Bates Motel - Season 1 Episode 6 - Recap and Review

Who's the real culprit behind Norman's father's death and who's actually protecting who? Hot questions are answered in this heart racing episode of Bates Motel.

Check out the recap and review here.

Norma (Vera Farmiga) is highly disturbed by the discovery of Jiao and abruptly races away to talk to the Shelby. She starts to drive away but Norman (Freddie Highmore) tries to stop her, jumping through the car window and trying to take control of the steering wheel. Norma is infuriated that everybody else seems to get away with his or her crimes except her but Norman reassures her that justice will be served. Norma manages to momentarily calm down

Meanwhile, Dylan (Max Thieriot) is also facing a predicament after he killed the man who shot Ethan. He seeks his boss; Gil for advice as he’s concerned his actions may in. His boss is impressed by his loyalty and dedication to avenge Eddie, and offers in return a clear set of plans on how to dump the dead body and destroy the evidence. Dylan is assigned a new partner called Remo.

Back in the motel, Norma tries to take care of Jiao. Emma (Olivia Cooke), unaware of Norma and Norman’s fiasco with the law states that the police are their best bet and accordingly, Norma and Norman try to make excuses for delay reaching out for help as casually as possible. Norma asks about Emma’s parents and Emma reveals that she’s only got her father as she’s lost contact with her mother. As Norma consoles her, seeing how much her life parallels Norman’s, Emma embraces Norma as she finds her to be the closest mother figure in her life. Emma remains concerned about her duty to ‘do the right thing’ and report to the police, but Norma and Norman both know there’s not a chance that they’ll go to the police for help. Norma has a new found determination now to retrieve the belt from Shelby, and as Norman asks to join her, her trust in him is rekindled as she confesses that it was wrong of her to have shunned him in the last few episodes.

Dylan walks in on them both discussing their plans to deal with Shelby, and for once, Norman and Norma both now feel comfortable sharing with him the news and Dylan, now having experienced fear, murder and trying to hide from the law himself, empathizes with Norma and feels more strongly now that he should protect her.  Dylan asks Norman to take him to the boat and he claims responsibility for finding the belt for Norma.

On the way, Dylan tells Norman about his firmed plans to move out and tries again to convince Norman to join, this time through a much softer and heartfelt approach. Whilst Dylan searches the boat, he asks Norman whether about his father’s death by bookshelf and whether he believes what he was told of what happened. Dylan tells Norman that he feels Norma did it, and obviously, Norman quickly denies that possibility. Dylan responds by telling him that he is too close to her to consider that an option, explaining his speculation that Norma had a lot of tension with her husband and that she was mostly interested in the insurance money he left behind. Dylan unhinges a panel in the ceiling and finds the belt. He then dumps it in the river. The fact that he helped Norman find the belt and save Norma was a proof of his loyalty, and Norman is beginning to open himself more to Dylan’s opinions.

Shelby drops by Norman’s motel as he explains that he couldn’t resist seeing her. Norma knows that Norman and Dylan can return at any time, and so she hesitates to engage with him. Shelby notices her hesitancy and asks if something happened, and Norma cowers from sharing her true concerns. Still, she willingly goes with the flow, plays her part and goes with him into a motel room. As they start having intercourse, Norma shows little to no emotional attachment as she blankly gazes at the window. Shelby begins to shower noises and asks if there’s someone else staying in the motel. Norma tells him there’s no one there, and because she does that, Shelby believes it’s a burglar or a criminal and he rushes out, wielding his gun to find out what it is he’s hearing. He notices Jiao’s room’s door has blood stains and Norma begins to panic as he’s inches away from discovering Jiao and there’s no way for Norma to alert her. Norma makes up an excuse on the spot saying that she forgets she told a painter to stay for the night. Jiao opens the door and seeing him, immediately runs away. Shelby tries to catch up with her, shooting her gun and Norma stops her only to get shoved by Shelby, as he knows she’s betrayed her. At least now, she knows it was Shelby who is responsible for her.

Dylan and Norman return just seconds after, and reveal their good news of finding the belt. Additionally, he tells Norma that Norman has decided to move out. Norma updates them with Jiao’s situation, but as the thought of Norman leaving sinks in, she puts aside the issue with Shelby, loses sense of urgency and tries to confirm with Norman about his decisions. Claiming that she doesn’t care anymore whether Shelby kills her, it’s clear that Norman is not just Norma’s clutch, but he is her lifeline.

Shelby returns and stops them from leaving. Shelby claims that he’s got enough information about all of them to use it against them, stating that he also knows Dylan’s secret job. In the dining room of the motel, Shelby blames Norman for ruining everything, stating that he his love for Norma was nothing but genuine and that Dylan improperly stuck his nose into other people’s business. Shelby sticks a gun to Norman’s head, and Norma tries to settle a deal with Shelby by stating that she’ll keep things a secret. Shelby refuses to believe her and hits her with the gun. As Norman watches, his blood begins to boil and he stands up and shoves him into a wall but he is no match for Shelby’s strength, as he gets knocked unconscious. Dylan helps him and gunfire ensues. Both Shelby and Dylan end up being hurt. Meanwhile, Norma is trying her best to wake Norman up so that they can leave. She drags his body through the door, down the stairs and she decides that she must tell the police for help. She calls 911 and tells them that a murderer is in her house but she hangs up when she is asked for a name.  Norman regains consciousness and makes it into the car, but Norma realizes she doesn’t have her car keys with her.

Credit: A&E

She hears more bullet shots in the house and waits to see who shot them. Bates Motel then gives a brilliant homage to Hitchcockian storytelling as Norma looks at her rear window and notices a shadowy figure walking out. She pauses to wait to see him get closer and in time, she sees that it is Shelby, soaked in blood with a bullet right through his eye. He collapses and dies, and Dylan rushes out to check if Norma and Norman are okay. Norma has never been excited about Dylan and she rushes to his arms. However, Norman, somewhat mentally paralyzed and shocked sits still in the car. Norma tells Dylan that she’s called the cops but she begins to self-doubt as she’s worried about what to say, and Dylan is tired of Norma digging deeper holes for herself and asks her to tell the truth. Norma decides to reveal what happened when Norman’s father died.

So..Norman was the one who killed his father after seeing him violently abuse Norma over an argument and using a blender, Norman manages to kill him with one hit.  Norma asks Norman to rest and she takes care of pulling Sam into the garage and creating a death scene so that it look like he died because of an accident. We flashback to the beginning scene of the season, and the small visual details that was peculiar then is much more clear and logical now. (Example: The hot ironing press, Norma’s delay in opening the door as Norman panics, and her chilly reaction to the death.) Dylan doesn't seem too surprised with this information. As he sees Norman still in the car, still, covered in blood and emotionless, he asks "What's wrong with him?". Norma knows that he doesn't know he did it and his intentions were not malicious and now the tables are turned as she feels it's more important than ever for her to protect him. She puts down an ultimatum with Dylan. "You can either get out of my way or help me".

Credit: A&E

Did you see this coming? Whilst it doesn't come as too surprising judging from Norman's frequently impulsive actions, Bates Motel did a great job making it also a plausible option that it was Norma who did it. It will be interesting to see if this story turns out to be a true portrayal of what happened or whether Norma eliminated some details that could make the story an entirely different case. Nonetheless, it does seem more believable that it was Norman, seeing how much he cares for Norma and her safety. It's a really huge and overwhelming thought to consider how one should treat a child who murders someone with the intention of saving you?  How do you treat a child who murders his father? Norma may just be the actual hero for covering up for Norman’s outbreaks and for giving him as normal of a life considering the situation. Perhaps this is why she cannot live without Norman by her side, because she knows she has done a lot to save him.

I am very surprised to see one of the major notorious antagonists get killed off this early, but perhaps the remaining episodes will now focus on the increasingly apparent breakdown of Norman. Norman is becoming more aware of people's perceptions of him, and even though he used to accept his different qualities in the earlier episodes, he's beginning to question them and wonder if there really is something wrong in him. Will that 'bump in the head' cause some suppressed memories to surface?

I don't think Mondays have ever been so exciting for me until Bates Motel came along!