During tonight’s episode of Bates Motel, Nick Ford asks Norma for a favor involving Dylan. Norman punishes Norma for withholding information about his blackouts. And Sheriff Romero tries to find out what went on between Norman and Miss Watson.
It may be a new day, but it doesn’t provide a fresh start for anyone. Norman’s giving mother the cold shoulder because she’s withholding information about him from him. Sheriff Romero just let the kid go after determining that Cody’s father’s death was an accident, has another suspect for Miss Watson’s murder in custody and now has to figure out if schtupping his teacher makes Norman a plausible suspect. Norma tries to pretend she’s not keeping vital information regarding her son’s sanity a secret by offering him coffee cake and asking him to the movies.
Tit for Tat
Nick Ford stops by asking for a favor. He asks her to arrange a meeting between Dylan and himself. Norma is curious about what, but Nick says it’s between himself and her son. He seems incredulous that Norma doesn’t know what her son does for a living. She lets him know that she and Dylan are somewhat on the outs.
Ford tells her that, for no other reason, Norma needs to see him and fix that. He says that he lost his daughter during a period of estrangement and it was the most horrible thing to happen to him. His advice for her is to talk to Dylan right away, and “while she can” doesn’t seem to bode well for Norma’s eldest son. Whether it’s just because he knows that in their line of work, Dylan’s life is perpetually in danger or if he has something specific in mind are both possibilities.
My Idiot Brother
Speaking of Dylan, he’s just regaining consciousness as the police depend upon Nick Ford’s warehouse. Hidden in the bushes, he’s able to flee the scene on foot. He heads straight for Jodi’s and informs her of her Sid Vicious wannabe’s brother’s raid on the warehouse.
Zane doesn’t take kindly to Jodi’s interference. She’s not down at the docks getting her hands dirty. Sibling rivalry is in full effect. Jodi warns her brother not to destroy the whole operation just because he’s pissed their father left her in control.
Zane has it all figured out anyway. He says they should offer Ford a buyout and, if he doesn’t take it, tell him to expect more of the same. He’s convinced they can wear Ford down and then take over the whole town. Jodi isn’t impressed by his plan, and Dylan suggests the best thing Zane can do is lay low. Jodi tells him that he knows where to go. Zane temporarily relents but is still convinced that time will prove him right.
Take Your Mother to Work Day
Norma has to turn to Emma for help in locating Dylan. Norma is greeted by a gun-toting Remo. As soon as he finds out she’s Dylan’s mom, he escorts her into the warehouse and to Dylan’s office. Dylan asks why she’s there, and she mentions Nick Ford. Dylan questions her involvement with Nick Ford, and she mentions their arrangement regarding the bypass and how now he wants a favor from her: arranging a meeting between him and her son.
Dylan wants to know the reason for the meeting, but all Norma can tell him is that Ford said it was important. Dylan assumes the worst: that Ford wants to kill him. He wants Norma to tell Ford that she couldn’t find him and warns her not to have anything else to do with the man. Norma tells Dylan that she doesn’t want him to get hurt. He tries to give her the bums rush, but she’s more interested in how much weed he might be absorbing into his body, being surrounded by it on a regular basis. That’s her biggest worry? He promises he’s not rolling around in it and tells her she has to go. She says they still have things to talk about, but he’s not ready to revisit the whole being a child of incest issue. At least they are communicating again.
Date Night
George drops by with some good news: construction on the bypass has been halted for environmental studies. Then he declares that he’s a smitten kitten and needs to know if she feels the same. She agrees to go to his place for dinner the following night.
Oh Brothers
Deputy Do-Gooder informs the sheriff that Zane is nowhere to be found, so he tracks down Dylan demanding to know Zane’s whereabouts. Dylan says he doesn’t know, and Romero gets handsy and not in a good way. Romero makes it clear that if Dylan hears anything, he’s to report it immediately, and if he finds out Dylan is lying, he’ll kill him. All of this drug stuff really pulls focus from the far more interesting character-driven storylines.
While Dylan’s stuck in the middle of a drug war, a cold war is still brewing in the Bates home. Norman antagonizes Norma by putting some of his “pet” taxidermy projects around the house — you know, to make the place homier. Norma calls him out for being passive-aggressive, but he plays innocent.
An Informal Interrogation
Sheriff Romero devises a way to get some one-on-one time with Norman without arousing Norma’s suspicion. Romero questions Norman on how well he knew Miss Watson and whether she seemed stable to him. Norman answers mostly but backpedals and says she was a good teacher and a good counselor. He also tells the cop that he thought she came across as sad and lost sometimes. Norman admits he saw her outside of the classroom for school projects.
Not really getting anywhere beating around the bush, Romero takes a different tact. He tells Norman that Blair Watson slept with a lot of people, some of whom weren’t so nice. Norman wonders why Romero is telling him this, and Romero says he wonders if Norman ever slept with her. Norman denies it without hesitation. Romero says not only can Norman tell him the truth but he has to.
Norman gets flustered and angry, says he didn’t do anything and defends Miss Watson as being a good person who looked after him. He storms off and Romero follows, warning him that this isn’t going to go away, but Norman swears he has no idea what Romero is talking about. Given his lapses of memory, this is definitely a possibility.
Beholden
Nick Ford comes calling, but this time encounters Norman who is the only one home. He recognizes Norman from the cemetery and demands to know why he was taking his picture at his daughter’s grave. Norman admits to playing detective and his misconception that Ford could be the mystery man he overheard Miss Watson arguing with. It turns out Eric was Ford’s business manager, and Ford thought if he cut his daughter off, she’d come running home to daddy.
Norma does as Dylan instructed and tells Ford she couldn’t locate Dylan. She gets indignant and chastises the man for coming into her house, giving her orders and acting like she’s beholden to him. He breaks the news that she is beholden to him but too dumb to realize it. He clues her in pretty quick on how all her recent good fortune wasn’t due to her good karma. Norma refuses to believe what he’s saying, convinced he’s just trying to get her to do something she doesn’t want to. Norma throws him out and threatens to call her good friend the sheriff if Ford doesn’t go willingly. H warns her that she’s making a horrible mistake. Norman eavesdrops on the entire conversation.
Ultimatums and Threats
Dylan calls Nick Ford offering to meet him in public at a pizza place in a nearby town. Ford doesn’t want to kill Dylan, he wants Dylan to take out Zane. Ford tells Dylan once he kills Zane, the feud ends. His only other option is to take part in a war that will leave few, if any, survivors. He also threatens Norma, which triggers a reaction that shows that Dylan still loves his mommy.
A Date with Disaster
Norma goes to George’s for dinner but is understandably distracted. He catches her in a white lie, and she falls apart. She tells him that coming there was a mistake, and she’s not who he thinks she is. She admits to barely finishing high school, that her husband didn’t own an insurance business and that her family is a mess. Norma gives a brief monologue that sums up her low sense of self-worth. She doesn’t have filet mignon cooked for her by men like George. After her slew of confessions, she bolts, leaving one confused man and a perfectly good meal behind.
Norman’s Secret Remains Safe — For Now
Deputy Do-Gooder alerts Romero that the man he arrested for Blair Watson’s murder has been found guilty. She asks him what they do about the physical evidence linking Norman to the crime. Romero says they could prosecute Blair Watson for having sex with a minor if she weren’t dead. Romero tells the ambitious deputy that if she breathes a word of what she knows, he’ll hang her from the highest tree for illegally running a sample through the criminal database.
The Way We Were
Norma arrives home after her disastrous date determined to make things right with her son. She tells him that she misses him. He is icing her out. Norma says she doesn’t like him acting distant, like he can’t be bothered with her. His interpretation is that he’s behaving like his own person, like they’re different, like he has secrets from her.
Norma turns on the waterworks, but Norman’s too far gone. He says she changed the rules, and he doesn’t trust her anymore. He says it was all a game, and the fact that they were devoted to one another and that nobody could come between them. Not to mention all that inappropriate cuddling. By trying to protect him from the dark side of himself, Norma’s only managed to nurture it. He locks himself in his room, and after pitching a hissy fit when he won’t let her in, she runs back to a man willing to give her the affection she craves: George.
Truth or Consequences
Romero confronts Norman again. He demands to know why Norman is lying and that he didn’t just convict an innocent man. He tells Norman if he doesn’t come clean, he’ll be forced to tell Norma. Norman takes off and goes to his bedroom where he retrieves Miss Watson’s pearls and the newspaper clipping about her death. They seem to calm him. He hears a noise coming from downstairs and goes to investigate. He comes into contact with someone who is undoubtedly an employee of Nick Ford’s.
Bates Motel airs Mondays at 10pm on A&E.
(Image courtesy of A&E)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
