Bates Motel: New Worries

At this point, I don't know why I'm still watching this drama. I have to look away from the screen at least once per episode, and I don't relate with any of the characters. I don't have a favorite storyline or an arc that I'm looking forward to continuing. I think I'm just tuned in because it has not yet given me a strong enough reason to stop doing so! What this means beyond the next episode (the season finale) is beyond me, but I think that the show is just so unusual that many viewers watch for that factor alone! Now, to address the plots... I don't like how the missing girl has just been dropped, or how Norman flip-flops his thoughts about Bradley constantly. I also don't care for all of the secrecy with Dylan's work or why Norma thinks that "starting over" is always the answer to everything. I mean, the final episode of the season can't respond to all of this and more, and if the second season will also only have ten episodes, when will these issues actually be addressed?

Bates Motel "A Boy and his Dog" (S01E08): Dylan has to go to Fortuna to pick up trimmers (people who turn the weed plants into smokable product) and learns that his coworkers resent his quick promotions. He also finds out that you can't "quit," and you don't want to get fired, so he might be set/stuck for life. [that's rather disturbing...] One of the trimmers plays the guitar and is annoying, and when he starts to instigate a riot, Dylan pulls a gun on him to force him out of the van. [yikes!] Later, when they get to town, Dylan sets them up with 7 rooms at the motel for a couple of weeks.

Emma's dad shows Norman about taxidermy on the dog he found. Norma is concerned that it will increase her son's "freakness," but she soon has to drop this to address larger concerns.

Joseph Lederer

After Emma corrects some girls in the restroom about the relationship between Bradley and Norman, Bradley confronts Norman, telling him that she wanted it kept secret. He's so upset by this that he leaves school, earning him three days of suspension. There are also concerns about his emotional instability, so he's sent to a therapist, though Norma insists on attending the session with him. [I don't know which is worse... that she got away with only sending him once or that he really struggled to express himself!] Norma is further angered by the therapist's suggestion that both she and her son could benefit from independent sessions. [ha! though this could really add a different depth to the series!]

Norma's off to fight another battle however... the one against the bypass. She asks the sheriff for a favor, but he tells her to leave him alone. Her next problem is Jake Abernathy, the tenant from room 9. He creeps her out when he watches her clean, and when she later follows him around a bit, she decides to return his money and ask him to leave, permanently. [that sucks. we all know they need the business!] Jake retaliates by digging up Shelby's body (which I couldn't even recognize!) and putting it on Norma's bed. [GROSS!!]

Bates Motel "Underwater" (S01E09): Norma thinks that Jake sent her flowers with a card that reads "see you soon," but without evidence, the sheriff doesn't take it seriously. She's so freaked out, in fact, that she shares a bed with Norman. [awkward.] There's a lot of other things on her mind, though, as her realtor refuses to re-list the property, claiming she paid twice what it's worth and there's no market for it. [a little absurd, yes?] When she comes out of the realtor's office, Jake is in her car and puts a gun to her head, demanding the $150,000 that Shelby owed him. [this scene really made me question what's going on... is Jake involved in the prostitution or the weed? I was previously betting the former, but is there that kind of money in the sex slave trade??] Another problem Norma is dealing with is stopping the motel tenants from smoking pot. She is successful at first, and Emma enforces the rule, too, but the teen is soon tempted by a pot cupcake and gets high on the job. [are you kidding me?? I thought I liked Emma!]

Norman, on the other hand, has a completely different set of issues taking place. First, he dreams of drowning Bradley. Then, at school, he considers asking Bradley to the Winter Formal. Plus, after a teacher praises his short story and helps him get it published, he puts his foot down about a potential move to Oahu, wanting to stay in one place. [how often did they move before his father died??]

Dylan is not without concerns, either. After Bradley asks him to get her into Gill's place so she can get some of her father's stuff, he winds up inheriting the office. [I thought that was a little too easy...] Bradley still wants to see the actual space, though, so Dylan takes her, though they're spotted. She looks for a pocketwatch but finds love letters from another woman. [i don't see the purpose in this arc... the man's dead, so who cares if he had an affair?]