Bates Motel – S4xEp01 – “A Danger To Himself And Others”

The Norman Bates we meet in “A Danger To Himself And Others” is no longer the Norman Bates of the first three seasons. Last year ended with a definitive shift, into a world where his unbreakable bond with his mother ceased to be a connection to Norma, the flesh-and-blood woman, and transitioned to Norma/n, the maternal figure conjured up by his mind. This murderous matriarch bubbles to the surface in times of stress. Sometimes it’s as an imaginary relation speaking to him, and sometimes—as the final section of this episode reminds us—taking over Norman entirely. The good-hearted kid still lives on, but he’s been almost entirely shunted aside in favor of the tormented young man who continually reacts to a mother who’s not really there.

What Emma’s mother said to Norma basically summed up Norma’s life. She knows exactly what it was like. But instead of physically running away, she just mentally closed the door on Norman’s problems. When Norman was in the hospital, the administrator told Norma she could be held as negligent for not getting Norman the help he needed before he was an adult, knowing fully well he had been blacking out and in need of some sort of treatment.  She finally told the doctor outside of Pineview the truth: she never got him care because she was afraid the doctors would take him away from her. Well, that’s part of it, anyway. But that’s not a good reason to keep your child from receiving something he desperately needs.

Dylan is heading up to Portland. Emma’s getting a lung transplant and he has to be there for her. He uses this moment to tell Norma that he and Emma are a thing. A beautiful thing that needs to be protected and cared for.

Emma’s lung transplant was successful. So now it’ll be interesting to see where they take her and Dylan. I’m just assuming everyone on this show, except Norman, will die by the end so I’m very curious to see what they do with Emma now that she’s, essentially, survived this heath scare. Will she rise from the ashes just to get murdered or is has she always been destined to die from health complications?