REVIEW: Bates Motel, Season 3 Episode Ten 'Unconscious'

 REVIEW: Bates Motel, Season 3 Episode Ten 'Unconscious'

Ever since Bates Motel named an episode of its third season 'The Last Supper', it became obvious that somebody linked to Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) was going to die. There were plenty of candidates for a potential death, and it seemed a while since the previous one occurred. Naturally a show like Bates Motel is no stranger to death, given that its primary focus is on a serial killer with serious mental issues, so it's a perfectly natural expectation.

The most likely candidate seemed to be Emma (Olivia Cooke). A couple of episodes back, she split up from Norman and is now courting his brother Dylan (Max Thieriot). There was also the constant threat of her cystic fibrosis and how we as viewers had been told her days were numbered unless she could get an lung transplant. However her potential demise is swerved when her Dad Will (Andrew Howard) is told over the phone that they have found a suitable pair of lungs for her. This is a lovely moment within the series, as we see this huge amount of relief flood Will's face. It's nice to see something uplifting happen in an otherwise dark series, as I believe that even in the most grim of shows there should be a flicker of hope. Even Les Miserables, which is notorious for its depressing musical numbers, has lighter moments to lift spirits. 

You do feel for Emma though, who runs away from her house in fear of the potential of her body rejecting the lungs. This leads to a nice heart-to-heart moment between Emma and Dylan, where Emma opens up to Dylan about how she wants more control over her body. It leans back to the idea from other seasons that she feels others are telling her what she should do, and making decisions on her behalf because of her disability. You can understand why she'd see things this way, as it's her life and she should be allowed to decide what she wants to do with it.

Another potential death was one that we know is going to come at some point in the series. This is that of Norma (Vera Farmiga), who is worried about her son and his psychotic tendencies. Norman is given more of a motive for wanting to kill her in this episode, as she visits a mental home with a view to paying for Norman's stay. It's odd that its taken this long for a character to decide that he should be in some sort of mental institution where he can get constant help around the clock, but in Norma's case it's more forgivable because it's her son, and I doubt any parent could bare to admit that their son has a problem. It would be an extremely hard thing to admit and to come to terms with, especially in the case of Norman Bates, who has frequent blackouts where he can't remember what he did. You would imagine it would be the sort of thing that would be very hard to face up to.

Unsurprisingly when Norman finds out this plan, he's not amused. He actually comes strikingly close to a situation that could have killed his mother, as their scuffle calls her to fall down the stairs, but she survives the ordeal, which is a satisfying fake-out which keeps us guessing as to whether any of these characters will die and who it will be. There's a great twist too, where it looks like Norma has got the upper hand and trapped Norman in the basement, only for Dylan to discover he has escaped. It plays into the idea of Norman Bates being like an uncontainable monster, who is increasingly hard to keep contained for a significant time before he breaks free.

There was a tease at the end of the previous episode that Norman's returning one-time girlfriend Bradley Martin (Nicola Peltz) could be the character to meet her end, when Norman envisions 'Mother' telling him that he knows what he must do. In this episode she scavenges money and some valuables that she can sell for cash from her Mum's house, and asks Norman to flee the town with her. After what we saw at the end of the previous episode, you can't help but dread the potentially horrifying outcome from this idea when bearing in mind the previous instalment's conclusion. It provides for a brilliant dilemma for Norman too, as he's torn between staying at the motel with his mother or joining Bradley in hiding. It's something that only serves to drive distance between Norman and Norma sooner, which will inevitably lead to 'Mother' telling him to kill his real mother at some point in the series, and you can see the cogs whirring to get us to that point already. 

'Mother' makes her latest appearance in the climax to the third season, and we finally get another death at the hands of Norman Bates. Poor Bradley thought she was going to start a new life with Norman Bates, and she ends up killed by the very man who assisted in her initial escape and eventual return to the neighbourhood where the motel is located. There's a really neat visual reference to the original Pyscho film, when Norman disposes of the body very much like how he does one of the corpses in the film, with Bradley's car sent into the river with her body inside, and the murder scene is quite disturbing in the way it is shot and edited together. It's really clever in the way we see Norman morph into 'Mother', with Vera Farmiga appearing in place of Freddie Highmore, as we see through Norman's eyes how he envisions his own Mum conducting the death, and it's another way of the show letting us inside the warped mind of Norman Bates. 

Overall, 'Unconscious' is a fantastic finale to the third season. It gives us one of the show's greatest murder scenes so far, as well as continuing to deliver on both the character and the emotion. Bates Motel continues to give us a rich exploration of Norman Bates' complex psychology, and it allows this show to feel a part of the same story as the 1960 original.

To have future posts delivered direct to your inbox, click the three lines at the top and register for email notifications via the 'Follow by Email' box.

What are your thoughts on the tenth episode of Bates Motel's third season? Let me know in the comments section.