wonder who he will be questioning about that one!

The one thing that stuck with me after watching last night’s episode is the actor playing Norman, Freddie Highmore. What a great actor for this part! He pulls off with perfection the sweet, innocent Norman one minute and the psychotic Norman idolizing and pretending to be his mother the next. I think he does a totally excellent job in this role!

What did you think of this week’s Bates Motel? Were you creeped out by the escalating relationship with Norman and his mother? What are your thoughts on what really happened with Norma and her brother?