'Bates Motel' Postmortem: Producer Talks Norman's Future, Romero's Shocker, and the Series' Happiest Moment Ever
Spoiler Alert: The recap for the “Unconscious" episode of Bates Motel contains storyline and character spoilers.
Is he as bad as he’s going to be? Probably not, but now, with the third season finale of Bates Motel a wrap, it’s clear there’s no turning back on Norman Bates’s path to becoming that Norman Bates. He’s started to dress and act like (actually, as) his mother, he’s becoming increasingly more isolated because of his illness, and, in the season finale, viewers witnessed his latest murder, as he — thinking he was Norma — killed pal Bradley Martin.
The finale also gave us a peek at the Pineview sanitarium, which might host Norman in the future, and found Alex Romero taking a major step to protect the Bates family. And while “Normero” fans may have been left with new hope, the happiest moment of the episode, the season, and probably even the whole series, so far, came courtesy of Dylan and Emma, aka Dylemma to those shippers amongst us.
Bates Motel executive producer Kerry Ehrin discusses the season ender with Yahoo TV, and gives plenty of hints about where the series will go in Season 4.
Let’s start off with the big happy moment we had all been waiting for, especially the Dylemma fans… that scene, the kiss, is one of the biggest payoffs of the series so far.
Isn’t it? It’s just lovely. Every time I saw it in editing, it’s so moving, and it does just make you so deeply happy. Because Dylan and Emma both deserve it, you know? They’re both such good people, and they both deserve it, and it’s just a great outcome for them. And it is really fun to see the chemistry between the two of them, and the genuine joy that they have with each other, how it shows this whole other side of both of them that we haven’t gotten to see yet… just super sexy and cute.
It was interesting to see Emma’s reaction to the news about the transplant, too. She’s a very thoughtful character, and it made sense that she would have mixed feelings about it.
We try to be as realistic with that as we can, within the confines of the show we’re doing, which is Bates Motel and not a show about a person with [cystic fibrosis], but the reality is that transplants are not in any way, shape, or form guaranteed to be successful. You can immediately reject the organ and you can die. It’s a huge risk. It’s a risk with a lot of payoff, but it isn’t like, “Oh hey, this is going to put a Band-Aid on it and fix everything.” It’s not at all that. It’s really complicated. I thought her dad [actor Andrew Howard] did a wonderful job in those scenes, too, because it’s such a complicated thing for a parent to try to make it sound like, “Hey! This is great!” but you know he’s terrified. He knows that she’s terrified, and how do you support your child and try to make them feel OK about it when you both know you’re walking into a complete unknown and could possibly have disastrous results?
And on to our main complicated parent/child duo… when we did the “Ask the Fans” feature with Carlton (Cuse) earlier this season, one of the fans said the thing he was looking forward to was actually seeing Norman kill someone. So, check, and RIP Bradley Martin. For you, what did that signify? We know he’s killed people, but to see it happen …
Yes, it signifies a huge turning point in the storytelling. It’s the birth of that Norman Bates that we know from Psycho. I say that sadly as a mother. I can’t help but identify with Norma and the part of me that’s a Psycho fan is super excited about it, but the part of me that identifies with Norma is heartbroken.
And viewers are heartbroken, too, because we do still like Norman.
Yes, yes. Exactly, yeah. I mean, the thing about him is, he does remain innocent through it. He does not know he’s doing it, and as his situation becomes more complicated and involved and twisted, he is always going to be of the mind that he’s protecting his mother. I think that’s one of the really amazing aspects of the character that was created many years ago.
As we see him slip further and further towards the Norman that we know he eventually becomes, does that mean he will be less willing to admit that he needs help? Because he does acknowledge that at times now.
I think it depends on the situation. I think there’s a part of him that is certainly a good person and would want to get help. I think whether or not that help actually does any good for him, the manner in which it’s received, how it affects his relationship with his mother, all of those things are going to be factors in how it’s processed in his brain and how much he wants to accept it or not accept it, you know? It’s a very isolating existence to have a problem mentally that other people cannot be part of.
You showed us Pineview, the sanitarium, in the finale. Will we see Pineview again?
I believe you will.
Norma’s first question about the facility was about the visitation policy and the rep said to her that it’s very liberal, that in most cases, visitation isn’t an issue. But when the person who is one of the biggest parts of the problem is the one who wants to visit… that could be an issue in this case.
Yes, it could definitely be a problem, and you know Norma. She’s going to want to sleep there. One of the things I love about this show is that even though it’s these huge arch storylines, it’s still very relatable from a parent-child perspective. Any time your kid goes to college or whatever it is, anytime your kid is left somewhere without you, you still think of them as your kid, and it’s incredibly traumatic to parents. So it’s going to be harder for Norma in certain respects than it would be for Norman. And that’s also part of her charm, that she just cares so much.
Money would also seem to be an issue. The general figures the Pineview rep quoted were beyond what the Bates Motel is bringing in.
Yes, it could be. It most definitely could be an issue, because those places are incredibly expensive, and not only is the motel not doing well, the bypass is up and running, so there are huge money problems. And Norma doesn’t have medical insurance. They’ve barely been getting by, you know? She is going to have to figure that out.
And there’s the fact that she’s still reluctant on some level to even have Norman evaluated. She knows at this point that it’s necessary, but a lot of secrets could come out during that.
Absolutely. It’s terrifying to her, and that’s why she has avoided it for so long, but I think it’s been pushed to a point… it’s been witnessed by other people, who’ve told her about it to such an extent that she can’t hide from it anymore. And at the end of the day, she does want what’s best for him. In the past, she has always felt like she could control that herself. I think that this season is about her realizing she isn’t big enough to control it herself. That’s a terrifying thought to her.
There are also more people in Norma and Norman’s universe than before, maybe more than ever before. That’s kind of forced her to take a more honest look at Norman and her relationship with him, too, hasn’t it?
Absolutely… I think she led a very cloistered life when she was with her husband before he died. I think it was an abusive and unhappy relationship. I don’t think it was a house where friends dropped by and people were present in their life. I think the one thing that moving to White Pine Bay has actually given her is a more open life. She has had to be open about things, and it’s forced her to become a little bit emotionally stronger and to be able to start looking at things. I think that is a huge part of it.
Her relationship with Sheriff Romero took a few steps forward, some back, also, this season. But the way he dealt with the Bob situation, killing him… it was at least partly motivated by a desire to protect Norma, and Norman. Was that Romero also deciding he’s going to pursue a relationship with her?
I mean, I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a conscious decision, that by doing that he was saying, “I’m going to have a relationship with Norma,” but the way Carlton and I have always conceived of Romero is that he’s like a guy out of an old western. He is a lot about character and morality and his own compass of morality, and I think in that moment, he felt compelled to do that to protect her. And I think what that moment is about is that it was his acknowledgement of how much he cares about her. What he will do with that information now that he has acknowledged it remains to be seen. I think that was a huge moment for him.
We know generally where we’re getting to eventually, given the history of Norma and Norman. You and Carlton have both said there will be great surprises in how we get there. Is it possible for anybody in this Bates universe to have even a relatively happy ending?
I believe it’s possible for anyone anywhere to potentially, possibly have a happy ending. I mean, Carlton and I, it’s funny that he and I are doing this show, because we’re both fairly, I would say life-affirming types of people. So it’s kind of important to both of us to not have the show be completely punishing. We do love these characters, and we know it has to go in a certain direction, but yeah, absolutely, we want to throw out lifelines of hope along the way.
No small thing with this subject matter.
It is incredibly tough. It is incredibly… I can’t even tell you the psychic energy that gets pulled out of my body trying to elevate the subject matter. I know this is true of the cast as well. It’s definitely true of Vera [Farmiga], who conjures that up on a daily basis, that sort of denial state that she has to live in, that actually does cast a hope over the world of the show. It requires some energy, yes. But we really do, in our hearts we really do hope for the best for these people, and we really do have great affection for them.
