Bates Motel Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Crazy

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Wow. "Crazy" indeed.

I'm not talking about Norman. Sure, he's off the rails, but that's to be expected. With Bates Motel Season 3 Episode 9 we're rolling into a season finale (what kind of cruel bastard decided 10 episodes was enough?) that promises to keep us on our toes even if Norman decides to hide in the basement all night.

It's highly doubtful Chick will roll over easily and accept $50k of his money walking out the door any more than Bob Paris will be interested in allowing Normal a free pass on any of his indiscretions or Norma 's knowledge of them.

Honestly, Bradley's return failed to impress much in this hour but she poked the hornet's nest, better known as sultry mama Norma by pressing Norman to have sex with her. Whoops! Now he's riding the crazy train and there's little good that can come of things one not-the-mama is involved.

Caleb wasn't about to go find out he let Dylan go through all that trouble and almost get killed to walk away with nothing, so a swift beating of Chick later and he delivered to his son and nephew 50 grand, double what he was owed. 

Now I'm not all that skilled on the ways of the criminal underbelly, but I'm relatively certain that a single beating and a threat isn't going to do the trick in driving Chick away from Dylan. What's disappointing is that Caleb promised Dylan he'd be on the logging road waiting to make sure things blew over.

He didn't wait long enough for my non-criminal taste. I bet Dylan, even with his shady past, will feel the same, both as a son and Chick's mark. It's a small town. Could Chick get wind of Emma's sudden windfall of cash for surgery and make her a target, too? It was a really bad move for Caleb to, well, move.

That damned flash drive didn't do either Romero or Norman any favors. Romero thought he was doing the right thing by turning it over to the authorities and all he got was the stink eye for not realizing sooner there was a tawdry element to White Pine Bay. He really should have thought of that. The problem is, he's really not thinking at all. He just wants it all to end. Hell, who hasn't been there (if not, perhaps, in relation to the mob, per se)?

The feeling was contagious and Norma caught the bug, heading over to Romero's in search of the flash drive. What an amazing scene. That has to be one of the most passionate encounters ever not to end in a fiery kiss. How do they do that and not kiss? There has to be at least one take where they kissed, just so they could see if it was right or not. 

God. How tightly Norma holds onto that secret of Norman's, but she at least admitted that Romero knows the truth and begged him not to make her say it out loud. 

I'm so glad Caleb told Norma about his experience with Norman before he left. Through everything, a part of her trusts him and she needs to get it together where Norman is concerned. Did you see the flutter of "what if" cross her face when Norman challenged her own sanity?

When Norman does that, throws back at Norma that she might be the one with the problem and that she could very well be blaming her own issues on him, I get that sinking feeling again that he's playing everyone like I had at the end of Bates Motel Season 2 when he stared into the camera. He knows exactly what he's doing and he's just waiting to pull out the full crazy at the most opportune moment.

Then he walks back to the house from the motel dragging an empty dog collar and I think I'm the one who's crazy. 

What do you think? Are you ready for this ridiculously short season to be over already? Hit the comments and share your thoughts!

Don't forget, you can watch watch Bates Motel online any time via TV Fanatic if you need more evidence to sort it all together!

Crazy Review

Editor Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 (8 Votes)

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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Bates Motel Season 3 Episode 9 Quotes

If you ever, ever go near my son again, I will hunt you down and I will kill you if it's the last thing I do.

Caleb

Well, live and learn, Norma. Be careful who you give things to. And we're done talking. About anything.

Romero