Bates Motel Recap ‘A Death in the Family’: The Spooning

In the Bates Motel recap for the season 3 debut, Norman and Norma are getting creepier by the minute as a new guest arrives in town and Dylan runs into somebody he hoped he’d never see again….

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer As season 3 of ‘Bates Motel’ picks up, things are creeper than ever in the little town of White Pine Bay. Norman is close to going full ‘Psycho’ just one episode into the season and it appears the creators and writers and ready to push further and further towards the final knife-wielding, wig wearing sociopath we all know so well from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film. The new season picks up with Norman and Norma Bates in bed together. It’s not what you’re thinking but then again it’s not far from it either. Norman is spooning his mother and she’s holding onto him for dear life. I’ll go ahead and get the ewwwwww out of the way right now. Dylan happens to walk by and he’s properly creeped out. He finally questions his mother if she finds it odd that she’s sleeping next to her 18-year old son in bed while they are cuddled up under the covers. She thinks it’s completely normal. Of course she does. A phone call comes in just a moment later alerting Norma to the death of her mother (thus the title of the episode (‘A Death in the Family’) but she couldn’t care less that the woman who gave birth to her dropped dead. Norma takes Norman to school against his will and even when he throws a tantrum with the fury of 1000 screaming five-year olds, she drags him out of the car and tosses him into the building in front of all his classmates. He should have just gotten out. At school things go from strange to fucking weird as Norman sits down by himself before Ms. Watson — you know the teacher who he murdered — comes up and sits right beside him. She’s planning the new English lesson but gets something in her throat — like the slice from the knife that Norman laid on her after they screwed — and as blood drips down onto his hand, he freaks out. Suddenly, Norman looks up and nothing is there. So he runs all the way home and tells his mother school is out for the day because he has a case of the crazies. Before things can get too deep, a new hotel guest arrives named Annika and she’s driving a Porsche and wearing a dress that leaves very little to the imagination. When she drops something and bends over, Norman makes the cardinal mistake of allowing her to catch his eyes as he’s basically staring at her cleavage. But she just laughs and checks in and later when Norman drops by to fix a light for her, Annika reveals that she’s a high priced escort. This can only end badly right? More shades of Norman come out later when he walks by Annika’s room and notices her window is open and he starts peaking in while she gets in the shower. Who knows what he might have done if Norma didn’t wander by and call him out on his creepy ass behavior. She drags him inside, he apologizes and what is Norman’s punishment? He doesn’t have to go to school anymore and he’s the new motel manager! Norman is over the moon with excitement because now he can stay in all day, get home schooled and become even less functioning within society. Norman is all ready to curl next to mommy for a cozy sleep when she tells him that despite her declaration that he no longer has to go to school, he can’t stay in bed with her anymore. Norman storms off pouting because he really wanted that maternal snuggling he was longing for (let me go ahead and throw in another ewwwwww!!). While Norman is being fucking creepy, Dylan is trying to get his life back in order. He tells Sheriff Romero he no longer wants to run the weed business in town and instead just wants to farm a small plot of land with 99 legal plants and help people with diseases who really need marijuana. Romero is pissed because weed was his top source of illegal income. Things only get worse for him when a couple of local yokels try to give him shit for not protecting the town’s interest when the rest of the weed fields were burned down by the DEA. He only listen for so long before dropping one of them on the bar before heading out his own way. Meanwhile, Dylan’s day just goes from bad to worse when he runs into his uncle/father Caleb, who is in town to tell him about his dead grandmother (that he never met). Caleb is feeling the blues because now Dylan is the only nephew/son he has left in the world. Dylan doesn’t give a shit but still runs dear old Uncle Dad Caleb to an auto parts store when his sexual predator van breaks down. Even then Caleb doesn’t leave because the van needs yet another part that won’t be in for a couple of days. Really, he just wants time to spend with his nephew/son. Dylan still acts like he doesn’t want anything to do with him but it’s clear he’s warming up to the idea of being from an inbred family. Back at Bates Motel, Norman and Emma are studying when she drops a bomb on him that her lung capacity is shredded and her time on Earth is limited more now than ever. Norman proclaims that she shouldn’t go to school anymore and instead stay with him where they can be study buddies forever. Emma agrees and decides to quit school (cause that totally works) and then Norman drops a bomb of his own on her. He’s decided that they should date and not because she’s dying but because it’s time. Emma agrees — it’s about goddamn time Norman! Norman gets even better news when he sees his mom crying in her room as she finally lets grief in about her mother dying. Norma needs comfort and what better way to do that than invite your 18-year old son to crawl back into bed with you. Her decree about it being weird last one night. Now she’s back to cuddling with her son. Again — ewwwww! The next day Norman and Emma are studying and Annika comes in looking for directions to a specific restaurant in town. It’s tough to find so Norman just about breaks his legs running to Annika with the offer of riding into town with her and just showing her where it’s at and while he’s there he’ll pick up a thermometer for another room in the motel. Emma looks at him rather strange and with good reason. In the car, Norman quizzes Annika about her work and she says all the wrong things. She says it’s just a job and sometimes it’s not even that bad because after all it’s just sex. Everybody needs sex. Shocker of all shockers — when the Porsche pulls back into the motel, Norman gets out of the car and Annika is nowhere to be found. Now back to bed with mommy you little psycho bastard! ‘Bates Motel’ returns next Monday night at 9pm on A&E