REVIEW: Bates Motel, Season 4 Episode Seven 'There's No Place Like Home'

 REVIEW: Bates Motel, Season 4 Episode Seven 'There's No Place Like Home'

One of the most unsettling elements of both Bates Motel and Psycho is the way Norman (Freddie Highmore) views 'Mother' (Vera Farmiga). Instead of a platonic love between mother and son, his view of her is something more akin to the way a husband views his wife. They're much, much closer than a simple mother and son relationship, and it's one of the things that makes Norman Bates as a character so fascinating.

This episode, entitled 'There's No Place Like Home', plays with that concept further. This is the episode, in fact, where Norman discovers via a newspaper clipping that his Mum Norma has married Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell). His reaction is, as you would expect, not good in the slightest, as he decides he must return home. It's the episode that shows just how wildly erratic he can be. One minute Norman seems he's genuinely on the road to recovery and wants to receive help, the next his eyes flare and he's on a mission against someone who has set their eyes on 'Mother'.

This is the instalment that also gives us the perfect look at how Norman views Norma, as we see sexualised images of her flashing through his mind. It's so expertly shot and edited, with these very quick cuts as we see how they transcend through Norman's mind. It's almost like some sort of drug-induced fetish, like Norman is getting high on his own mother.

Norma is effectively her own son's worst enemy when it comes to recovery however. She visits him with the intention of persuading him to say at the care home, where he can get help, and ends up agreeing to his plans to return home. Although to be fair how easy she gives in to her own son here is immensely believable, as I can imagine it would be hard to say no if you had offspring and they kept asking to return home. It's an impossible situation to place a mother in, and one where there is no good outcome. 

Norma confides in Alex that the motel is struggling due to a lack of guests, which has prompted her to make repairs to the motel herself rather than hiring somebody in. Alex's response is a beautiful piece of character writing, as he decides to use the money that was Bob Paris's (the guy who he murdered) towards renovations to her motel, telling her how he believes she has had so much back luck since she moved into the motel's neighbourhood. It speaks volumes about who he is as a person, his immense sense of loyalty and his devotion towards Norma Bates. Alex is the best person Norma has ever had in her life, someone who genuinely seems to have her best interests at heart.

Dylan (Max Thieriot) grows suspicious of Norman's actions regarding Emma's (Olivia Cooke) this week, as he discovers that Audrey stayed at the motel and that her phone service has been offline ever since. This is a great development, as it adds further tension regarding Norman returning home. Just what will he do when he learns about Dylan's suspicions? Is his brother safe, or will 'Mother' come for him? It feels as though Dylan could be getting too close to the truth, although I hope I am wrong and he survives to start a new life with Emma in San Francisco.

Finally Emma is given the note that was left by her mother, and her reaction is interesting. She gets the impression that she was trying to make both her and  her Dad (Played by Andrew Howard) feel sorry for her so that they would bail her out of her money problems, rather than Dylan's belief that she was genuine about wanting to reach out. Emma kind of has a point. Audrey didn't necessarily seem like the best mother to her, and it wouldn't be wholly unreasonable to imagine her taking advantage of them like that. What will be even more compelling to witness will be her reaction when she finds out Norman killed her mother, not least because of now Norman was her former boyfriend and remains a friend of her's. That's bound to set off some fireworks between Norman, Dylan and Emma.

Overall, 'There's No Place Like Home' yet again gives us some more highly engaging material regarding Norman and 'Mother'. It's an episode that progresses the narrative nicely, whilst also giving us some more great character moments regarding the relationships of Norma and Alex, and Emma and Dylan. It will be interesting to see what happens now Norman has returned home, as I suspect there could be a few characters in potential danger of facing Norman's wrath.   

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