Use Your Illusion.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
After a bit of thumb-twiddling in Seasons 2 and 3, Bates Motel rocketed back with a moving, thrilling fourth season, setting us up for a final endgame season that looks to take us through the entire Norman Bates saga in a really unique and captivating way.
When the show first started, there was an idea floating around that it'd work solely as an origin story. As in, the show was meant to take us right up the front steps of Hitchcock's Psycho and deliver us a neatly wrapped Norman, ready to grow up and become the man who murders Marion Crane in the shower. As the seasons went on though, and Freddie Highmore began crafting a really interesting, and severely damaged, character, it became clear that it would be a disservice to simply treat this show like a prelude. It needed to tell a complete story with very little winking regarding "what's to come" after the final credits roll.
Norman is, already, the "psycho" from the classic movie. As we enter "Dark Paradise," Season 5's premiere, Norman's living in a total fantasy world. One that he, deep down, knows is a lie but has chosen to reside in nonetheless. Even Norma herself, as a figment of/extension of Norman, knows on some levels that she's not real. Sure, there's the narrative that she's really alive but faked her death so that she can devote herself to caring for Norman 24/7, but together the two of them, both sides of Norman's brain, really know it's all a dangerous delusion.
But they shrug it away. They accept that Norma can cook a full, fancy pot roast meal even though no one's gone out to shop for the food (and Norma can't even leave the house anyhow). Norman willingly ignores his medication because he knows it would mean losing the creepy dream life he squats in. In squalor, really. Just a gross, dilapidated house where nothing gets cleaned or tended to because that's Norma's job and she's a non-entity.
The Norman/Norma dynamic is still fascinating. Even with Norma dead, it's still a treat to watch these two bicker and spar over the same things they did when she was among the living. Norman has dark designs for the young woman at the hardware store, Madeline Loomis, and he knows it, so Norma's there to do what she used to do - make him feel guilty about having friends. Of course, there's the whole added element of the poor woman possibly getting murdered as well, so the warring dynamic Norman has with himself is almost a type of failsafe device.
Norma's also there to pull him away from his lecherous voyeurism. Oh, and to take over when Norman's life is in danger, as was the case with the gun-toting Mr. Blackwell - a man who served as the premiere's little mini-mystery. Norman discovering his Blackwell's wallet led to us discovering some of the specifics about his living arrangement with Norma, including "BLACKOUT!" dates and violent murders. She's not just an illusion he dreams up, she's an active part of this pairing. She has a very specific role and is able to actively keep things from Norman and have her own secrets. It's really well done.
"Dark Paradise" also took us out to Seattle where Dylan and Emma now lead a calm, loving life with a new baby inside a blissful bubble of ignorance about all the horrible stuff that went down at the end of Season 4. Caleb showed up unannounced, like he does, and complicated things, like he does, but this time it was Emma who sent him packing. Will he oblige her request or should we fear for Dylan's new life? Is Caleb so desperate that he'd harm Emma or the baby? It's hard to tell. All we know is that somehow this season, Dylan will have to learn about Norma's fate and return home. The circumstances as to how this will happen are unclear though I can't help but worry for anyone who finds themselves in a peaceful, good place on Bates Motel.
The Verdict
Somehow, the walls are going to start closing in on Norman. Whether it happens due to Romero's hatred, Dylan's snooping, or murderous mishaps along the way, Norman's far too unstable to make it out of Season 5 with his "Dark Paradise" intact. This was a morbidly entertaining premiere that set up the final season nicely.
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