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Bates Motel, Season 2 premiered last week on March 3rd… Crap! I’m a week late with this and promise to be more punctual with my homewo… wait, my dog ate it. Anyway, episode 2, “Shadow of a Doubt,” airs tonight and I will definitely deliver something for you on that tomorrow. For now, let’s focus on the premiere, “Gone But Not Forgotten.”
What’s your overall impression of the season opener?
The episode, while reminding us of who our key characters are, definitely had a darker tone to it than much of what we saw in Season 1. I wonder if that had anything to do with fan reactions. So, while yes, Norman is on summer break from high school, we’re still going to deal with high school issues such as suicide, depression, love triangles, unrequited love, family problems, etc. However, these issues are coming from darker places than the typical high school experience.
For starters, we have Norman Bates who’s mastering his taxidermy craft (we know that’ll come in handy in the future), blanking out when he gets sexually stimulated or just stressed in general, and on his way to becoming a serial killer. There’s also Bradley, Norman’s love interest from last season, who’s trying to piece together the reason for her father’s death. Oh yes, let’s not forget that Bradley attempted suicide and is clearly not stable, which she showed to us by seducing an older man for information and then promptly blowing his head off.
We also have the awkward, sexually disturbing relationship between Norman and his mother. Ugh. She’s pissed this season because the work to put an a highway bypass through town is ahead of schedule when she thought she’d have plenty of time to prepare an argument against it. So, she pieces something together to present to town hall and when she’s shut down she spontaneously calls the chairman a “dick.” She also accused the town of being run on the drug industry, which garnered several gasps from the citizens in attendance.
Well, honestly, there wasn’t much in this episode to indicate where we’re going. I think it basically served as a reminder of what happened last season. However, let’s speculate. Bradley is going to kill a few more people as she avenges her father, probably his mistress, all the while dragging Norman down with her. Norma, however, will catch wind of what her son is doing and will probably kill Bradley herself. From previews of the season, we know that Norman will have a new love interest, so there’s that to look forward to. I’m betting that Norma will stage some kind of elaborate roadblock for the bypass construction. Oh, yes, Norman also snapped a picture of a strange man at Miss Watson’s grave and we’ll likely have a follow-up as Norman pieces together the circumstances of her death.
Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine and we’ll bring you more Bates Motel.
Rock Hard \m/
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