Bates Motel - Season 1 Episode 7 - Recap

Is the perfect girl as perfect as she seems? This episode of Bates Motel introduces a new threat to the hotel and  delves into unraveling the secrets of Bradley and what lies behind that sweet, innovent veneer.

Check out the recap below:

The police arrive at the scene of the 911 call. Dylan (Max Thieriot) stands next to the corpse, symbolically surrendering himself as the perpetrator of the murder as the Sherriff Romero walks towards him.  Norma (Vera Farmiga) tells Romero the ‘truth’ of what happened, but it is not shown exactly what and how much was shared but Romero ends up giving her the benefit of the doubt. He helps to spare Norma, Norman (Freddie Highmore) and Dylan of going to court or trials by devising a story that he had his own suspicions of Shelby being corrupt and that he was the one who shot Shelby. Sounds too good to be true, seeing how austere he was with Norma before. Dylan isn’t really aboard with the plan because he feels that it undermines his efforts of risking in life to save Norma. However he succumbs to the pressure of Norma and Norman who feel comfortable going along with it. Norman and Norma embrace each other, as they believe that everything is finally over, but Dylan doesn’t seem too want to raise his hopes too soon.

Norma ‘celebrates’ with Bradley in bed but Norma soon interrupts them. Many of you previously wondered what happened after his fling with her couple episodes back and suspect that all of it may have been a figment of his imagination. Well, his ‘reunion’ does turn out to only be a fantasy. Now with all of Keith Summers and Deputy Shelby behind them, Norma is focused on starting up the business and opening their doors to guests. Norman doesn’t feel quite like moving on yet, but Norma asks that he trusts Sherriff Romero and seize the opportunity of being free. Norma prepares breakfast for Dylan for the first time as a sign of her gratitude, but Dylan breaks the jovial mood as he says that he’s still moving out. Having misinterpreted Dylan’s actions to save her as a vow of loyalty and support, Norma immediately switches out of her optimistic veneer and storms out. More and more, we see that Norma is a black and white person who doesn’t see any middle ground. You are either on or out of her side. Dylan tries to explain that he even though he cannot be physically next to her 24/7, he will still be there for her. Norma doesn’t want to hear it.

When Dylan takes out the trash, a car drives up to him. The man inside asks for the “Seafarer Motel” and Dylan tells him that it has been rebranded and claimed by new owners as the “Bates Motel”. He asks for Keith Summers, and Dylan delivers the news that he has passed away. The man is somewhat surprised, but not enough to react with grief, and he drives off. Meanwhile, Norman also finds an unexpected guest - a stray dog. Norman immediately makes a close connection with the dog as he notices the dog responding to his commands. Norman decides to take ownership of the dog and quickly feels possessive about it. Norma isn't very excited about owning a dog because of the funds needed to raise one, but she allows Norman to take responsibility for it and trusts that it will take his mind off things.

Norma decides to do some marketing for her hotel as she visits local businesses hoping to establish partnerships. When she meets the manager of one restaurant, the manager is instantly turned off when Norma says she runs the Bates Motel. The manager immediately turns her down and explains to Norma that everybody in the community knows about the crimes and scandals that happened in that motel. Norma, insulted, becomes defensive and argues that she is innocent. Even though the manager herself believes her, she says that, “it has just kind of tainted the place.”

Late at night, Norma notices a man (the same one who drove by earlier) trying to unlock a room door. Named Jake, he explains that he was a resident of the previous Seafarer Motel and that he had a standing reservation for that particular room for every other month. Norma informs him that all the locks have changed due to renovations and that they’re not ready for business. Although Norma is initially suspicious of his sudden arrival, Norma is excited that he’s his first guest and that he could provide long-term cash flow, so she willingly offers to accommodate him, provided that he’s okay with the construction around him. Norma informs Dylan of the guest, but Dylan encourages her to retrieve more information from him. Dylan decides to handle it and when he asks Jake for his information, he half-heartedly complies and gives very ambiguous and vague responses.  Dylan then proceeds to ask for his credit card, but Jake instead takes out a pocket full of large cash notes and states that “it will be enough for a few nights”.

The next day, Dylan gets to meet the girl he persuaded Norman to sleep with as she bumps into Norman. When he sees her, he has a questionable look on his face and acts a little uneasy almost as if he knows her. Bradley asks whether or not he works for her late dad’s boss, and Dylan says he does. There is an awkward silence. There seems to be something we ought to know about Bradley….

The next night, as Norma gets ready for bed, she hears noises in the living room. She sees that Norman is sleeping and as she investigates, she finds that her front door is open but there is no one there.

Credit: A&E

Emma (Olivia Cooke) stops by the motel looking for Norman, but Norman doesn’t want to see her. He asks Norma to make up an excuse for him, as he doesn’t want to continue leading Emma on. Emma intuitively knows that he is deliberately avoiding her because of his love for Bradley, and as she starts tearing up, she tells Norma that it’s because of her allergies. Despite that, Norma knows what Emma must be feeling and considering she doesn’t have a mother, Norma offers to spend some time with her and buy her some lunch. In the car, Norma apologizes on behalf of Norman’s recent distant behavior and shares advice about dealing with teenage boys. As she continues by asking about Norman’s personal life, Emma hints about his sexual relationship with Bradley, sparking Norma’s curiosity to meet her. They both spy on Bradley and when Norma gets a closer look of her face, she recognizes her as one of the first girls to ask for Norman when they moved to the motel. Norma finds it hard to believe that the innocent, virginal image of her son is now ‘tainted’.

Norma sits Norman down to have an intimate talk about his love life, and Norman is immediately flustered. Norma explains the fact that Norman doesn’t know enough about her to be sleeping with her yet. When Norma mentions meeting Emma, Norman feels that she is trying to pull him away from Bradley to be with Emma and Norman insists that he’s not going to have his girlfriend picked out for him. Norma questions why Norman is addressing Bradley as his girlfriend as if they were official because they barely see each other. Norman explains that it’s not the right time because of Bradley’s dad death, and similar to Dylan’s reaction, Norma doesn’t believe that’s good enough of an excuse. Norman gets offended and leaves, and proclaims that he is sick of having to update Norma with his personal decisions.

Norman goes to see Bradley and surprises her at her home. Bradley still doesn’t’ seem to be too interested in talking to him and tells him she’s got homework. Norman wonders why she has been distancing herself lately and not responding to her texts. He’s confident that they share a strong connection and wants to know what’s holding her back. Bradley ultimately lets him know that the night with him was just a spontaneous fling and not indicative of any official relationship. Bradley apologizes but somehow poorly phrases it as she says “I shouldn’t have done it with someone like you.” Norman obviously takes this very personally, as he feels this is a jab at his upbringing. He leaves and starts talking to himself in frustration. Bradley chases after him, and tries to explain herself. Norman seems to be on the brink of erupting when Bradley manages to tame the beast as she lunges to hug him. He snaps back into his normal self and walks away.

Credit : A&E

Back at the motel, Jake checks in to the head kiosk to speak to Norma. He mentions that he had a special arrangement with the previous owner and wonders if he can continue it with her. He would book all the rooms for his friends in the first week of every month and pay upfront with cash. Norma is curious about the offer and wonders if he’s using the rooms for something illegal but Jake laughs it off. Nonetheless, she is swayed by the fact that this may get the word out to more potential customers and agrees to his deal.  Norman returns home, disappointed and in an unbalanced state and sees his dog Juno on the street. When he calls for Juno to come over to him, she is run over by a car. Norma rushes out to see Norman, crestfallen and distraught with the corpse in his hands, and Norman proposes to take it to Emma’s dad because “he fixes dead things”. Norma calls his idea ‘crazy’, and at this point, every word that can be associated with Norman’s mental state feels like a direct insult and Norman flips out.  Norma notices how volatile he is and calms him down by agreeing to take him to Emma’s dad. Norman breaks down into tears as he apologizes for not listening to Norma’s advice about love, and he knows how wrong he was.