Being the final season, BATES MOTEL has allowed Norman’s secrets to come into the light as both Caleb and Chick now know the truth. Caleb has been handcuffed in the basement where he speaks with Mother and it turns out she’s attempting to keep Caleb’s whereabouts a secret to Norman.  However, Chick also knows, but is really good at playing along and conversing with Mother.  Things get a little more complicated though when he’s having dinner with both Norman and Mother, but only being able to hear Norman.  His agenda doesn’t come with good intentions as he is recording the conversations in hopes of publishing a true crime novel entirely written on a type writer.

Caleb gets to spend his time in misery as he remembers how his love for Norma began.  When Chick brings up Caleb raping Norma growing up, Caleb refuses to discuss it and it made me a little disappointed that this was possibly his last episode as I would have liked to see more of his side of the story.  Norma hasn’t always been the most reliable throughout the series as her versions of the truth always seemed to be aimed to get whoever was listening to sympathize with her.  He has a pretty intense dream where he breaks himself free and stumbles onto Norma in the freezer.  She warmly embraces him only for him to realize she’s a frozen corpse.  Mother asks Norman to kill Caleb for her and is concerned that Chick might not see her text to pick up milk in the same sentence.  Norman is hesitant, but makes his way downstairs with a pistol in his hand. Instead of killing Caleb though, he tells him to run off and Caleb stalls as he really has no one or a home to go to.  Norman shoots at the ground, scaring Caleb off.  In a brilliantly shot sequence, Mother comes out of nowhere and begins shooting at Caleb only to lure him in front of Chick’s car who isn’t paying attention due to a text message about picking up milk.  Caleb is hit and now both Chick and Norman stand above his body, sharing a secret that can damage them both.

I’m not going to lie and say Chick was someone I cared to watch when he was first introduced in the series.  In the beginning, he felt more like a filler character utilized to help create subplots to expand the show.  However, he has now fully become part of the PSYCHO universe and is one of the most fun characters to watch on the show.

We are three episodes in and the bodies are already piling up.  Consequences are leading to more problems as even Alex Romero has now become a fugitive, making his way back to White Pine Bay, assuming he wants to finish off Norman.  Unfortunately, he tries to steal the wrong car and finds himself the target of a shot gun.  I’m not sure how he thinks his plan is going to work out as it is going to take a miracle for anyone to believe him as he was supposed to be serving time for perjury and, as far as anyone knows, Norma had committed suicide.

No Dylan or Emma this time around and that’s okay as there really wasn’t a place for them here. I don’t think I even saw them in the previews for the next episode either so I’m curious how big of a presence they will play during this final season.  It’s understandable though as they are not even in town and are unaware of what is going on in the Bates home.  Still, the stakes are getting there and the closer we get to the end, the crazier the show seems to get.

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Jovy Skol

Jovy grew up loving all kinds of horror movies which is ironic because his parents hated them. CANDYMAN still scares the shit out of him and it doesn’t help that he lives in the Chicago suburbs. He loves venturing into lesser-known exploitation films of the 70s and being introduced to new movies. Along with movies, Jovy loves horror video-games and books, including comics. Some of his favorite franchises include SILENT HILL, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and the RESIDENT EVIL games.

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