TV Review: Bates Motel S4, Episode #6 (The Vault)

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

EPISODE 6: The Vault

CHECKING IN:  Norma (Vera Farminga) steps up to Chick (Ryan Hurst). Dylan (Max Thieriot) and his dad/uncle Caleb (Kenny Johnson) have a heartfelt tete a tete while Norman (Freddie Highmore) learns the truth about his black-outs.

THE ROOM: Last night's BATES MOTEL was a very powerful episode and it moved yours truly damn close to man-tears a couple of times. Pretty much every character had a skeleton or a simple secret pop out of his/her closet and then had to deal with said bony artifact of the past in "public". The worse of them all definitely had to be Norma's (Vera Farminga) "I slept with my brother and he's Dylan's dad" whopper. Said revelation smacked me hard on three echelons. 1- Man I was happy to see Norma not yield to that grating character Chick's threats of revealing her secret if she didn't sell out Caleb. I said it once and will now eloquently say it again: f*ck that guy! 

Man, Sheriff, Pimp. ROMERO!

2- Vera's confession of her sordid past was so moving, of course helped by yet another astounding Vera Farminga performance. And 3- Romero's (Nestor Carbonnell at his most affable) acceptance of Norma for who she was and who she is almost killed me. When she told him to "pack his bags", expecting him to leave her, and he responded "Where are we going?"… damn… I needed a hug after that! 😉 Well played Bates Motel! You had me! Norman (Freddie Highmore KILLING IT once again – damn he's good) also had a secret come up to the surface – one that was actually revealed to himself: "he becomes his own Mother when he blacks out". I gotta say it, the flashbacks of Norman's childhood with his dad put me through the ringer and then some. Talk about tough to watch!

And the bit that saw Norma get raped by her hubby while baby Norman held her hand in support while out of sight was totally heartbreaking and for me, explained as to why both are so unhealthy close. All that led to the Doctor (Damon Jamal Gupton owning that shit – love his performance) revealing to Norman the WHO behind his black-outs. Norman's low key reaction to finding out was fascinating to say the least. In truth, this whole subplot has me engaged way more than I thought it would and one of the main reasons for that is that I don't know just how much is Norman is playing along and how much is he truly "getting better". Time will tell. On that, being that we all know how it ends (PSYCHO), I should wise the f*ck up and expect the worst 🙂

Is Norman getting better or worse?

On a lesser degree, I esteemed Romero's move of trying to incinerate his own skeleton by getting rid of Bob Paris money (I doubt that will work) while Dylan's confession (Max Thieriot on top of his game once again) of his relationship with Emma to Norman spread the seed of discontent on Norman's end as far as I'm concerned. I expect repercussions from that one by the end of the season. On its end; Dylan's convo with Caleb was sentimental and mucho awkward all at the same time and my gut tells me it will prompt Caleb to return and… GET WHACKED. All in all, this was an emotionally charged BATES MOTEL episode wth stand-out performances from everyone! The season's building to something and for once I'm not sure what (I smell he death of Caleb though)! On that, there's ONE secret still buried. Norman doesn't know that his beloved Mother is MARRIED, LIVING WITH and in LOVE with a man. Hmmmm… see ya next week BATES FANS!

Random Thoughts: Where is this season going in your opinion? Am curious as to your take!

Is this the last we hear of Chick? Or will he come back at the end of this season to kill Caleb? Very likely IMO.

Last I checked, Chick had set Caleb and Dylan up. Hence he asked for it. He should project that bitterness at himself. Freaing clown…

Norma and Romero are so great together, it's silly. Awesome couple! They should do a spin-off of just them being in love woth no troubles in sight – I'd watch it! 😉

RATING ON 10

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