EPISODE 10: Unconscious
CHECKING IN: Norma (Vera Farminga) tries to find help for her son, Emma (Olivia Cooke) has to deal with the reality of the a lung transplant and her affection for Dylan (Max Thieriot), Sheriff Romero (Nestor Carbonell) is swayed by his desire for Norma and takes care of Bob Paris old school. Oh and Norman (Freddie Highmore) goes full psycho for our viewing pleasure!
THE ROOM: Is it me or did the BATES MOTEL Season finale come way too freaking soon?! I don't know man, it feels like I just started Season 3 and now it's already over. Well I got to hand it to the creative minds behind the show; Season 3 was top-notch television in my book and solidified my interest in the impending Season 4. I'm not checking out any time soon! Are you? I'm curious. But what about the season finale you may ask? Well, although it ignored a couple of things I wanted to see kicked to the curb, it still did the trick and left me on quite the grisly finale frames.
As per every episode of this show, there was a lot going in Bates Land! I felt Dylan's pain (Max Thieriot) as he lost his dad yet once again (I mucho missed Caleb in this episode, at least he's not dead which means more Kenny Johnson, yes!) and also was happy for him when he and Emma (Olivia Cooke) finally followed through with their mutual attraction and shared a kiss. The organic reaction both actors shared after said spit-swap (smiles, giggles, lovey-dovety eyes) was mucho endearing. They make a cute couple! I was also happy to see the show take a step further in terms of Emma and that lung transplant. Emma's reaction as to the operation was gripping (fear then acceptance) and I’m pumped to see a healthy Emma grace the show – unless they kill her on the operating table – but I HIGHLY doubt it. A tip-top Emma means a new lease on life for the character – it will be a game changer. So she's out of the danger zone (I was scared for her life all season) for now in my book… for now.
Mother knows best!
Then we had Sheriff Romero (Nestor Carbonell) and Norma's (Vera Farminga) courtship once again taking a u- turn to go in a hopeful direction for the two could-be love-birds. I adored their little "tete a tete" (Farminga and Carbonell work beautifully off each other) and the fact that Romero is too in love with Norma. The man can't help himself – he has to do what he has to do to protect her if he's ever to have her romantically. And as we all know that led to Bob Paris (Kevin Rahm) demise. Seeing him riddled with bullets Romero style carved a grin on my face as the Paris subplot ended with a bang (well more than one, you know what I mean). ARROW ADVICE: Hey Romero, next time slap a silencer on your gun, unless you want to get pinched that is. END OF ARROW ADVICE.
The final card this episode slammed on the table had to do with Norman losing his f*cking beans! Norma's attempts at finding him some help were admirable (and heartbreaking – you see her face once she found out how much it cost? Ouch…) but they were in vain. And her knocking him out and tying him up in the basement was kinda creepy – even for Norma! But the real kicker was that for the first time on Bates Motel we got to witness Norman switch into Mother and kill some poor shlep. And that poor shlep was Bradley (Nicole Martin) who was pretty much the weakest link of this Season if you ask me. Bringing her back in the first place and playing the "is she real or not" game felt cheap (this show is better than that) – and now we know that all of that was done just so Norman can have a "trouble free" kill (nobody will miss a girl that's already dead on paper). On that, the kill scene was pretty damn brutal and powerful. It definitely took me aback! And ending the episode with a car (and the body) sinking in the swamp (echoing the famous scene was PSYCHO) was a sweet touch!
P-s-y-c-h-o
Bradley coming back aside, I was also bummed by the fact that the huge pit Bob Paris was having dug in front of the Bates Motel wasn't put to good use i.e. nobody wound up buried in it Maybe in Season 4 perhaps. And it so grated me that the Chick (Ryan Hurst ) subplot wasn't brought to a close. I always found the character annoying and also found it dumb that Caleb would beat the shit out of him and then leave – hence leaving Dylan at risk of Chick's eventual retribution (again, lazy writing, this show is better than that). All that to say, I wanted Season 4 to be Chick free, but like the song goes: "You don't always get what you want".
Overall, even with my peeves in the trunk, the Season 3 finale still packed a stab and made way for what should be yet another badass Season. After the first two I was scared that Season 3 would run out of a steam a tad, boy was I wrong! I now think that Bates Motel still has lots of fuel in its tank and has at least 2 more solid seasons to give us. Just my opinion of course. I hope you all enjoyed your stay at the Bates Motel on this run! See you next Season! "No Vacancy" sign goes on!
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Ya think the Bradley Martin kill will come back to haunt Norman, or is it done-done?
Is there still hope that Chick will wind up in that pit in front of the Bates Motel?
Was I alone in being happy that Caleb lived? The character seems to polarize people. I dig him! Do you?
RATING ON 10
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