REVIEW: Bates Motel, Season 4 Episode Three 'Til Death Do You Part'

 REVIEW: Bates Motel, Season 4 Episode Three 'Til Death Do You Part'

Sham marriages are something that have been featured surprisingly a lot on television. There's something that TV just seems to like about the idea of abusing the concept of marriage in order to achieve a certain goal. I guess it's that sense of the characters doing something 'wrong' or that isn't supposed to happen that appeals to viewers, almost like a child saying a naughty word before they turn 18.

The episode really plays with that awkwardness as Norma (Vera Farmiga) and Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) tie the knot. We get a great feel for just how 'weird' this situation is, with both of them feeling noticeably uncomfortable with playing this charade. However it's also obvious that they both secretly harbour feelings for each other that they are trying to hide, so it's really no surprise when they end up snogging at the end of the episode. It's about time they became an item though, because it has been teased for so long, and the actors have so much natural chemistry.

You'd imagine having Alex move in to the motel was a relatively easy decision for the writers. Here you have a character who already has links to the motel, having stayed there as a guest before and been the one to help Norma straighten up the situation with Bob Paris in the previous season, which led to Bob constructing the 'pool'. It also makes sense from the perspective of the fake marriage that he'd have to move in, so as to make himself and Norma pass off as a normal couple. For that reason it's a really natural progression of the narrative, as it's story driven rather than forced to further their relationship. 

Alex should probably be relieved Norman (Freddie Highmore) isn't there though, because I doubt he'd take too kindly to someone else growing close to his mother. Instead he's in the care home for psychotic patients, and you can tell this aspect of the screenplay is heavily influenced by One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. It has the same cold aesthetics, creating this vibe of a formidable fortress where you cannot escape. It has the same harsh and rigorous routines, where their freedoms are seriously limited, and they have little to no contact with the outside world. It even has the eery medical staff patrolling the place, almost like guards on duty in some sort of secret army base. You honestly can't blame Norman for wanting to escape this place. 

During the lunchtime scene, we meet one of the other care home patients called Julian (Marshall Allman), and he feels like a trigger for what's to come. He essentially tells Norman that they don't need their parents, which works as really effective set-up for not only the later events of this episode, but the murder of Norma that we know will occur later down the road. It's a brilliant way of getting Norman to realise that there's a life beyond his mother, and that maybe he doesn't need her in order to survive. 

You  kind of have to wonder if Norma interfering by turning up at the care home and insisting she sees her son is what ensures the events of Psycho take place. We learn earlier in the episode that the care home strictly insists that patients don't hear from the outside world for 72 hours in order to best help their recovery, which kind of suggests Norma is the catalyst for ensuring Norman doesn't get the help he needs. Is this yet another example of Norma inadvertently causing the deaths of 'innocent' (to an extent) people, which will occur further into Norman Bates' life? 

It means that Norman kind of has a point when he tells the doctor Gregg Edwards (Damon Gupton) that he believes his mother is responsible for the deaths of numerous people. The problem is, he thinks she literally *is* the cause. It really shows how warped his mind has become, that he has convinced himself that he isn't responsible and that it was all Norma, even though we as the viewers know that Norma was just a vision conjured in his head. It again shows the writers holding a deep understanding for the way Alfred Hitchcock deviated into the psychology of the characters, and why their brains operate in the way they do. It captures a true Hitchcockian vibe, making this series feel like an authentic prequel to the original film.

Overall, 'Til Death Do Us Part' continues the high quality from the previous episodes of this series. Once again it demonstrates a real understanding from the writers in regards to Alfred Hitchcock's work, through the way it places its focus on the psychology of the characters. It would have been easy for them to just turn Psycho into a full blown horror, but instead the show is very much focused on the mind, making this a show that knows exactly what it both wants and needs to be.  

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