Bates Motel 3.01
Mar. 11th, 2015 09:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakMeanwhile, my favourite prequel to a horror classic is back!
Critical thought first: if Norman has killed Annika, I don't know how the show will justify Watsonian-wise that he doesn't get caught long before Marion Crane comes to down. Sure, he's just passed a lie detector test, but Sheriff Romero knows this isn't the ultimate truth telling device, and if there's another murder of a woman who's been near Norman Bates this soon, well... Also, Emma saw Norman leave with Annika, so if Annika's car is back but no Annika, Emma would figure it out, too, and while that would lead to heartbreaking character scenes, I don't see how Emma could stay around, either. So: short of revealing that Annika for some reason told Norman to take the car back (maybe she spotted a client whom she knew would take her home coming to the party?), I am a loss how to predict developments from here.
Everything else: I've missed you, you neurotic bunch of characters! And none more than Norma, who gets the news that her mother (and now we have a name, Francine Calhoun, thanks, show) has died and reacts in typical Norma fashion: pretending she's fine and dandy about it and everything's lovely, then breaking down later. The different conversations she has with her two sons about her mother are telling of the different relationships (and how those have changed and not changed since the start of the show): with Norman, after the first brittle "I'm fine" conversation, the second is an emotional breakdown and illustration of their co-dependent relationship with her using Norman as an emotional band-aid. With Dylan, she's actually communicating and telling him something about the dead woman in question, and the type of relationship she had with her. It's a far cry from the Norma and Dylan arguments in early season 1, btw. Which is true for his remark re: Norman's sleeping arrangement earlier, too; in early s1, Norma would have taken that, probably correctly, as an attack and responded in kind, not with "I hear what you're saying" and a (short lived) attempt to actually listen to said advice.
Of course, Dylan already knows Francine is dead, since Caleb is back in town. This is bad news for the continued emotional welfare of just about everyone but good news for the viewer. Not least in terms of more backstory. So far, Norma and Caleb describe their parents practically identical - father horribly violent, mother clinically insane and doped to the gills; it's the point of Caleb saying the only refuge they had was each other versus Norma remembering being raped from 13 years old onwards that's the difference. (Though it would be entirely in character for many a family rapist to not remember it as rape.) I note that Caleb, who is pretty convincing when claiming he wants just a relatonship with Dylan, is not mentioning anything about Norman turning up in his motel room the last time he was in town, with a knife and with Imaginary Norma speaking through him. Which could be because Caleb doesn't wand to jeapordize his chance at having a relationship with Dylan, but you'd think something like this would come up sooner rather than later, if only in terms of warning. (For all that Caleb knows, Norman does that king of thing all the time.)
Dylan, after the last two seasons, not wanting another shot at drug lord life and wanting to go legit is understandable, but I'm with Alex Romero in finding this pretty naive, given the type of town White Pine Bay is. Also, I'm genre savy. Where there are no more drug lords, there is a power vaccuum. Speaking of Sheriff Romero, it doesn't look like he's still staying at the motel anymore, which on the one hand makes sense - it was only temporary after his house burned down - but otoh is a shame, because how will they arrange for him and Norma to have more awesome scenes together?
Critical thought first: if Norman has killed Annika, I don't know how the show will justify Watsonian-wise that he doesn't get caught long before Marion Crane comes to down. Sure, he's just passed a lie detector test, but Sheriff Romero knows this isn't the ultimate truth telling device, and if there's another murder of a woman who's been near Norman Bates this soon, well... Also, Emma saw Norman leave with Annika, so if Annika's car is back but no Annika, Emma would figure it out, too, and while that would lead to heartbreaking character scenes, I don't see how Emma could stay around, either. So: short of revealing that Annika for some reason told Norman to take the car back (maybe she spotted a client whom she knew would take her home coming to the party?), I am a loss how to predict developments from here.
Everything else: I've missed you, you neurotic bunch of characters! And none more than Norma, who gets the news that her mother (and now we have a name, Francine Calhoun, thanks, show) has died and reacts in typical Norma fashion: pretending she's fine and dandy about it and everything's lovely, then breaking down later. The different conversations she has with her two sons about her mother are telling of the different relationships (and how those have changed and not changed since the start of the show): with Norman, after the first brittle "I'm fine" conversation, the second is an emotional breakdown and illustration of their co-dependent relationship with her using Norman as an emotional band-aid. With Dylan, she's actually communicating and telling him something about the dead woman in question, and the type of relationship she had with her. It's a far cry from the Norma and Dylan arguments in early season 1, btw. Which is true for his remark re: Norman's sleeping arrangement earlier, too; in early s1, Norma would have taken that, probably correctly, as an attack and responded in kind, not with "I hear what you're saying" and a (short lived) attempt to actually listen to said advice.
Of course, Dylan already knows Francine is dead, since Caleb is back in town. This is bad news for the continued emotional welfare of just about everyone but good news for the viewer. Not least in terms of more backstory. So far, Norma and Caleb describe their parents practically identical - father horribly violent, mother clinically insane and doped to the gills; it's the point of Caleb saying the only refuge they had was each other versus Norma remembering being raped from 13 years old onwards that's the difference. (Though it would be entirely in character for many a family rapist to not remember it as rape.) I note that Caleb, who is pretty convincing when claiming he wants just a relatonship with Dylan, is not mentioning anything about Norman turning up in his motel room the last time he was in town, with a knife and with Imaginary Norma speaking through him. Which could be because Caleb doesn't wand to jeapordize his chance at having a relationship with Dylan, but you'd think something like this would come up sooner rather than later, if only in terms of warning. (For all that Caleb knows, Norman does that king of thing all the time.)
Dylan, after the last two seasons, not wanting another shot at drug lord life and wanting to go legit is understandable, but I'm with Alex Romero in finding this pretty naive, given the type of town White Pine Bay is. Also, I'm genre savy. Where there are no more drug lords, there is a power vaccuum. Speaking of Sheriff Romero, it doesn't look like he's still staying at the motel anymore, which on the one hand makes sense - it was only temporary after his house burned down - but otoh is a shame, because how will they arrange for him and Norma to have more awesome scenes together?
