The Movie Journal

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 10 "Midnight" May 20, 2013 SPOILERS AHEAD! Ladies and gentlemen, it has finally happened! In the vein of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho , Freddie Highmore aka Norman Bates made his first onscreen kill. If the show really wanted to be Psycho , it would have done away with the last shot of the dead body of poor Miss Watson. The audience knows she is dead, but the show maybe did not realize its audience knew. I’m glad this episode ended with a bang. The last few episodes were solid in their own right, but they were slow episodes meant to build towards this finale. From start to finish, this episode had me from the edge of my seat. Norma finally broke down and I guess you can say that Norman did as well. In this episode, “Midnight,” Norma does not believe she will be able to meet Abernathy with the $150,000 she promised him. She fills in Sheriff Romero with the details and he tells her he will take care of everything. Romero visits Sommer...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 9 "Underwater" May 13, 2013 We are one more episode away from the season finale and oddly enough, this episode doesn’t seem like it. “Underwater” obviously pushes the season towards the end, but the episode has a calm aura, an aura that allow the episode to build towards the end at its own pace. I was taken aback at first since I wasn’t used to these kinds of penultimate episodes. That said, I enjoyed this episode very much so. It’s funny, horrifying, and it’s entertaining to see Norma lose her cool. At the end of “A Boy and His Dog,” a mysterious stranger dug up and left the deceased body of Zach Shelby in Norma’s bed. Sheriff Romero removes the body and doesn’t believe that Norma is in any danger. Abernathy wants Norma to really understand who he is and what he is looking for. Norma wants to move away from White Pine Bay because of the veiled Abernathy threat and the building of the bypass. Meanwhile, Norman writes a short story ...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 8 "A Boy and His Dog" May 06, 2013 As we move towards the finale (two episodes away), I was really surprised how subdued this episode was. The episode was designed for character-building and I’ll take that any day of the week. Some fans were disappointed because there are really no big horror shocks or intense action scenes, although there is a satisfying cliffhanger. As I said, this episode is all about relationships. Norma vs. Norman, Norman vs. Emma, Norman vs. Emma’s father, and Dylan vs. his new partner Remo. Each relationship I mentioned moves the story dynamic in one way or another. I really liked the Norman vs. Will Decody relationship. Last episode, Norman’s dog was killed in an abrupt and manipulative way. So the taxidermy scenes should not have worked well as they did. But Norman has great chemistry with Will Decody, played by Ian Hart. Will teaches Norman the art of taxidermy while also giving him some insight on love. It was...

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) c...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 6 "The Truth" April 22, 2013 SPOILERS AHEAD! Let it be known that the truth has been revealed! In this aptly-titled episode of Bates Motel , “The Truth” is one adrenaline-laced episode. The Chinese sex slave story, which many viewers found to be a silly subplot, comes to an abrupt end here. I love the interplay between Norman, Norma, and Dylan. Norma manages to become even crazier and I love the new protective attitude that Dylan developed for his little brother (but I am not sure if that is going to last long). Those who stayed to the end got treated with a bombshell that will affect the relationships of these characters moving forward. I will discuss that further in my last paragraph. This episode is briskly-paced, features great character development, and has some great action pieces. Dylan is forced to confront his boss, Gil to recount the story of what happened to his partner. Gil lauds Dylan for his actions and rewards hi...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 5, "Ocean View" April 15, 2013 I seem to be in the minority, but I liked this episode, “Ocean View.” Granted, many plot developments are thrown at us but I was more interested in the character development in all of our characters. In this episode, Norma is even loonier than usual, Norman continues to fall out with his mother but furthers his relationship with Emma (and moves further away from Bradley?), and Dylan decides to act brotherly towards Norman. As we progress farther into Season 1, Freddie Highmore is becoming more and more like Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga continues to shine as Norma. After an eventful night with Bradley, Norman returns home to see that Norma has been arrested for the murder of Keith Summers. The judge posted bail for one-hundred grand, so Norman decides to post the motel as collateral. Norma, still salty over Norman opening up to Dylan, tells them both to stay out of her business. Dylan mentions to Norman...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 4 "Trust Me" April 08, 2013 The fourth episode of Bates Motel really has me pondering about how I truly think about this episode. On the surface, I think it’s a great hour of television that is creepy, tense, and focuses on the unstableness of Norma. Regardless, Vera Farmiga is fantastic here and her line deliveries remain a thing of beauty. That said, I was perplexed about a few things. 1.) The cliffhanger from last episode was essentially swept under the rug. Norman being trapped in Deputy Shelby’s house with the sex slave as Shelby arrived home was a great way to end the episode. But, Dylan (perhaps too coincidentally) happens to be in the area and saves Norman in time. All of this within the first five minutes. 2.) Bradley and Norman hook up and bond even further after Bradley’s father died. The resulting action is a rather horrid sex scene. That sex scene was the worst thing about the episode, but it was also so memorable. That said...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 3 "What's Wrong with Norman?" April 01, 2013 What is wrong with Norman, indeed? A mighty fine question in an episode so aptly titled and one that features Freddie Highmore’s Norman Bates showing his psycho tendencies even more. I enjoyed this episode very much, even if not everything makes a whole lot of sense. Freddie Highmore’s portrayal as Norman Bates has been growing on me and I think he finally makes his break in this episode. The whole mystery of the Chinese sex slaves got an added twist here and it results in one heck of a cliffhanger. The show does well depicting the mental breakdown of Norman’s, but the sexual overtones of the show continues. As you might remember, the premiere showed a very gruesome rape scene to Norma and here, we have Norman fantasizing his English teacher in various forms of bondage. Yeah, Norman is messed up. The relationship between Norma and Norman continues to get weirder and the relationship betwee...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 2 "Nice Town You Picked, Norma" March 25, 2013 After watching this second episode of Bates Motel , consider me impressed. I am still skeptical how the entire series will shake out, but I enjoyed what I have seen so far. It is obvious the show is still trying to find its footing and it clearly toys around with ideas to keep the interest of its audience. Some things may come out of the blue such as an adventure in a pot field and the plot being connected to Chinese sex slaves, but the cast really is worth watching as every actor or actress elevates the sometime-jarring material to another level. Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga continue to show a striking, almost sexual energy with each other. You can really see Vera’s dominance over her son come into play with this episode. We are also introduced to Dylan, played wonderfully by Max Theriot and he provides drama as an antagonist to the rest of the Bates family. Much to the dismay of...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 1 "First You Dream, Then You Die" March 18, 2013 At first glance, I did not think Bates Motel sounded like a good idea. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is an amazing film, and all remakes or sequels/prequels of that film has failed because they could not stand up to the original. Plus there is that thing in today’s world where it is considered cool to make new material based on pre-existing material often to mediocre results. Which is understandable why I and many others were hesitant when this show was announced. After this pilot episode, “First You Dream, Then You Die, “ I came away rather impressed. Yes, the episode feels like a pilot, but there was enough material to keep me intrigued. I loved the setting of the film. The showrunners moved the film to modern day but I love the use of outdated fashion, technology, etc. It gives the show more of a creepy vibe. Speaking of which, I liked how they kept the house and motel intact from the...