HOLLYWOOD—Episode six of “Bates Motel” is no doubt the best episode of the entire season and proves to be a worthy-perhaps the best thrilling show on TV right now. Titled, “The Truth,” this week we are told nothing about the truth that has been hiding underneath the mysteries and lies from the very beginning.
Last week, Norma (Vera Farmiga) got her ugly truth set when Norman (Freddie Highmore) and Dylan’s (Max Thieriot) suspicious of Deputy Shelby (Mike Vogel) were correct: the guy is an evil dude holding captive a young girl as a sex slave.
Emma (Olivia Cooke) pushes the Bates’ to contact the FBI and report Shelby. Of course, Norma refuse to go to the FBI, at least until they can recover Keith Summer’s belt that Shelby took to protect the Bates’s from evidence that points them as murderers. Overhearing, Dylan decides to go to Shelby’s boat to recover the belt with Norman to protect them.
Before the fireworks explode, we are once again taken into this growing bromance between Dylan and Norman. Though they clashed and literally exchanged blows, the past weeks we have seen a softer side to bad-boy Dylan over Norman. In so much that Dylan wants to protect him from his mother who claims “she’s just gonna bring you down with her” and proposes that Norman move in with him at his newly purchased place.
As the brothers begin to search the boat for the belt that will free them from Shelby, Dylan begins to plant new revelations in Norman’s fragile-and somewhat unstable head- hat Norman’s father may not have simply died from a “freak accident.” Rather, Norma, who hated her husband and constantly fought with him, killed him for his money and ran off. How convincing is Dylan? Not at first, because of course, Norman loves and is devoted to his dear mother and the thought of leaving her sight is almost unbearable. But, perhaps Norman’s bond with his brother is proving to be just as strong as the bond with his mother when Norman contemplates it.
The brothers successfully find the belt, throw it in the harbor and all seems cool for now. Interestingly, this is where things really heat up. Norma, who awaits for her son’s arrival, is met face-to-face with Shelby. When Norma and Shelby’s intimate moment is interrupted by running shower water from another room, Shelby finds his sex slave hiding next door.
Shelby runs after her, just as Dylan arrives with Norman, and the boys reveal that while she is safe with the disposal of the incriminating evidence, Norman will be leaving with Dylan that instance. Just as Norma begins to lash out, Shelby holds them all at gunpoint and keeps them in their home. As Shelby begins to verbally berate the Bates’s for ruining him, we see Norman in a expressionless, zombie-like trance. Quiet and unresponsive. However, he snaps out when Shelby begins to physically hurt Norma, and lunges at Shelby, who drops his gun, but knocks out Norman. Though Norman is unconscious, this gives Dylan the chance to retrieve the gun and have a very intense and suspenseful shootout with Shelby all over the house.
Norma manages to get Norman in the car, who is unsure where he is or why his head hurts so much. Just when Norma tries to retrieve her keys, gunshots are heard from the house, meaning someone has won the shootout. Norma witnesses a shadowy figure coming out of the house, and its none other than Shelby. Just when it seems Dylan, who has become more likeable with each week, is lost, Norma sees a bloody Shelby who has been shot multiple times, wobbling towards her, ready to kill her. Yet right when it seems over, Shelby drops to the floor, dead. Dylan emerges safe and sound, and is oddly met by Norma’s open arms.
Before the police arrive, Norma tells Dylan the truth. That similar to the event that just occurred, Norman in fact witnessed his father abusing his mother, and in her defense, killed him. Yet still mysteriously enough, Norman’s condition has him dozing off and does not allow him to remember any of the events that has happened. So this week ends with a cross path Norma proposes to Dylan: either help her help Norman or stay out of her way in doing so.
The most suspenseful, exciting and captivating episode so far will leave you literally on the edge of your seat with your eyes glued to the set. Yes, its that good of an episode and enough to prove that it should be a show not to miss. This episode had it all: mystery, excitement and scary moments that left you at unease. More than halfway through the first season, the show has gotten better each week and consistent with strong performances, chemistry and amazing storylines that fit well.
If there’s one thing we learned this week, it is the show is not about how Norman Bates became a notorious “Psycho,” rather it shows just how long he has been one and how it slowly is consuming his life.
By Carmen Herrera
