Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 7 "The Man In Number 9"

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 7 "The Man In Number 9"

April 29, 2013


After the explosive events of the previous episode, Bates Motel switches gears with “The Man in Number 9.” There is a lot of good stuff here, even if the episode is somewhat subdued. There are also some perplexing events that make it seems like the show is rushing towards the end. This episode continues the trend of making Norman even more unstable. This time, Bradley is important in that regard. Yes, she is back after missing the last few episodes. The acting remains consistent and the addition of Jere Burns as the titular character with unknown motives made me wonder what the show has in store for us next.



After the last episode ends with the murder of Deputy Shelby, Norma calls for Sheriff Romero and explains everything that happened since episode one. Romero calls it “water under the bridge” and said he has been suspecting Shelby. A strange man named Jake Abernathy (played by Jere Burns) comes to the hotel surprised it was not being ran by Keith Summers. Abernathy wants to continue his deal he had where he rented out the entire hotel with advanced cash payment. Both Dylan and Norma are wary of this new character. Dylan still has plans to move out. Finally, Bradley is back. But Norman realizes that Bradley may not have any feelings towards him at all.



I really liked the series up to this point and that includes this episode. It’s campy, fun, and the stories are told just right. While I liked this episode a lot, there was one thing that perplexed me. Norman found a dog underneath the porch and it became his new best friend. By the end, the dog is killed by a car. I get why that happened. It explains Norman’s new affinity for taxidermy. But this dog device was forced fed to us and it basically told us how to feel. Now if that dog was with Norman from the start, we would feel legitimate emotion. But the way the dog was used here bothered me. It felt like a rushed sequence. On that note, I can’t wait to see how the season will end. Also, Olivia Cooke is not featured much here but she and Vera Farmiga share a juicy scene together where Norma finds out that Norman had sex with Bradley. The two of them bond and it was uproariously funny! I also liked the creepy vibe The Man from Number 9 brought to the episode.



My Grade: A-

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