Bates Motel 5.09
In which my one remaining cmplaint is beautifully dealt with. All is forgiven, show. That was awesome.
To wit: the series finally recalled Emma a) has emotions unrelated to Dylan, and b) has history with both Norman and Norma predating her relationship with Dylan for years. This presumably was Emma's last outing in the show, and it was a worthy finale, possibly her best episode not just since s1 but overall.
Emma both being horrified by her mother being murdered by Norman and continuing to feel resentment for the way Audrey had abandoned her for years was just right. A lesser show would have let Emma feel only retrospective love, but a lifetime of abandonment doesn't go away because of the (horrific) way the abandoned parent died. She still didn't want her mother dead, least of all murdered, even less by her former best and only friend whom she once upon a time loved. I really appreciate we got Emma's mixed feelings about her mother along with Emma's emotions re: Norma and Norman in this episode; it made her three dimensional, someone who is deeply entangled with but has an emotional life outside the Bates clan as well.
(BTW: the funeral home from the s4 finale makes a comeback! Back then, I had assumed they'd play a role in the fifth season, which they didn't, but never mind, that was neat.)
Emma mourning for Norma, her wished-for-mother, whom she didn't idealize anymore the way she did when first meeting her but still loved, was already a beautiful scene. And then. And then!
The scene with Emma and Mother was everything I'd hoped for and yet also completely unexpected. In retrospect, it makes sense that Emma, clever girl and once upon a time (in s1) aspiring detective, who knew Norman and has now the key fact (multiple personalities), would be the one character to figure out she's not talking to Norman Bates but to the alternate personalitiy. In fairness, Juliia the lawyer never met Original Norman, she solely interacted with Mother, and Dylan didn't talk to him after Norman got arrested anymore, either. But it was still great to watch Emma ask "where is Norman?". And to see Mother not attempting to fake it anymore but actually reply to Emma with honesty from this point onwards. Makes sense that Mother would respect Emma: Norman did, Norma did, and because Norman wasn't sexually attracted to Emma, Mother never perceived her as a threat, either.
Dylan: you know, I have a lot of sympathy re: torn loyalties etc, but Madeline Loomis wasn't entirely wrong. Now what she thought - that Dylan had a life time to figure out Norman's killer nature, knew it said life time and said nothing - wasn't the case; Norman didn't become violent until Dylan had already left the Bates household, and Dylan wasn't exposed to his brother's darker side until two or three years or however long it was in show chronology. But. Dylan had a very clear idea what Norman was capable of, and had already done, by the time s4 ended, and that was when he chose to wash his hands of any responsibility, which, yes, makes anyone Norman killed after the s4 finale partly Dylan's responsibility, too. To which "how can you live with yourself?" is a fair question if you're the widow of one of said people, never mind how much of a cheating bastard said victim was. (See also: Audrey. Being a flawed human being doesn't qualify you for a death sentence.)
Now when Emma dispensed her mother's ashes at the beautiful viewpoint where she and Norman back in the s1 day had discovered White Pine Bay's drug farms, I had expected her to stumble across Norma's body, because it would have made thematic sense, seeing how the episode reminded us Emma thought of Norma as a mother as well, and it would have made Watsonian sense (Norman temporarily putting Norma at a place he remembers as beautiful). However, the last sequence presented an explanation as to why this didn't happen. The writers still needed that body missing in order to give Alex Romero a reason why he wouldn't kill Norman on sight, now that he finally and with much effort had his hands on him. And yeah, okay, works for me.
Speculation: I think that the sight of Norma's body will enable Norman to overcome Mother and become the dominating personality again. Now whether or not this makes any difference to his physical fate I have no idea, but as opoposed to Psycho, I still don't believe (see last review) we'll end with Mother in charge of Norman's body. Emma had her farewell appearance, save for a possible silent cameo at the end of the finale because it's more likely than not Dylan returns to be forgiven in a last "where are they now?" glimpse complete with hugging of wife and kid. Which covers my guess for Dylan's eventual fate, though before that I'm sure he'll have another scene with his brother and possibly with his mother's body, re-burying it.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1225333.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
To wit: the series finally recalled Emma a) has emotions unrelated to Dylan, and b) has history with both Norman and Norma predating her relationship with Dylan for years. This presumably was Emma's last outing in the show, and it was a worthy finale, possibly her best episode not just since s1 but overall.
Emma both being horrified by her mother being murdered by Norman and continuing to feel resentment for the way Audrey had abandoned her for years was just right. A lesser show would have let Emma feel only retrospective love, but a lifetime of abandonment doesn't go away because of the (horrific) way the abandoned parent died. She still didn't want her mother dead, least of all murdered, even less by her former best and only friend whom she once upon a time loved. I really appreciate we got Emma's mixed feelings about her mother along with Emma's emotions re: Norma and Norman in this episode; it made her three dimensional, someone who is deeply entangled with but has an emotional life outside the Bates clan as well.
(BTW: the funeral home from the s4 finale makes a comeback! Back then, I had assumed they'd play a role in the fifth season, which they didn't, but never mind, that was neat.)
Emma mourning for Norma, her wished-for-mother, whom she didn't idealize anymore the way she did when first meeting her but still loved, was already a beautiful scene. And then. And then!
The scene with Emma and Mother was everything I'd hoped for and yet also completely unexpected. In retrospect, it makes sense that Emma, clever girl and once upon a time (in s1) aspiring detective, who knew Norman and has now the key fact (multiple personalities), would be the one character to figure out she's not talking to Norman Bates but to the alternate personalitiy. In fairness, Juliia the lawyer never met Original Norman, she solely interacted with Mother, and Dylan didn't talk to him after Norman got arrested anymore, either. But it was still great to watch Emma ask "where is Norman?". And to see Mother not attempting to fake it anymore but actually reply to Emma with honesty from this point onwards. Makes sense that Mother would respect Emma: Norman did, Norma did, and because Norman wasn't sexually attracted to Emma, Mother never perceived her as a threat, either.
Dylan: you know, I have a lot of sympathy re: torn loyalties etc, but Madeline Loomis wasn't entirely wrong. Now what she thought - that Dylan had a life time to figure out Norman's killer nature, knew it said life time and said nothing - wasn't the case; Norman didn't become violent until Dylan had already left the Bates household, and Dylan wasn't exposed to his brother's darker side until two or three years or however long it was in show chronology. But. Dylan had a very clear idea what Norman was capable of, and had already done, by the time s4 ended, and that was when he chose to wash his hands of any responsibility, which, yes, makes anyone Norman killed after the s4 finale partly Dylan's responsibility, too. To which "how can you live with yourself?" is a fair question if you're the widow of one of said people, never mind how much of a cheating bastard said victim was. (See also: Audrey. Being a flawed human being doesn't qualify you for a death sentence.)
Now when Emma dispensed her mother's ashes at the beautiful viewpoint where she and Norman back in the s1 day had discovered White Pine Bay's drug farms, I had expected her to stumble across Norma's body, because it would have made thematic sense, seeing how the episode reminded us Emma thought of Norma as a mother as well, and it would have made Watsonian sense (Norman temporarily putting Norma at a place he remembers as beautiful). However, the last sequence presented an explanation as to why this didn't happen. The writers still needed that body missing in order to give Alex Romero a reason why he wouldn't kill Norman on sight, now that he finally and with much effort had his hands on him. And yeah, okay, works for me.
Speculation: I think that the sight of Norma's body will enable Norman to overcome Mother and become the dominating personality again. Now whether or not this makes any difference to his physical fate I have no idea, but as opoposed to Psycho, I still don't believe (see last review) we'll end with Mother in charge of Norman's body. Emma had her farewell appearance, save for a possible silent cameo at the end of the finale because it's more likely than not Dylan returns to be forgiven in a last "where are they now?" glimpse complete with hugging of wife and kid. Which covers my guess for Dylan's eventual fate, though before that I'm sure he'll have another scene with his brother and possibly with his mother's body, re-burying it.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1225333.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.