Synopsis:

Norma encounters a mysterious stranger; Bradley becomes annoyed with rumors at school; and Dylan goes on a road trip.


Episode 8 of 10

Man that whole ep was pretty meh until the final scene. Then... holy shit.

^ Agree. Nothing terribly stellar for 50 minutes...then bam!

I wish Norman was in that bathroom when those bitches were talking shit about him.

I was all watching the show, just enjoying the character interactions and then.....Holy crap!!!!!!

This shows how to keep your attention.

This episode definitely had some great moments.

1. Norma vs. Man in Room #9 (Very creepy scene from Jere Burns turning the tables on Norma as he insists she clean his room while he asks her invasive questions. Later, Norma follows him unsuccessfully and is then confronted by him. I love when she is backing away from him and stumbles over a speed bump. Plus, a final confrontation at his door where she tells him to leave or else.)

2. Norma vs. Sheriff (Norma trying to intimidate the Sheriff after hearing that a bypass will destroy her motel and she needs help to stop it. Romero will have none of it and is very chilling in this scene, threatening to burn down her motel!)

3. Dylan vs. the Guy in the Van ()

4. Norma vs. the therapist (If anyone needs therapy it's Norman Bates' mother!)

5. Norman's Taxidermy Hobby Begins (After finding a dog then accidentally getting it killed, he decides to preserve it rather than bury it in the ground. This leads to a part-time job with Emma's dad doing taxidermy which foreshadows the final scene throughout the episode.

Yeah, there seems to be some confusion as to if Norman did that or if Abernathy did. I thought it was obvious Abernathy placed the corpse in Norma's bedroom, but some have suggested Norman worked on the body...I just assumed the scars were from an autopsy.

Norman would have no motivation to place the body in his mother's bed as Abernathy clearly had. Norman doesn't work in the morgue, he works with dead animals.

Yeah, I seriously doubt it would've been Norman. Abernathy wanted to show Norma that he wasn't to be fucked with. I think that message got across.

I don't care about the rest of the supporting cast but I will be crushed if anything happens to Emma.

^ I agree.

This.