Our weekly recap of what’s happening in the world of the 5th season of A&E’s Bates Motel
The fifth and final season of A&E‘s Bates Motel is in full swing. This weekly recap series will catch you up with the series and offer personal thoughts from this writer, who is an unabashed uber-fan of the series…
Read Bates Motel episode 1&2 recap
Read Bates Motel episode 3 recap
Read Bates Motel episode 4 recap
Read Bates Motel episode 5 recap
Read Bates Motel episode 6 recap
Read Bates Motel episode 7 recap
Bates Motel Season 5, Episode 8: The Body
One of the things I love so much about this series is just how much the cast, crew and creators of the show love the Bates Motel world. Nobody, it seems, lives in this world more than Freddie Highmore. He is not only tasked with playing Norman Bates, but he does double lead acting duties by also playing Norman Louise. He has also written a previous episode and this week finds him both in front and behind the camera as he made his directorial debut with this nail biter titled “The Body.”
Despite just getting a serious head wound from Norman Louise in a failed attempt to kill him, Dylan still has the sense (or lack thereof) to try to protect Norman even as he is being whisked off to jail. Going one step further, he calls a lawyer that his old partner in crime Remo told him to reach out to if he ever was in trouble. That failed hit Norma put on Dylan has made it abundantly clear to him how dire Norman’s situation really is and that it is starting to look a lot darker than he had really thought.
Some of the greatest moments in this episode happen between Norman, Norma and Sheriff Greene. Sheriff Greene (played by show newcomer Brooke Smith) seems to be the only one that says it like it is and isn’t buying anything that Norman is selling. She may not know what the truth is, but she picked up on the fact that Norman was being purposely evasive pretty quickly.
Kudos to Highmore for somehow directing these incredible scenes of himself playing the dueling roles of himself and mother during the intense interrogation scene and the scene after that has him battling mother as she puts her fingers down his throat so he pukes up his meds, which we all know are mothers death sentence. Mother has always been a fighter in reality and in the construct of her that Norman has created, and mother is going to fight to the death to keep living through him.
While Norman Louise is busy trying to call the shots with the lawyer Dylan hired for Norman, Chick has arrived at the house, raccoon carcass in hand, unaware of the events that would explain why the police are suddenly at the motel and house tearing them both apart. Chick wasn’t the only person who, like the police, came to the Bates Motel looking for some answers. In fact, Alex Romero’s long journey from escaping prison and being on the run seems to have finally landed him at his desired destination, aka Norman’s doorstep. With Norman in jail, both Romero and Chick seem to have made themselves at home in the house unbeknownst to each other, so it is quite the surprise when Alex finds Chick in the basement transcribing a taped conversation with Norman/Norma Louise to use in his very exploitative book. Even more surprising was Romero unceremoniously killing him when Chick was mid-sentence. Such poor form!
It’s funny how White Pine Bay, a town built on corruption and more criminal activity than you can shake a stick at, has never had a greater threat to safety than a quiet teenage boy and his single mother who moved there to start a new life in a better place. With only two episodes left, let’s see who the biggest menace is: the boy or his mother.
