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‘Bates Motel’ Recap: ‘The Body’

Alright, Bates Motel fans. We’re down to the wire. With just a few episodes left, the show is really ramping up its  game and it looks as though it’ll go out in a flash of blazes.

The opening scene of this week’s episode fell on Norman and Sheriff Green who presses Norman for information about Sam’s death. Funnily enough, despite Norman reporting himself to the authorities, all he manages to express in this initial interview is that he wants his meds. The very ones he initially refused from Dylan.

Eventually, the police cart Norman off to jail which leaves Dylan to clean up after Norman’s mess back at home. And he more than rises to the occasion. Not only does he stick around White Pine Bay (leaving Emma and the baby at home) but he also takes the initiative to hire a lawyer for Norman.

Meanwhile, a newly jailed Norman can’t get his story straight. As Sheriff Green prompts him for the location of Sam’s body, Norman struggles to come up with  a solid answer. He points to various places on a map and cites his terrible memory for the inconsistencies in his story.  Then Sheriff Green drops a bomb: the police found more than one body in the river. One is Jim Blackwell’s and the other is an unidentified female.

After delivering this news, the Sheriff shows a softer side. She seems to think Norman is lonely and lying about the murder to get attention. How could this young man, who can’t even identify where he’s hidden a body, be a murderer? Little does she know…

While Norman admits to being lonely, he also assures the Sheriff that he’s certain that he’s the one at fault for Sam Loomis’ death. And so, he’s locked up and given the medication he so desperately wants.

'Bates Motel' Recap: 'The Body'
A&E | Photo by Cate Cameron

Cue in Mother, who steps in just as Norman pops the anti-psych meds in his mouth. The two argue over what’s best for them both…and like so many times before, Mother overpowers Norman.

“I’ll wake you up when things are safe again, okay?” she says, just before putting Norman in a headlock and slamming his head against the toilet.

With that, we know that we’re in for a wild ride. For the rest of the episode, Mother sasses and manipulates her way through meetings with the new lawyer Julia Ramos, and interrogations conducted by Sheriff Green. Eventually Mother has the idea to pin Sam’s death on Madeleine (as payback for Norman lusting after her) and this catches Madeleine completely by surprise. Now, even the Sheriff is realizing that Norman isn’t as innocent as she once thought…

This, of course, all blows up in Mother’s (and Norman’s) face because 1) the cops find Sam’s body and 2) Norman is promptly charged with the deaths of Jim Blackwell and Audrey Ellis, Emma’s mother.

While all that craziness is happening, our dear old friend Chick shows up at the motel which is now an active crime scene. He somehow manages to worm his way into the Bates home. There, in the basement, he plays back recordings of conversations with Norman. And guess who finds him doing this? Romero, with a gun in hand and revenge on his mind.

Here, Romero learns exactly what happened to Norma after her death.

“He dug her up,” Chick explains, prompting a teary-eyed Romero to go off the deep end and shoot Chick dead right then and there.

And so, as one might say, this episode went out with a bang.

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