Bates Motel – “Check-Out”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check-Out – Season 2, Episode 4 – Original air date 3/24/2014

This week’s episode opens, refreshingly, with a shot of Emma.  Granted, she is an ancillary character, but she is just so darned sweet, and provides a bit of a break from the Bates family drama.  Emma’s eyes are asking the same question that we are:  did she sleep with the stoner dude, who happens to be lying next to her?  Knowing Emma as we do, we know the answer to that question.

The real core of the story this week is the Bates family coming to terms with the shocker about Norma’s brother.   Dylan is understandably having a tough time with this one, and he confronts Caleb, only to get a slightly different, and evasive, version of events.  He also gets his money back.  So just what the hell did Caleb go to White Pine Bay for?  What did he hope to accomplish by visiting his sister?  Did he really think that all would be forgiven?   Dylan and Norma have a heartbreaking scene at the end,  and it seems as if Dylan realizes Norma is telling the truth, but it’s all too much for him, and he storms away, saying that he is moving out.

Sheriff Romero gives Major Douche (Zane) a polite warning to stay in line.  Is there anyone who thinks Zane will survive to the end of the season?  Is there anyone who wants him to?

And then there is Norman.  First of all, we have a very creepy scene where Norman lies down next to his mother on her bed to comfort her.  What makes it truly unsettling is a long, lingering close-up on Norman’s face, which displays emotions that are not exactly what one expects to see on a child’s face.  Norma goes on a date with George, (the guy she met in the last episode), at the insistence of his sister, who all but drags Norma out the door.  We probably haven’t seen the last of George.

And at the end Norman confronts Caleb, a man he doesn’t even know, and finally we see the first glimpse of the specific mental condition which plagues the Norman Bates of Hitchcock’s Psycho.   It is a frightening moment to watch, as well as being a bit of an “aha!” moment for fans of the movie.

The second season has almost reached the halfway point, (4 episodes down, 5 to go), and up to this point it is on par with the first season.  Will the show be renewed for a third season?  The first episode of season 2 had an audience of over 3 million, more than any episode of the first season.  That was down to 1.84 million by episode 3.  Fans of the show can only keep watching, and hope that they are not left hanging mid-story line.