Peanut6711

tck, tck, tck of the typewriter keys and then a shot rings out! I applauded. That scene with Romero offing Chick made up for all the melodrama of this episode.

I will be very surprised if Romero accidentally shoots Dylan. I don't think Romero is that bad of a shot for one, and two, it would serve no purpose other than tragic shock value. Plus there's a difference between really caring about your half-brother and loving your wife and daughter enough to have a healthy sense of self preservation. Dylan dying to protect Norman would be quite a fail in terms of characterization. Plus after what Dylan saw with Norman fighting "Norma," Mother trying to kill him, and Norman admitting he killed Sam Loomis, I would hope Dylan is smart enough to know that Norman is too far gone for anything he could possibly do at this point.

I will be extremely pissed if Dylan takes a bullet for Norman or anything of the likes. Dylan now has a wife and daughter so putting himself any further at risk or in danger would just be sheer stupidity on the part of his character. I've been a bit disappointed as is over the last few seasons by how much they've taken the spunk out of Dylan. I know from the first season that the actor can pull off so much more so I'm going to blame it on the writing or direction but I think we should see more self preservation on Dylan's part. He finally has a family of his own where he belongs and a wife who if suffered a set back from her transplant could leave their baby daughter an orphan should something also happen to Dylan.

Yes, I thought that was quite an elaborate hallucination since Normal first spots Dr. Edwards crossing the street who then spots him (mimicking the Psycho scene). They do a double take and then meet for coffee. Norman really should have his license revoked at this point if this is what's going on in his head while driving. ;-) That would be phenomenal if next week we see the bodies dragged from the lake and one of them is Chick's! I can see it now--some poor deputy has the onerous task of rooting through all the layers of clothes for ID. Good thing Dylan's in town to help identify the bodies. But then "she" tries to kill him right afterwards! Not so sweet but very "Motherly."

The whole time Dylan was sitting at the kitchen table with Norman all I could think of was Mrs. Peacock in the scene from Clue where she insists, "You gotta go away or you'll be killed!" Wow, just wow on poor Dr. Edwards. I really liked him. Now I don't care if they give Norman the chair. It's his time to go down. Incidentally, if Norman could imagine that whole conversation with the good doc, is it too much to hope for that he's hallucinated every scene he's had with Chick? Maybe that's why he really didn't get the money from the chop shop???

I can't help but feel that some of the differences between the film and the show comes from simply the difference of a roughly 2 hour movie and the limitations with character development/background in that time frame vs. a five season (roughly 50 hours counting commercials) series. There's definitely going to be more ambiguity in the movie than the show. But I don't think Hitch's Norman is pure evil though as evident by the sequel where Normal has a chance at starting over but is perhaps driven back to insanity by Lila's agenda.

I'm pretty sure I don't see Norman that way anymore. LOL Freddie has perfected that sinister look with dark crazy eyes just a few too many times now. Ironically, this shower scene death depicted the psychological angle in that it was Norman as himself while the original did it by being Norman dressed as Mother. Nice continuity at least.

You might be on to something there. Being locked up would be worse than death to Norman. He wanted out of that posh facility and we know what the state facility looks like from earlier seasons (ie a dirty, creepy asylum). Plus the tombstone certainly acts as foreshadowing. And what was Norman's line last night about tragedy? Does anyone recall exactly what he said in last night's episode? As for everyone else.... Dylan/Emma: I sorta think they'll live. They might be the Sam/Lila representation here since the show's version of Sam and either of his women are clearly not the HEAs. I think the showrunners may cater to the viewers and the popularity/likability of Dylan and Emma. I can't imagine why else they've left these two so boring for so long. Don't get me wrong, I like them, but the material Max has been given in the last few seasons is nowhere close to the intuitive, snarky Dylan we fell in love with in season 1. Romera: I can't figure out how this is going to end well for him. He's an escaped convict so either way he's going back to jail most likely. Then again, maybe he will be the one to kill Norman since he really doesn't think he has anything to lose. Of course, he could get his "justice" and then get killed himself. Chick maybe??? Speaking of.... Chick: I really want to see him die. He's way too complicit in Norman's crimes to get a pass. And as not one of the original cast, I don't think he deserves to be the "writer" of the story where he's the one left standing. Chick needs to go and in a violent way. I'd love to somehow see little Madelyn go apeshit and have him caught in the crossfire. Would serve him right for sticking his nose in the whole mess and trying to make a profit off of mental illness. If we need someone to "explain" Norman in the end like the shrink in the movie, I think the psychiatrist and the new sheriff will do a fine job. Edited to Add: I think a great final shot woulds be a pan in of the house and motel to the "closed" sign (showed last night) on the office door with the Psycho theme music playing. No one person shown before cutting to the credits, just the iconic house on the hill and murder motel closed for business.

Loved that line! Made me wonder when this episode's script was written it was so spot on ;-)

Well I called that in the last episode's thread--in the original viewers assumed Marion would live since she was the star; in this one viewers assumed she's die. The ultimate twist is spinning expectations in a Hitch approach. And I gotta say, after seeing it play out and thinking about it, I kinda like it from a modern, feminist point of view. Women are so often portrayed as the victims in fiction so it was nice to see Marion escape, ditch her cheating boyfriend, and speed off, tossing her phone out the window. I liked the image and the message. It was interesting that Norman was the catalyst to empower her. He saved her in a sense (from himself) while at the same time sinking deeper into his violent psychosis by killing Sam as himself. I will admit I thought Norman not dressed as mother in the shower scene didn't pack the visual punch although the focus on Sam's eyes (like Marion in the film) had an extra creepy "horror" feel.

Yes, that's true; Lost was going off the rails long before the finale. Either Cuse learned his lesson or the other producers and writers are reeling him in for this show. Let's hope he produces an ending that does justice to the original.

I'll be irritated as all hell but I won't be surprised. After sitting through that gawd awful finale to Lost, I could totally see Cuse pulling some eye-roll worthy ending like that.

I'm sure hoping so. I think the actor who plays the therapist does a good job and he's a likable character. It would fit well to have him survive and fully explain Norman's psychosis at the end like the shrink in the film. What I hope like hell we don't get, although judging by Cuse's epic fails with finales, is the trite and over-done screen ending where Chick does the explanation via the writing of the book/screen play. That would just be a lazy cop-out of a way to go with a character whose time to meet his end has come. There's just no redemption for Chick at this point, nor does the character deserve an HEA. If they really want to veer off script with a "shocker" they could have Marion survive. After all, Hitch killed her off for the shock value of killing off the star. It would be an ironic twist if she lived in this version since everyone is expecting her to die. I suspect Caleb's murder will be discovered perhaps when

I agree. And you'd think that the showrunners who've had 5 years to think about the casting of such as iconic role as the one Janet Leigh originated would have screen tested many actresses and gone with the one that really nailed the part. I mean it's cool that Rhianna likes the show and wanted to play a role, but it also seems like the creators were going for the celebrity effect. Personally I think I would have preferred them finding an unknown or lesser known and giving that person the opportunity. Except in Norman's head, this was one killing that Norma asked him to make because she stated she couldn't do it herself, yet Norman couldn't go through with it either.

It's interesting that Norman sees Norma as wanting to go to bars and pick up men. He thinks of her as "loose" or "easy" with men perhaps. I don't think we (the viewers) actually ever saw Norma do that. Norman's twisted impression of his mother is that she was into getting drunk and random hook-ups in bar parking lots. In reality, we know she loved Romera in the end. Norman at times certainly seems to imply things of Norma that aren't accurate. For example in the previous episodes Norman assumed that Norma wanted Caleb dead, but just couldn't do it herself. Yet the viewers know from previous seasons that Norma protected Caleb from Chick. While she has her issues with Caleb and their past, she's never wanted him dead.

I feel bad for Dylan. He keeps getting pulled into a mess that isn't his own. I seem to recall Rhianna is slated for a multi episode arc. From the previews for next week,

In the film, she traded in her own car and paid the difference ($700) with the money/cash she'd stolen. Neither car was sporty though. I'm assuming last night that the show didn't skip a trade-in scene since we saw Marion load up the car from her house. Plus, she'd have to be an idiot to buy a bright red, flashy sports car in an attempt to go unnoticed. LOL Not that I ever understood how Marion planned on getting away with stealing a boatload of cash easily trailing back to her. Incidentally, gotta love inflation. In the original movie Marion steels $40,000. Last night it was $400,000. Nice nod though to the original film when Norman is driving through town and his psychiatrist spots him and does a double take. This mimicked the scene with Marion leaving town and being seen by her boss.

Was anyone else perplexed by Marion driving an expensive looking red convertible sports car following a scene where she all but begs for a promotion or a raise?

Me too! I wished they'd have at least called her Sheriff Arbogast. I'm still on the fence about Rhianna too. I'm also on the fence about the change in Sam's characterization from the film to the show. I guess I'll just have to see how it plays out if the change benefits the overall story. What I'm not on the fence about is Carlton Cuse's cameo. Having just rewatched the original on AMC before last night's episode I can undoubtedly say he'd didn't pull off the role as well as the cop in the film. She knew he was divorced in the film. Sam was divorced in the film. His alimony payments were one of the reasons he didn't want to get married (to Marian) yet. Me too!

That's timely. Psycho is being shown right before next week's Bates Motel. :) TCM, MONDAY MARCH, 20 2017 AT 08:00 PM

It would legally be aiding and abetting a criminal as well as failure to report a crime. If Chick doesn't do jail time at the end (assuming he survives), I'll be pissed.

I agree that the past two episodes felt like the season was dragging it's feet a bit. Not to say they haven't been interesting, but when the episode ended I had a "Is that it?" feeling for two weeks in a row. A little more progress to the end game would be appreciated; otherwise I fear the final few episodes will feel rushed. That was a nice play. Definitely a nod towards the scene in the movie with Norman and Detective Arbogast. I suspect the new sheriff will be taking on the role but not the same name. *sigh* Agree. Once again I felt disgust towards Chick when Norman (the known psycho of the bunch) was the one insisting on calling the police when Caleb was hit, yet Chick sided with "Norma," Norman's crazy half. This really drove home who was the conscious and unconscious sociopath of the group. Norman could have easily been "stopped" at this point and apprehended w/out anyone else getting hurt. Instead, Chick forged ahead with his plans...for dinner and his book.

It's been a prequel to the film this whole time until now. With Loomis and company entering the picture it's clear this season is crossing over into the film's territory. Norman on the loose wouldn't make much sense. With all the films, he's either tied to the motel or in jail. It's not like in his mental state he could operate any other way.

This is very true. Suspension of disbelief is defined as "a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment." Norman dressing up as mother and killing people is an actual psychosis, a mental illness. That's real thing, not unbelievable. Thankfully most people don't see it every day, but it does exist in the real world. There's no suspension of disbelief for me there. However, I agree the technicalities of how Norman completes these murders and takes care of the body disposal being a rather scrawny young guy all on his own does require some suspension of disbelief at times. I'm still confused how the murder of the hitman sent by Romero played out since Mother did not really appear in the doorway to warn him.

Gawd I hope they don't go that route. While Chick is an intriguing character, last night pointed to his utter lack of morals and compassion for other human beings. He knows Norman is sick; yet he makes no attempt to get him help. He knows Caleb is being held hostage; yet he makes no attempt to free him. Worse yet, he further instigated Caleb's death when Norman forgot about him and Chick suggested that Caleb probably wanted to kill Norman. Chick is playing on Norman's psychosis and using real people's lives like players in a chess game, his end goal--produce the most salacious book. Chick has the blood on his hands of anyone who dies from this point forward. He's actually worse than Norman in the sense that Norman is mentally ill and doesn't full grasp reality and what he's doing. Chick clearly does. At the very least, he should end up in jail. I will be utterly disgusted if he comes out the sole survivor of this tale. Surely, there's a more suitable ending that pays homage to the movie and to Hitch.