Bates Motel airs Mondays at 10pm ET on A&E, available through Comcast Cable!
“A Boy and his Dog”
In the previous episode, Norman found a dog living under the porch. She runs away, but returns several times and Norman tries to bond with her. At the end of the episode she is accidentally struck and killed by a car, and Norman is inconsolable.
At the beginning of “A Boy and his Dog,” Norman visits Emma’s father, Will, who is an amateur taxidermist. Norman asks Will to preserve the dog because even though he didn’t know her very well, he believes it would be too sad to “put her in the ground.”
At school, Emma is in the bathroom at school and overhears other girls talking about how Norman would never have a chance with Bradley. Trying to stick up for Norman, Emma confronts the girls and tells them that he and Bradley slept together.
Later, Bradley approaches Norman and insists that they need to ignore the rumor (even though it is true), since she already has a boyfriend. Norman is upset leaves school, but is stopped by Miss Watson. When she tries to take his arm, Norman angrily pushes her aside and storms off.
At the hotel, Norma stops by Jake’s room to clean. He asks about Shelby’s death and acts surprised to learn that Shelby and Summers had been involved in sex trafficking. Norma feels threatened and leaves as quickly as possible.
She then heads to Sheriff Romero’s office and asks if there is any way she might be able to stop the proposed highway bypass that would effectively kill the hotel’s business. Romero is resistant to help her and when Norma tries to intimidate him, he threatens to “burn her to the ground.”
Norma is then called in to school and told that Norman will be suspended for leaving in the middle of the day. Principal Hodgins and Miss Watson believe Norman may be emotionally unstable and refer him to a psychologist.
Norman apologizes to his mother for the trouble at school and asks her to drive him down to Will’s shop so he can help with the taxidermy project. Norma privately expresses concern about Norman’s interest in taxidermy, but Will believes the hobby will be good for him.
Norma arrives home as Jake is leaving, and impulsively decides to follow him (in the most obvious manner possible) to the marina. He briefly searches Summers’ boat and Norma loses sight of him. As she tries to get back to her car, Jake pulls up suddenly and asks where she’s hidden “it,” perhaps referring to the notebook Norman found during the renovations.
The next day, Norma takes Norman to see a therapist. She sits in on the session and largely speaks for Norman when asked about his father’s death. The therapist pulls her aside and asks to see both she and Norman separately, as he worries that Norma’s need for control over Norman reflects a sense of powerlessness in her own life.
When she arrives back at the hotel, Norma tries to reassert control and demands that Jake leave immediately or else she’ll call the police. Much to her relief, he packs his things and drives off.
Meanwhile, Dylan and his new partner, Remo, head down to California to pick up “trimmers” to harvest the marijuana fields. On the way, they get into a fight after Remo complains that Dylan is too young and inexperienced to be in charge. But Dylan later gains his respect when he tosses one of the workers (an overwrought caricature of a hippie, complete with a fringed jacket and acoustic guitar) out of the van for complaining and riling up the others.
Norma is cleaning Jake’s hotel room when Dylan returns with the trimmers. She thanks him for bringing in some business (apparently oblivious to the nature of their work) and asks him to have dinner in the village. When Norma heads upstairs to change, she finds Shelby’s corpse on her bed.
Tune in next week for the aftermath of this grisly discovery.