“Bates Motel” Season 2 Episode 8
Episode Title: “Meltdown”
Writers: Liz Tigelaar & Nikki Toscano
Director: Ed Bianchi
Previously on ‘Bates Motel’:
One of the best things about “Bates Motel” is that it can be really funny at times. It’s a universal experience for parents to embarrass children in front of their peers. “Bates Motel” improves upon this by sending Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga) into one of the local drug lairs where she kisses her son, Dylan Massett (Max Thieriot) in front of his underlings.
Norma is also the butt of a few jokes herself as she hilariously reacts to the stuffed animals placed in her living room by Norman (Freddie Highmore). Even Norman is pretty funny while being an absolute dick to his mother. Norman is so angry at Norma for withholding the truth about himself that it gives him the power to see through all of Norma’s tactics. None of Norma’s tricks or emotional manipulations are working and it’s a refreshing change to their dynamic.
It won’t last, of course. If Norman was really done with his mom, the series would be over. But Norman will never be done with “mother.” Some darker version of her already lives within him.
Until Norman is the Psycho we all know and love, “Bates Motel” needs villains. This year, it has two: Nick Ford (Michael O’Niell) and Zane Carpenter (Michael Eklund). Because they’re at war with each other, neither Nick nor Zane are likely to survive beyond this season. But that doesn’t mean they won’t take a few characters with them as they destroy each other.
From this point on, there are full spoilers ahead for “Meltdown,” so if you missed the most recent episode of “Bates Motel” then you should probably skip this review or else Norman will preemptively cancel his date with his mother
I don’t really care about the drug war between Ford and Zane except to the extent that it affects the primary characters on the show. So far, the biggest change to the status quo caused by Zane’s insane actions is that Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) is living at the Bates Motel and getting closer to both Norman and Norma. That’s probably not a sustainable direction for too long, but it’s brought Romero to the forefront of the Bates’ family storylines and the drug war.
Following last week’s revelation that Norman slept with the late Blair Watson before she died, Romero tries to get Norman to admit that he had sex with her. The problem is that Norman doesn’t remember doing it and the audience has never been privy to what happened on the night she died.
By attempting to suppress the knowledge that Norman was the other man who slept with Miss Watson, Romero is either trying to protect Norman or protect himself. Keep in mind, Romero already found someone else to take the fall for Miss Watson’s murder. That’s lightly revisited in this episode when word comes that a conviction has been made. For his own peace of mind, Romero needs answers that Norman just can’t give him.
Norman is looking for a few answers himself. Because Norma is still withholding what she knows about his blackouts, Norman pushes her away at every turn. Weirdly enough, Dylan is kinder to his mom than Norman is in this episode. Dylan isn’t exactly thrilled that Norma showed up at his place of illegal business, but he doesn’t treat her badly. Dylan even warns Ford to stay away from his mother. Norma may be Dylan’s aunt by incest, but she’s still the only mom he’s got.
In the aftermath of Zane’s ill-advised raid on Ford’s drug warehouse, Dylan reports the latest development to Zane’s sister, Jodi Wilson (Kathleen Robertson). To their horror, Dylan and Jodi learn that Zane really believes that they can win a protracted drug war with Ford before forcing him to sell his business to them. Zane is really quite insane, or incredibly unrealistic about his ability to pull off that pipe dream.
Both Ford and Romero separately pressure Dylan to give up Zane. And while Dylan said that he’d tell Romero if he knew where Zane was, he’s less receptive to Ford’s offer since it came after he confronted Norma. Jodi attempts to deflect Zane’s fate to Dylan’s discretion as she seemingly gives him permission to kill her brother. That’s a dark turn, but it’s not enough to make care about what happens to Zane one way or the other.
Ford is a much more interesting villain because he already has ties to both Norman and Norma, even if he doesn’t yet know that Norman slept with his daughter. As Ford openly suggests, Norma is too ignorant to realize that she is beholden to him. The delay on the freeway bypass and Norma’s position on the city council are directly related to Ford’s influence. Yet Norma denies that she was able to reach Dylan and she essentially kicks Ford out of her house when he shows up again.
Even George Heldens (Michael Vartan) took on some darker overtones this week. Note that George pressured Norma into a date and he was more put out by her readiness to leave before dinner then he was by Norma’s confession that she isn’t as educated as she had indicated. Norma’s attempt to make Norman jealous by mentioning her date with George fell completely flat. When Norman rejects her again, Norma quickly returns to George and seduces him.
Farmiga’s performance made Norma’s storyline the most interesting part of the episode. Norma’s mood almost always turns on a dime, but this is the most desperate that she’s been since she discovered that her boyfriend was running a human trafficking ring. Or the time that the late Jake Abernathy threatened to kill her sons. Come to think of it, things have been pretty shitty for Norma since she moved to White Pine Bay.
Highmore still managed to make Norman somewhat likable despite his really rude behavior. This episode had a tighter focus on Norma than Norman, but he actually had the funniest moments and the most tragic plotline. We know how this story ends for Norman Bates and it’s not a happy conclusion. Even if Norman is cleared of murdering Miss Watson, he’s already well on his way to being a killer. If Norma had been more honest with her son or gotten him the psychological help that he clearly needs then that future could have been prevented.
“Meltdown” finally brings the various storylines of season 2 together in the cliffhanger ending, as Norman is seemingly kidnapped by Ford’s men as leverage to make Dylan give up Zane. That situation will become even more dangerous for Norman if Ford learns about his role in Miss Watson’s demise. We know that Norman won’t die here, but that doesn’t mean that Ford can’t inflict some serious pain upon him when he learns the truth.
The upside of this twist is that it will inevitably bring Dylan back into Norman and Norma’s orbit. That’s where Dylan works best as the only normal member of an abnormal family. “Meltdown” was largely a setup episode for the two remaining episodes of the season, but it was still entertaining. And the early word is that next week’s week’s episode will be among this show’s most insane episodes to date.
