S05.E10: The Cord

[BooBear]

That was a perfect ending. "Right" for this show. Dylan was heartbreaking. He never cries. But I kind of liked the meta moment of him coming up behind Norma's body like in the movie and realizing in horror it was a body that had been propped up there... then he heaved everyplace. That would have been my reaction. I suspect that Emma did call the Sheriff immediately after hanging up with Dylan.   I was a little confused as to why "Norma" the killer left "Norman"  but I assumed it was  Norman's insanity getting worse. I was also confused at to how "Norma" the killer knew where the body was. 

I assume that Romero isn't with Norma in the afterlife because Romero was an evil man and will be going to hell. :) I don't think Norman is evil.

It was great that Norman told Dylan he loved him. I think on some level the real Norman was in there and was trying to make everything right before he suiciding himself with Dylan.  I think Dylan realized that there was no choice but to kill Norman when he realized that even if Norman went to treatment nothing would be able to change. He would still have to watch Norman carefully he could never allow his daughter or Emma to be around him. It was all over already, Dylan just had to accept it. 

[Catronia]

I've watched this crazy-fantastic show from the very beginning, but haven't posted much (or maybe at all). I feel compelled now to join in the celebration of how amazing the whole series was, and how the finale wrapped it all up -- tragedy, romance, horror, extreme suspense (yelling at the TV "DYLAN, NO!"), and one very happy ending.

Farmiga, Highmore, and Theriot ... what is there to say? Incredible. I was already a fan of Vera Farmiga, but I'll be looking out for Highmore and Theriot:'s future projects too. So many great series dwindle into a pointless ending, but this was stellar from start to finish. I will miss it.

[smorbie]

7 hours ago, Rear Window said:

Norma at the dinner table was beyond creepy! But I love that Max Thieriot's wine made an appearance.

I'm still in mourning over Romero. I know he wasn't going to make it, but having Norman kill him and his body left out there was really sad. I hope he beat Norman to Norma in the afterlife.

That's one of the wonderful things about Heaven.  They both can be with her forever all by themselves.

7 hours ago, RogerDodger said:

One of the best series endings I think I've ever witnessed.

Dylan and Emma got a happily ever after.

Norman and Norma sort of got a happily ever after.

Romero? Well, I suppose not every body could get one.

My one nitpick was that I was really hoping they would work in the "I wouldn't even hurt a fly" from the original, but I guess it would not have made much sense considering how things played out.   

Happy endings are relative, aren't they?  Norman got the only happy ending he could.  He's with Norma and he's her little boy again.  That's all he ever really wanted.  I like to think Alex got a happy ending, too.  We just didn't see it.

7 hours ago, bistor said:

That bugged me, but I'm willing to let it pass because the final scene needed to take place there.

And yes, I loved it when Vera said that!

I actually have the feeling Norma said it.

[smorbie]

6 hours ago, CynicalGirl said:

I wasn't sure what to expect so I didn't even allow myself to speculate. I wasn't really surprised by Romero's demise, when he put himself in such a (literally) vulnerable position kneeling over Norma's body with a gun sticking out of his back pocket and Norman fixing to rise up like Michael Myers in Halloween. I was like, buh bye Alex.

And yeah, there was no great twisty ending, but I think this was the ending the show deserved. 

It really showed what a decompensated state Alex's mind was in that he literally turned his back on Norman, dropped his gun, and dug for Norma.  He was as ill as Norman in the end.

The saddest thing is that he was left alone when he died.  It's fitting we never got to see what happened after because we never really had much of a glimpse into Alex's mind.  He was very closed off.  The most we ever learned about him was the two weeks he was married to Norma.  I think those were the only two weeks of his life really.

[Timetoread]

Deleted - posted from wrong device.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Timetoread

[bosawks]

I rarely post on this forum because I never know what to think about the episode after I watch it and then when I do finally get my thoughts together the new episode has already aired.

That being said at the end of the day what I do know is that I am really going to miss this show.

[luna1122]

I was so positive that Dylan wasn't going to make it out alive this episode---when his friend who gave him the gun said 'next time, let's go get a beer', Dylan turned his back to him...It seemed almost palpable that Dylan believed there'd be no next time. When he was talking to Emma, I was already crying, certain he was about to go in and kill Norman, because he had to, and maybe kill himself, tho that seemed unlike him. But I was sure he wasn't going to walk back out of that house. I'm so happy that he did, and that he and Emma got the only real happy ending.

I think Emma DID call the cops as soon as she hung up with Dylan.

I really couldn't quite get past there being no police presence at the Hotel, tho. It was so unlikely and weird and seemingly gaping a plot hole that I was half convinced it was all just another fever dream of Norman's: the mom with the sons, one named Dylan, the rooms still being clean and tidy enuf to rent, him leaving the big old Bates Motel sign on, etc.

And I'm really sad that Dylan will never know what happened to Caleb. Will he guess? He had no idea Caleb was heading to the motel, tho, did he? He'll just think he disappeared on him. Unless his body is found..I can't even remember, where IS Caleb? Did Chick write about all of that, so possibly there were some questions that could be answered?

Poor fucked up Romero.

It was a satisfying conclusion, and everyone was so good. I'll miss this show, and these actors. I had no idea Freddie Highmore was so accomplished and maybe actually a genius in real life. Speaks 7 (or was it 9?) languages fluently? Chess champion at age ten. He's pretty amazing. And I'll really miss Max Theirot, who is probably the team VIP for this show in many ways. I hope to see all of them in other projects soon.

[Chaos Theory]

I forget where but one of the review sites did comment on the fact that it really was silly that there was no police presence at the motel but that the show often chose emotion over logic for better and for worse.  For the show to end the way it needed to Norman needed to end up back at the motel so the police needed to be gone.  You either accept that or you don't.  The same way you had to accept that source material may have been a horror story but even from the Pilot Bates Motel was always written as a tragedy.  The people who couldn't accept that are the ones who tended to fall away at the wayside.  

Edited April 25, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[Dobian]

I liked how they concluded it.  The one flaw with the episode, like has been said, is that the police really pulled a vanishing act.  There was no way Norman should have been able to drive Norma back to the house the following morning without running into cop cars all over the place.  The police would have gone to the motel as a possible location where Romero went, and left someone there to just watch the place.  But that aside, it was a good ending.  The Norma fantasy scenes were great and brought the series full circle.  It had to come down to the two brothers back at Norman's house, there was no other proper way to end it. Norma sitting at the dining room table was chilling.  And Dylan killing his brother was the appropriate thing, and marked a final departure from the movies in a good way.  They could have gone the cheap horror route and had Norman kill Dylan, then be locked away, where like in the movies he would eventually be released implausibly to kill again.  And a final chilling shot of Norman's psychopath face.  But they went a different route because this show was about a dysfunctional family, not horror itself, and needed to be resolved with a final understanding between Norman and Dylan.  Mother was finally gone from Norman's head, but he still couldn't let her go, so it was him in the final confrontation with Dylan, both of them trying desperately to hang onto the family they always wanted but never truly existed.  I was happy to see Dylan find that happiness in the end with his own family, and Norman could finally rest in peace with his mother.

[smorbie]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

I forget where but one of the review sites did comment on the fact that it really was silly that there was no police presence at the motel but that the show often chose emotion over logic for better and for worse.  For the show to end the way it needed to Norman needed to end up back at the motel so the police needed to be gone.  You either accept that or you don't.  The sane way you had to accept that source material may have been a horror story but even from the Pilot Bates Motel was always written as a tragedy.  The people who couldn't accept that are the ones who tended to fall away at the wayside.  

The thing about this show is that it always existed in sort of a timeless realm.  Women often dressed as if it were the sixties.  Mom and Pop motels were popular things instead of dens for prostitutes and drug addicts (not all are but it would be hard to know just driving through if that were the case).  The internet and facebook existed, but people were often unable to locate basic information.  For example, Norma was never shown looking up Norman's symptoms.  There was no such thing as Obamacare and marijuana was still the most illegal thing around.  

In that timeless world, it can make sense that the small police force of WPB was concentrating on the forest where they knew Norman had been and not the motel.  In that foggy universe a woman whose husband was teaching a semester at college, who probably had enough cash for a nice hotel, would choose instead to stop at a run-down motel on the outskirts of a tiny, little town instead.

And in that eerie universe everyone got a happy ending from this Greek-epic tragedy.

It was fitting that Dylan, the family outcast facing being cast out from his new family, was the one who was able to free Norman from the pain of his life.  It was horrible but Dylan (and we) know there was no happy ending for Norman.  Norman had realized he had killed his mother, so even if he had ever regained his sanity, he couldn't have lived with himself.  

There was no way Alex would ever have been happy again.  For one thing, he was as mad as Norman. For another, if he had come through it, he would never, ever gotten out of prison.  Where I live the penalty for attempted escape is 50 years.  Add the charges of threatening, attacking, and shooting police officers, killing Chick (okay, maybe they would have considered that a public service), multiple counts of carjacking, identity theft, and on and on.

As for Dylan's ever finding out about Caleb?  I think Caleb's disappearance will be a haunting mystery in his life.  Remember, Emma sent Caleb away because she didn't want Katie to ever find out about him and Norma.  My guess is Dylan will assume Caleb has chosen to be absent in accordance with their wishes and that Caleb will never show up again.  Dylan will be right.

I'm going to say it again, all hail to Freddie Highmore.  His madness was so evident by the time this episode started, people could easily see it.  I was surprised that woman rented from him.  His eyes were quite scary.

And all hail to Max Theroit, the often unsung hero of the plot.  For so long he was just another actor, competent, doing his job well.  He didn't often have a chance to shine, but when he did, he was electric.  I think of the scene where Norma asked him to go to Canada with her and Norman and told him how much she loved him.  I cry at the struggle on his face every time.  I'm glad he got a chance to strut his stuff in these last episodes.

We will never know what happened to Dr. Edwards and that's a shame.  The thing is we know Mother had more than one dumping spot.  Bradley was never found and Keith Summers' body never showed up, just his hand.  I'm guessing Bradley and Dr. Edwards are at the bottom of the deep, blue sea.

Like everyone else I was glad Dylan and Emma made it.  Emma is a genuinely kind and good person and eventually she would have figured out what a spot Dylan was in.  And, IMO, letting him go over a mother like Audrey wouldn't have been worth it.

It was a good finale, though, of course, very sad.  But, we knew it would be.  How many times did someone say this was written as a tragedy.  Tragedies rarely have ecstatically happy endings.  It was a wonderful ride, though, wasn't it?  It was beautifully written (by the creator of the dreadful Lost, no less) , gorgeously shot, and brilliantly acted by the entire cast.  I'm so sad it's over.

Edited April 25, 2017 by smorbie

[Peanut6711]

Frankly, I thought this finale was rather boring, lacking, and the pacing was off.

Granted, I'm glad Norman's dead. I'd lost sympathy for him a long time ago. I am glad Dylan is alive and got his HEA even though he bugged the shit out of me most of the episode moping around and then foolishly accepting a dinner request at Chez Bates after the last one ended so stunning. My hubs called Dylan killing Norman very early on. I saw it coming too as the writing was on the wall at various points in the episode once Romero was out of the picture.  The show has been flipping things on it's head and you had to expect the least expected. Everyone thought Dylan was a goner from day one so it's was a twist on the viewer's expectations (just like Norman's attempted suicide/murder with Norma and Marion living and Sam dying).   

But there were just too many continuity errors and dropped plot points in an otherwise tight series for me to feel satisfied. The Dr. Edwards character seriously needed some explanation/closure somewhere in this last season. You don't just bring up that the guy is missing, suggesting that Norman's whole coffee date with the man was a figment of his imagination, and not go somewhere with it. When did Norman kill him? Where? How did he dispose of the body? And how was there not an investigation into the disappearance of a prominent psychiatrist that ultimately didn't lead to Norman's door? That was just a huge plot hole of their own making that I could not get past.  Same thing w/Caleb. He was Dylan's dad, brought back to town only to die and Dylan never knows. Again it's poor plotting. 

And the suspension of disbelief that two criminals were on the loose and their homes were even points of surveillance as instructed by the sheriff had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head when hours drug on without one cop at the Bates Motel.  Hell, Norman even had the sign turned on, unknowingly broadcasting his location. It's not that big of a town and they were calling in for backup, which no doubt they were have a lot of with TWO freaking criminals on the loose, one a suspected serial killer and the other armed!  Regina making it back was inconsequential. And on that final note, I gotta say I really felt for her when she was begging Alex to spare her life in the car. But the moment he tells her she can go and she bitches about walking in the cold, well he could have offed her then and I wouldn't have minded. What kind of idiot get a pass like that and then whines because the weather! It sure as hell couldn't have been that cold because lots of people on the show have been walking around outside and they weren't wearing parkas or snowsuits. Geez! It's Oregon, not Alaska. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by Peanut6711

[checkmeboo]

I literally stood up and screamed NOOOOOOO when Norman came at Dylan with the knife!!!  Such a great ending, I am so sad it's over!!!  I can't except it!

[margol29]

The acting on this show is so top notch! The emotions that were flickering on Norman's face as Dylan was telling him about what is reality were just amazing. Highmore is such a great actor. They all are I will really miss this show.

[smorbie]

If I had ever really thought there was hope for Norman, I would have known there wasn't when I watched his face in that scene.  OMG.

7 minutes ago, checkmeboo said:

I literally stood up and screamed NOOOOOOO when Norman came at Dylan with the knife!!!  Such a great ending, I am so sad it's over!!!  I can't except it!

I had been steadily talking to Dylan since he pulled up to have supper with Norman and their mother.

I don't know why TV characters aren't better listeners.

[CynicalGirl]

44 minutes ago, Peanut6711 said:

 

And the suspension of disbelief that two criminals were on the loose and their homes were even points of surveillance as instructed by the sheriff had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head when hours drug on without one cop at the Bates Motel.  Hell, Norman even had the sign turned on, unknowingly broadcasting his location. It's not that big of a town and they were calling in for backup, which no doubt they were have a lot of with TWO freaking criminals on the loose, one a suspected serial killer and the other armed!  Regina making it back was inconsequential. And on that final note, I gotta say I really felt for her when she was begging Alex to spare her life in the car. But the moment he tells her she can go and she bitches about walking in the cold, well he could have offed her then and I wouldn't have minded. What kind of idiot get a pass like that and then whines because the weather! It sure as hell couldn't have been that cold because lots of people on the show have been walking around outside and they weren't wearing parkas or snowsuits. Geez! It's Oregon, not Alaska. 

Not only was the sign lit, every light in the house was on! That place was like an airport landing strip.

And yeah, Regina. What a whiner. He should've just shot her and spared her that long walk back to the station. 

[smorbie]

I guess she thought he would just go, "Welp, let me put this revenge thing on hold and take you back to the station. Would you rather I take you home?  Wannna stop off at the store or pull through a drive thru to grab dinner on the way?  Okay, Norman, pile in and stop being so crazy for a minute; we're going to take Regina home".

Edited April 25, 2017 by smorbie

[CynicalGirl]

"Here, let me call you an Uber..."

[peacheslatour]

I feel like a beloved friend has died. It's been and honor and a pleasure posting with you fine ladies and gentlemen, here and on TWoP, these last five years. I'm going to go cry now.

[smorbie]

You must be sad.  This isn't TWoP.  This is previously.tv.

[Rustybones]

I usually don't see all the details as many of you do, but I did catch this one.

When Norman opened the motel he reached under the counter and put the ledger on top, then the little dish of candy, as though it also belonged there.  And when he was checking in the woman with the two kids, he ate one of the candies.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Rustybones

[peacheslatour]

28 minutes ago, smorbie said:

You must be sad.  This isn't TWoP.  This is previously.tv.

 

34 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I feel like a beloved friend has died. It's been and honor and a pleasure posting with you fine ladies and gentlemen, here and on TWoP, these last five years. I'm going to go cry now.

[Kid]

Having some time to think on it, I think that was one of the best series finales ever! It was even better than Breaking Bad's.   Although I think The Soprano's series finale was artisticly brilliant, it was very unsatisfying.

 Considering that Bate's Motel was based on an iconic film, everything could have gone terribly wrong as did so many other attempts at either drawing on Psycho or re-doing Psycho.   In my opinion, nothing went wrong.   The entire series was like a Greek tragedy. So very well acted, so very well written, and the finale was absolutely perfect.

[peacheslatour]

Right? Gus Van Sant has been quoted saying one of the reasons he made that dismal scene for scene remake was that so  no one else would try to remake Psycho.  This show was a brilliant homage. Kudos to all involved. The production people, the set and costume designers, the make up crew, the directors, writers and most especially the actors made Bates Motel one of the best, if not THE best TV show in the last two decades.

[Garden Wafers]

Overall, I'm satisfied with the conclusion of Bates Motel - even though I thought the finale was rather uneven. I'm glad they dispensed with Romero so early since I've been disappointed in his entire arc for this season. As someone mentioned in the previous episode thread, I don't buy the epic love that supposedly existed between Norma and Romero - and thus found it hard to be at all invested in the former sheriff's rather unbelievable transformation into a pathetic vigilante. Romero's death didn't affect me since I no longer recognized the sad creature on my screen. I also thought it odd how the writers immediately undercut the impact of Mother leaving Norman in the woods; whatever epiphany he experienced was apparently short-lived since he was rapidly reconstructing another imaginary version of Norma and trying to reshape history. In my opinion, it would have worked better if the Mother figure left Norman after Dylan confronted him at the dinner table and shattered his delusions once and for all. I also didn't love the fact that Dylan warned off the motel guest by telling her Norman had "mental health issues" - mental health issues are not the reason why the mother of two should be frightened. I know that wasn't the writer's intent, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

Still, for all my quibbles, I enjoyed this finale. I'm glad the writers decided to end the story of Norman Bates in a way that was true to the past five seasons' worth of plot and characterization, and didn't just recreate the movie. I'll always be a sucker for a story line that involves two brothers caring for one another, so was glad the climax was focused only on Norman and Dylan. How could I not be touched by Norman reaching out to Dylan and trying to include him in his alternate reality? And how could I not be touched by Dylan, even after all was said and done, trying to reach out to Norman one last time? The dinner table confrontation also addressed one of my biggest issues with Dylan: just as he was exhorting Norman to face reality, I felt like Dylan was finally facing reality himself. There was never going to be a way for Norman to get better, while simultaneously avoiding all the consequences of his actions. 

[Complexity]

41 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Right? Gus Van Sant has been quoted saying one of the reasons he made that dismal scene for scene remake was that so  no one else would try to remake Psycho.  This show was a brilliant homage. Kudos to all involved. The production people, the set and costume designers, the make up crew, the directors, writers and most especially the actors made Bates Motel one of the best, if not THE best TV show in the last two decades.

I expected them to do a pure prequel by ending in a way that lead into the Psycho movie, and I honestly thought I'd be upset if they didn't do that. But now that I've seen the entire series and how they finished it, I love what they did!

I think the thing I like most is that they didn't make Norman out to be a monster. So many shows in which the leading character is written to have mental illness either turns that person into a monster to be feared or a laughing stock to be ridiculed. Either way, they portray the character as somehow less than human due to the mental illness.

However, people with mental illness are just that—people. They are no different than anyone else. And the true statistics indicates that they are less likely to be violent and more likely to be the victim of violence.

I love that this show portrayed Norman as a caring human being. He was a nice person at his core. His mental illness didn't define his person; it interfered with it. And in the end, he paid a very high price because of it. If there was any real villain here, it was the mental illness itself, not Norman.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Complexity
typo

[TattleTeeny]

I feel sad that this show is done and also that no one added an inscription to Norman's half of the headstone.

[Stringey]

I am definitely satisfied with how they ended it. In fact Dylan giving a mercy kill to Norman was my fantasy ending if they were not doing a reboot of the movie ending. Lol I must be psychic because the ending with Dylan and Norman was very similar to what I was imagining in my head. Anyway this episode was awesome and I was happy we got to see an episode with Norman interacting more with the body. The Hitchcock shot of him taking her down the stairs was awesome and I was glad we got to see a moment of the body sitting at the dinner table I always imagined that.  Ok going to eat something then i will resume my reaction to the finale. Anyway loved the episode and ending. I never even focused on the idea or thought about how or when Norman might kill Romero so I was surprised when this happened. I would have been annoyed if while Norman was tending to the corpse if Romero was somehow still alive behind him and sat up. That would be such a lame Hollywood thing to do. Getting back to the final scene with Dylan and Norman you could tell Norman would not have tried to stab Dylan by that knife winding up in the door. The ending was so sad I was glad I was in my room and nobody could see tears almost forming in my eyes.

22 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

I feel sad that this show is done and also that no one added an inscription to Norman's half of the headstone.

I know why was there no writing?????

Edited April 25, 2017 by Stringey

[editorgrrl]

http://tvline.com/2017/04/24/bates-motel-series-finale-norman-dies-kerry-ehrin-carlton-cuse-interview/

Quote

TVLINE |  Why was Norman’s tombstone blank?

Executive producer Kerry Ehrin | Dylan is, I’m sure, the person who made the tombstone, and given that Norman was a serial killer I think it felt like the most respectful thing was to just put his name and [date of death] as opposed to, like, “Beloved son and brother.” The real gift he gave him was putting him next to his mother.

[TattleTeeny]

Well, regardless, it seems like something Dylan would want to do anyway. Though maybe because of Emma, he wouldn't.

[mrsh]

9 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

I feel sad that this show is done and also that no one added an inscription to Norman's half of the headstone.

Yes, this really made sad. I was already crying since the beginning when Romero slammed Norman's head into the car.but Norman was a victim too, in my opinion. He was crippled by his mental illness but deep down he was a kind and sweet soul. 

[editorgrrl]

In another interview, Kerry Ehrin said: 

Quote

If you think about it, Norman didn’t really didn’t exist even in his own head outside of his mother, so it’s fitting she should have a novel and he should have a line.

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/bates-motel-season-5-episode-10-the-cord-finale-recap-1202391745/

[Evie]

I was happy with the ending although there were definitely some plot holes. 

Norman forcing Dylan to kill him was sad and tragic but felt right.

One of my favorite moments was Dylan saying that he wanted Norman to be well and Norma to be alive and for them both to meet his daughter and spend holidays together. Then Norman's reply that if you believe hard enough, you can make it happen. Those lines said everything about the two brothers.

I loved Freddie's delivery of Norman's  "Well, I disagree" when Dylan said Norma was just a body.

I'm glad that Dylan and Emma were together and happy with their daughter. 

[smorbie]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

 

:).  I've felt like crying since it aired.  Not just because of how it ended, though that was heartbreaking.  But, I want to cry because is has ended.  

[UncleChuck]

EXCELLENT Finale!  It ended just as I had predicted (and hoped!) several weeks ago.  Grade:  99.8%

The only small point I might have changed is that I would have made the woman who checked into the motel with her kids VERY Norma-looking (like Madeleine).  A very blonde, beautiful woman would have added another "oh shit!" moment with the possibility of a tragic confrontation with "mother".  

As this woman looked more like an average traveling mom and nothing like Norma, I did not feel any suspense--no fear of impending doom.  Very happy to see her and the boys skedaddling out of there, but I just didn't understand why they were there at all.

Edited April 25, 2017 by UncleChuck

[Gizmo321]

Wow. Just wow. Kudos to the creators, writers, directors, actors, and the entire crew for creating such a stellar series over the years. I will miss this series very much.

I will admit being surprised when Mother "left" of her own accord saying that Norman knew everything now and there was nothing left to protect him from. At that point in time he was still going to facing murder charges...wouldn't he need to be protected from that?

And I do wish we had seen Dylan learn what happened to Caleb. And we had learned the true fate of Dr. Edwards. But those are small nitpicks compared to the larger nugget of gold that was the last episode.

[Rustybones]

The inscription on tombstones are done by the people selling the stones, not by the cemetary itself.  They may not have had time to do the inscribing for some time.

[smorbie]

3 minutes ago, Gizmo321 said:

I will admit being surprised when Mother "left" of her own accord saying that Norman knew everything now and there was nothing left to protect him from. At that point in time he was still going to facing murder charges...wouldn't he need to be protected from that?

Part of her job was to protect Norman from the truth of his life.  He had already discovered who she was and what he did during his blackouts.  Once he understood he had killed her, there was nothing more for her to do.  This is consistent with DID.  Once the person has integrated the alter personality and accessed the memories, the alter disappears.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Complexity.  please.

Just now, Rustybones said:

The inscription on tombstones are done by the people selling the stones, not by the cemetary itself.  They may not have had time to do the inscribing for some time.

My guess is that Dylan believed the less showy the tombstone the better considering the way the people of the town felt about Norman. 

[Gizmo321]

that makes perfect sense smorbie...thanks for clearing that up....just makes the episode that much better for me.

[RedMal]

14 minutes ago, UncleChuck said:

Very happy to see her and the boys skedaddling out of there, but I just didn't understand why they were there at all.

The only reason for them to be in the episode is just so Norman was reminded of Dylan and had a reason to call him.

[thesupremediva1]

1 hour ago, Stringey said:

I know why was there no writing?????

Regarding Norman's headstone, I read it as this: Norman was his mother. He was defined by his mother, he defined himself as his mother, and in the end surrendered completely to the madness related to her. They didn't need a second inscription. They were sharing the single one on Norma Louise's headstone.

[Complexity]

14 minutes ago, smorbie said:

Part of her job was to protect Norman from the truth of his life.  He had already discovered who she was and what he did during his blackouts.  Once he understood he had killed her, there was nothing more for her to do.  This is consistent with DID.  Once the person has integrated the alter personality and accessed the memories, the alter disappears.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Complexity.  please.

I'm certainly no expert, but I agree with your assessment. ?

The thing that comforts me is that, in my mind, Mother didn't leave Norman. She became integrated with him. She's still there, but she's no longer a separate personality from him. It's how most of us carry our loved ones inside of us as we go through life. In a way, it is the ultimate togetherness for Norma and Mother (even though integration is normal and healthy).

[Ohwell]

Well, Norman is gone, thank goodness.  I'm so glad that I don't have to see him dragging Norma's carcass around anymore.  Weekend at Bernie's did this much better. 

[Virtual]

This was a pretty satisfying finale to a great series. Yeah, I'd have liked for Dylan to find out about Caleb's death (the deleted scenes will probably be on the S5 DVD that releases later in the year, and I have a theory that the Dylan throwing Norman onto the mercedes scene is in there and might be because he found out) and for us to find out what happened to Dr. Edwards specifically; although I believe what had to have happened was that Norman killed him when blacked out as "Mother" during an out-patient visit, and dumped his body in the lake in a place the police didn't find it on-camera.

But Norman's ending is the only happy ending he could have had. If he survived, he'd just be torturing himself by doing everything to convince himself Norma is still alive, trying to forget that he was the one who killed her. At least Mother finally left him alone; I thought if that happened then Norman could start building toward a normal life, but what I found out from watching this episode and really should have already known after watching last season's finale episode (4x10) is that Norman cannot function without Norma or some semblance to her. That's the tragedy of "the cord", Norman can't put Norma behind him.

I figured Romero was going to meet his death once he had his back turned to a slowly getting up Norman (who was blacked out as Mother at that moment), and I was right. By the way, I was just yelling at Regina to just go instead of saying she'll get sick during that scene. She eventually did, but it was dumb to say something like that to a guy who gets pissed off enough to kill people, even when he was still mentally stable.

Hopefully the new couple we saw at the end who looked like they purchased the motel/house can end the cycle of the "curse" that surrounds it. It was previously owned by a terrible person who used it as a human trafficking business, and then it was owned by an unstable mother and mentally ill son.

10 hours ago, Bec said:

I think I know why there was no stakeout outside Bates Motel. After Regina made her way back to the Sheriff's Department, she presumably told them where Romero made her get out of the car, then the sheriff would have pulled the stakeout from the motel to focus all the manpower on searching for Norman and Romero in the woods.

In the episode, we don't see Regina make it back until after Norman went back to the motel early in the morning. But that could be chalked up to "just because that's the order we see it in, doesn't mean that's the order these things happened in." It wouldn't have worked for the flow of the episode to stick Regina's return in the middle of Norman's sequence. Norman going next-level crazy, Dylan getting the gun from Remo, and Regina making it back probably all happened at around the same time.

I was definitely thinking that Sheriff Greene finding Romero's body didn't happen right after Norman's death. It most likely happened some time before that. The reason the police were at the motel/house after then is likely because Dylan reported that Norman was dead.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

She's still there, but she's no longer a separate personality from him.

Makes me think of this:

Matricide is probably the most unbearable crime of all... most unbearable to the son who commits it. So he had to erase the crime, at least in his own mind. He stole her corpse. A weighted coffin was buried. He hid the body in the fruit cellar. Even treated it to keep it as well as it would keep. And that still wasn't enough. She was there! But she was a corpse. So he began to think and speak for her, give her half his life, so to speak. At times he could be both personalities, carry on conversations. At other times, the mother half took over completely. Now he was never all Norman, but he was often only mother.

[Dobian]

1 hour ago, smorbie said:

Part of her job was to protect Norman from the truth of his life.  He had already discovered who she was and what he did during his blackouts.  Once he understood he had killed her, there was nothing more for her to do.  This is consistent with DID.  Once the person has integrated the alter personality and accessed the memories, the alter disappears.

Integration generally happens when a psychiatrist works with a patient to make it happen, it doesn't usually happen on its own.  A personality can go dormant for a long time, but it's still there and separate.  Most DID people don't want to be integrated, they are functional as multiple personalities, keep diaries, leave notes for each other, etc.  Of course, Norman was far from a functional DID person.  But I'm okay with Norma integrating back into Norman given the circumstances, it was necessary for the conclusion.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Dobian

[Stringey]

56 minutes ago, thesupremediva1 said:

Regarding Norman's headstone, I read it as this: Norman was his mother. He was defined by his mother, he defined himself as his mother, and in the end surrendered completely to the madness related to her. They didn't need a second inscription. They were sharing the single one on Norma Louise's headstone.

That was actually to tell you the truth my gut first impression when I saw his empty headstone(except for the dates) and one of those cryptic little things that writers of this show would do. But then I still thought to myself that Norman should have had something.

[Complexity]

7 minutes ago, Dobian said:

Integration generally happens when a psychiatrist works with a patient to make it happen, it doesn't usually happen on its own.

...

But I'm okay with Norma integrating back into Norman given the circumstances, it was necessary for the conclusion.

Exactly. In the end, this is a TV show, not a documentary on DID.  I think they did a good job given that it was a TV show intended for entertainment.

[Bec]

I was waiting for that scene from the trailer of someone (looks like Norman) getting thrown on the hood of a car (by someone who looks like Dylan). I looked at it again to try to figure it where it might have fit, and it was probably supposed to be from when Dylan first got back to Bates Motel this season and Norman pulled up in the car next to him. Scene abruptly cut from that to the two of them walking into the house together.

It looks like the middle of the day in that clip in the trailer, so it couldn't have been in this episode, because it was dark by the time Norman called Dylan.

10 hours ago, BooBear said:

I kind of liked the meta moment of him coming up behind Norma's body like in the movie and realizing in horror it was a body that had been propped up there... then he heaved everyplace. That would have been my reaction. I suspect that Emma did call the Sheriff immediately after hanging up with Dylan.   I was a little confused as to why "Norma" the killer left "Norman"  but I assumed it was  Norman's insanity getting worse. I was also confused at to how "Norma" the killer knew where the body was.

Of all the "somebody finds Norma's dead body" scenes this show did, the one with Dylan was the most reminiscent of the one in the movie. I was pleasantly surprised because I didn't think the show would do the "somebody finds Norma's dead body" scene again. The show had Caleb, Romero, and Dylan find her dead body in three different ways (four if you count Chick)! I suppose the show had to play it this way because it wouldn't have worked to do the same thing as the movie - that scene in the movie hinged on the audience not knowing the real Mrs. Bates was dead all along, we're supposed to be screaming with Lila when she finds out.

I did wonder whether Emma called the sheriff (in which case they took their sweet time showing up) or if Dylan called the sheriff after he killed Norman. I guess it's not too important for us to know this little detail.

Mother knows everything Norman knows. Norman doesn't know everything Mother knows because Mother is there to "protect" him from the horrible truth. Once Norman found out the truth about everything, Mother is done, she can't work as a protective mechanism in his mind anymore. But Norman was still not "cured" of his psychosis, so his lack of contact with reality had to take a different turn.

That's how I'm understanding what the story is telling us, anyway. I'm not a psychology expert or anything.

[Living Dead]

So if mother left him, how was he able to go back in time? Was that mother again? Confused.

[Complexity]

1 minute ago, Living Dead said:

So if mother left him, how was he able to go back in time? Was that mother again? Confused.

He still has memories.