In the latest ‘Bates Motel’ recap, Norman starts to realize his ‘Mother’ isn’t really there and Marion Crane embarks on a perilous drive to White Pine Bay…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It was only a matter of time before ‘Bates Motel’ started to feature a few famous moments from ‘Psycho’ and the latest episode had some major set ups for the last remaining episodes.
This week Rihanna made her debut as ill-fated Marion Crane, who is likely destined for a shower at the Bates Motel very soon and sadly it will probably be the last one of her life. Rihanna scored the coveted role over the summer after admitting that she was a huge fan of the show and producers immediately reached out to see if she would be interested in the part.
For her first appearance, Rihanna did great work acting alongside Austin Nichols as Sam Loomis as well as a brief interaction with a highway patrolman played by ‘Bates Motel’ co-creator Carlton Cuse. Of course, Rihanna will get much deeper in the storyline over the next few weeks once she checks into the haunted hotel and makes her first acquaintance with Norman Bates.
Elsewhere this week, Norman found out what his ‘Mother’ has been doing whenever he’s not around and Emma discovered the awful truth regarding her mother’s fate.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of ‘Bates Motel’ titled ‘Dreams Die First’….
Waking Up Beside You
Following his night with Madeleine that ended with him fleeing like a bank robber, Norman wakes up at home alone with no ‘Mother’ next to him in bed. His morning is interrupted when Norman runs to the bathroom to vomit and then he soon notices some scratches on his back. He looks outside and the car is gone. What the hell did he do the night before?
Norman then begins searching around his home for ‘Mother’ but she’s nowhere to be found. His panic is interrupted when he gets a call from Sheriff Greene asking him to pay a visit to the office. Norman has to put his search aside to go talk to the police.
Once he arrives, Norman discovers that the sheriff isn’t after him for some nefarious means but instead she’s asking him about his stepfather, Alex Romero. They police are still searching for him and they need any clues that might lead to his capture.
Unfortunately, Norman can’t offer much assistance other than saying that his stepfather was a loner, who attached himself to his mother before driving her to suicide. Even his brief visit to see Romero a couple of weeks back doesn’t offer much help when Norman says the conversation was very one sided and didn’t give him the closure that he wanted.
Of course, Norman fails to mention that he basically goaded Romero to coming after him and that’s exactly the warning the sheriff gives him as well. She’s convinced that at some point Romero will return to White Pine Bay and he’ll likely be looking for a visit with his stepson.
Back at home, Norman continues to look for his ‘Mother’ when he finds a matchbook from the White Horse Bar. When he calls to ask about the car, the bartender knows all about Norma and how she got a little wild the night before so he took her keys away. Norman is convinced that his ‘Mother’ went out and did a little partying to punish him and now he has to go retrieve the car.
As he’s preparing to leave, Madeleine gives him a call to apologize for the night before.
Norman says no apology is needed but he leaves out the part where he fled after seeing his mother standing behind her in the kitchen while they were making out. Madeleine then offers him a ride to pick up the car while they have a conversation about everything that’s been happening.
Norman does a masterful job playing off his hasty exit as he tells Madeleine that he didn’t want to take advantage of a situation because she’s dealing with an extreme bout of loneliness without her husband around. Norman constantly eludes to Sam’s ghost like presence in her life and that leads Madeleine to confront him about what he really knows.
Finally, Norman comes clean about meeting Sam before ever knowing Madeleine and how he rented out a room at the Bates Motel to spend the day with another woman. Of course, Madeleine refuses to believe him and kicks Norman out of the car for even suggesting that her husband would cheat on her. Then again, Madeleine’s anger is really just masking her own insecurities about the rocky state of her marriage.
Far Behind
In Seattle we meet Marion Crane (Rihanna) for the first time after she’s just spent the night with Sam Loomis. Their torrid love affair has been going on for months but Marion is under the impression that Sam will marry her one day but unfortunately he’s been struggling financially and just doesn’t want her to suffer through his debts.
In reality, Sam is a two timing bastard who is cheating on his wife and also lying to his mistress.
Of course, Marion is unaware but going into work that day she’s determined to find a way to be with Sam full time instead of his weekend visits to Seattle. It turns out, Marion is a notary public working for a reality company — called R.A. Bloch, an homage to ‘Psycho’ writer Robert A. Bloch — and there she’s employed by an over aggressive boss who seems to like the look of her as much as the work she does for him.
When Marion asks about a promotion or a raise, her boss instead suggests that she go back to college or wait until he’s not with a client to approach him with these kinds of questions. Rather than take her job request seriously, Marion’s boss then asks her to take a briefcase full of cash to the bank for him as he closes a deal with his latest real estate sale. Judging by his comments, Marion’s boss isn’t exactly a reputable real estate agent and the guy who’s buying property isn’t much better.
But with a bag full of cash on her desk and a weekend upcoming where the banks will have no record of the transaction, Marion decides this is the time to make her move to be with same. So she packs up the $400,000 in cash from her boss, throws some clothes into a suitcase and high tails it out of Seattle with her final destination in White Pine Bay, Oregon.
Along the way, Marion is stopped by a police officer — a scene straight out of ‘Psycho’ — before drawing nearer to White Pine Bay where she hopes to reunite with Sam. When she calls him on the road — after leaving him numerous messages during the day — he finally picks up while interrupting dinner with his wife.
She tells him that she’s coming to town and will meet him at his apartment. Sam continues to lie by saying that he lives in a small room with no guests allowed so Marion tells him that she will just meet him at the hotel where they spent the day together a few weeks ago.
When Sam goes back inside, Madeleine is there to confront him because that phone call proved what Norman told her was right. She’s married to a cheating husband and now she’s demanding answers.
She’s Not There
At the bar, Norman goes inside and has a strange encounter with the bartender, who comments on how he’s never seem him this way before and then hands over the keys to the car. Norman exits quickly but inside the car he finds a lacey bra and panties, which makes him even more concerned about what Norma did to get back at him for kissing Madeleine.
On the way home, Norman runs into his old psychiatrist Dr. Edwards, who invites him to coffee. The two sit down for a chat but Dr. Edwards quickly falls back into old habits of analyzing Norman just like he did in the psychiatric hospital.
Norman explains that he’s still on medication (he isn’t) and how he’s seeing a new doctor that’s a little closer to home (he’s not) but Dr. Edwards seems to read right through his façade. He then questions Norman about his past issues where he would transform into his mother when she wasn’t there.
It’s almost like a disconnect because Norman seemingly forgot about that revelation he made a season ago that he black out and morphs into his mother during times of emotional distress. As a tear starts to roll down his face, Norman tells the doctor that he’s really just mourning the loss of his mother but he has to cut their visit short to return home.
Norman is beginning to realize that ‘Mother’ isn’t missing — she was never there to begin with.
Mother’s Day
Back in Washington, Emma is looking for stamps when she happens upon an earring hidden away in an envelope that she assumes belongs to Norma and it’s a keepsake that Dylan kept of his mother.
Dylan plays it off like no big deal while Emma is convinced that it’s really a tether to his past that perhaps he wants to reconnect with his mother. Remember, Dylan has no idea that she’s been dead for a year and a half.
Later that day with some extra poking and prodding about reaching out to Norman, Dylan finally snaps an explains that the earring didn’t belong to Norman.
Dylan comes clean to Emma bout Norman’s history of violence from killing his own father to his presence around Blair Watson when she was murdered. He then tells Emma that her mother was a resident at the Bates Motel while she was getting ready for surgery to receive her new lung. Dylan explains that Norman had that earring but neither he or Norma would give him any details about her stay at the motel much less her exit.
Dylan knows deep down that Norman killed her but he can’t bring himself to say the words. He doesn’t have to say much because Emma has worked it all out on her own.
She starts to research the Bates Motel on the computer when she happens upon an article that gapes her eyes wide open — it’s a story about Norma’s suicide, which will undoubtedly shake her husband to his very core.
Out of Body Experience
Following the meeting with his old shrink, Norman decides to revisit the White Horse Bar to find out if any other regulars know anything about his ‘Mother’ spending time at the establishment.
Inside, Norman is confronted with the truth that the patrons at the bar already know him but they are used to seeing him in a dress with a wig, looking just like his dead mother. As the shock of realization washes over him, Norman runs to the bathroom to splash water on his face when he meets one particular barfly who tries to kiss him.
The man calls him ‘Norma’, which is clearly what he’s been telling people while he’s dressed up as a woman and acting out as his ‘Mother’. Norman begins to have flashbacks to the night before where he visited the bar as his ‘Mother’ and took this man to the car where they had sex. That explains the scratches on his back and it also explains how Norman was sick in the morning after having too many drinks the night before.
Norman runs out of the bar, horrified to realize that his ‘Mother’ was never there but instead he’s been acting out as her this entire time just like the doctor warned him. Norman goes home and ‘Mother’ is still nowhere to be found but soon a car pulls up from off the road and he won’t be alone much longer.
Marion Crane has arrived at the Bates Motel and she’s going to a need a room for the night.
‘Bates Motel’ returns next Monday night at 10pm ET on A&E.
