Bates Motel - S3E8 - The Pit
Previously on Bates Motel, ‘The Last Supper’
The morning after the most awkward dinner party ever finds Norma relaxing in bed, pleased with how things turned out. Dylan doesn’t want to shit all over her good mood, but after telling her he’ll be spending a few days up at the farm, he reminds her that they still need to talk about Norman and what they’ll do to help him. She knows he’s right, but looks sad about it. He plants a kiss on her forehead before leaving.
I love Dylan and Norma together. He tries so hard.
Norman’s awake and becomes uncomfortable when Norma sits on his bed and touches his hair. He jumps up to head into the office since Emma can only work a few hours a week. He’s worried about her dying, he says, but everyone will die and it’s a wonder that everyone doesn’t go insane thinking about that. This kid is unraveling fast and hard.
Norma is surprised to find construction on her new pool has begun, even though she didn’t sign off on the plans - Bob Paris did. Norman is pissed about all of it because she didn’t see fit to tell him about the pool and she turned down his request for down comforters. Again, Norma overlooks the furious way Norman stares at her.
Bearing Gifts
While Norma places a call to Bob Paris, hoping to get a look at the pool plans, Romero visits the dealership in Portland she used to trade in her car. He wants her car back.
Meanwhile, Bob Paris and two of his goons have James at a junkyard near the river. Bob wants to know if he has the flash drive, which he doesn’t. But then Bob demands info he can use on Norma and when James won’t divulge Norma’s secrets, they put a nail in his foot.
Dylan is preparing to run guns for Chick, but Caleb shows up and tries to talk him out of it. Dylan can’t be dissuaded, so Caleb insists on going with him. Chick is all, “Somebody needs to get their ass in this truck and let’s do this.”
James is dropped off on his sidewalk; he’s been beaten and tortured. As he crawls inside his house, Norma leaves him a message demanding to know what he said to cause Norman to be so distant.
On the road, Dylan confesses to Caleb that Emma is not his girlfriend - she’s seeing Norman - but he still wants to do something nice for her. Caleb notes that Norman doesn’t like him and Dylan warns that Norman will never get past what Caleb did to his mother.
Spilling Secrets
Norma is thrilled to see Romero has her car and offers to pay him for it. He refuses and says he’ll take the new car back for her. He inquires about the plans to the pool as well. I’m starting to think there isn’t going to be a pool. And Romero is on the same page because he barges into Bob’s office and calls him out on it. He warns Bob not to mess with Norma, and Bob offers him a seat so he can school him on a few things.
Bob proceeds to spill ALL THE TEA about Norma and Norman. James told him about Norman killing his father and Norma lying about it and his blackouts. He says Norma is using Romero, and even though Romero looks concerned, he turns down Bob’s offer to “be on the same team” if it means hurting Norma.
Norma orders Norman to get some fencing to keep people from falling in the hole the construction workers left on their property. While on the road, Dylan calls Emma to tell her know he’ll be out of town for a few days and the whole thing is ridiculously adorable. Caleb sneaks a gun into a toolbox in their truck, which is less adorable.
Breaking Point
Emma breaks up with Norman, but says they’ll always be friends. He takes it in true Norman fashion and spends the rest of the day sitting in his room, staring out the window until the sun goes down.
Romero arrives and asks Norma straight out what happened to her husband and he begs her not to lie to him. Of course, she lies and says her husband died in an accident in the garage. He tells her goodbye and she calls after him, but he keeps going. Oh, Norma. She’s ruining everything good in her life to protect her son.
Speaking of Norman, he finally tells her that James suggested he might be sexually attracted to her and it’s made him question himself. She assures him it’s normal to maybe notice her breasts once in awhile because they’re only human, but they’re not animals and they make choices. She apologizes for letting James speak with him and put silly thoughts in his head. Then they hug and cuddle on the bed because that’s completely normal.
Haters Gonna Hate and Shoot
Emma stops by the farm, even though she knows Dylan is out of town, and leaves flowers and some baked goods with a note. Gunner sees her and apologizes for not calling her. She says she’s not worried about anything romantic right now - as she leaves romantic gifts for Dylan - because of her health. They hug, she leaves, then Gunner side-eyes the fuck outta those flowers.
Dylan and Caleb arrive at their destination with the guns, but Chick’s partners aren’t too happy to see he didn’t make it. They make Dylan and Caleb get on their knees and the leader explains that everyone who Chick sells guns to is now in jail. Their plan was to take his guns and kill him, but they’ll settle for sending back a dead Dylan as a message. Thankfully, Caleb is kneeling right near where he hid the gun - so I guess it was kinda adorable - and uses that to kill the leader before he can shoot Dylan. A big shootout follows with one of the bad guys getting away and Caleb and Dylan rushing home.
Romero eyes the flash drive and places a call to the DA. Uh oh.
Norma arrives at James’ to find him getting the fuck out of dodge. He tells her his hamburger patty face is thanks to scary men asking questions about her, and yes, he told them everything. He doesn’t want her to contact him ever again and advises her to get out of town, too.
She rushes home to tell Norman how she screwed up and he’s furious to learn what James knows and what he told. She yells back that it’s hard being his mother and protecting him is going to kill her. When she storms out, he still sees her in that blue flowered dress, cooing and promising that she’ll take care of everything.
He pushes her away and runs out of the house. His dog gets out and runs up the road. Norman follows until he comes across a girl in the road. It’s Bradley, who everyone thinks is dead. Is it really her, or is Norman seeing things again?
